Aggeneys

October 18, 2025 to October 19, 2025

Saturday the 19th of October 2025

With over a hundred and sixty kilometers between Pofadder and Springbok we needed somewhere to spend a night in between. The only town in between is the mining town of Aggeneys. It is owned completely by a mining company and has only three accomodation options focused on servicing short term contractors and consultants. I phoned them all yesterday to try and reserve a night's accomodation but they were all fully booked. A night of wildcamping seemed to be our destiny. Thank goodness, when asking if there was anywhere where we could pitch our tent, one of them recommended speaking to the mine's security department. After a few phone calls I was put in touch with a sufficiently senior official. One thing mines in remote areas tend to do is provide excellent recreational facilities for their staff. In the case of Aggeneys, they have a remote campsite in the mountains north of the town and we were given exclusive use of it for this weekend. How lucky can one get!

Today's ride wasn't the most enjoyable. It started off with the front tyre of Leigh's bike being flat. After that it was a hard slog into a headwind for most of the seventy six kilometers we needed to cover. Aggeneys lies about five kilometers from the N14 and we had to dogleg back to the town becausethe turnoff is on the way to Springbok. After stocking up on groceries for the night it was another slog on a dirt track six kilometers north of the town to the campsite, the last kilometer not being rideable because it was a deep sand 4x4 track.

But the reward at the end made it worthwhile. We have a covered area sheltered from the wind in which to pitch the tent, piping hot showers and clean toilets plus a kitchen with fridges and electric stoves. All of this in a kloof between hillsides covered in Kokerbome and filled with birdlife - and no other person in sight. It's almost unfair.

The large covered area which we commandeered.

Outside braai facilities and eating area. The campsite can cater for a lot of people!

Sunday the 20th of October 2025

I started the day with an early morning walk in the vicinity of the campsite, just enjoying the light on the hillsides and the birdlife. Around midmorning the young mine official who gave us access arrived. He had grown up here, his now-retired father being previously employed by the mine. He is the mine's head of cyber security hence him having the authority to give us access.

The hillside to the west of the campsite is dotted with Kokerbome.

View of the campsite's location from its southern entrance.

Mountain Chat (Myrmecocichla monticola).

Chores for the day included fixing the puncture in Leigh's tube and cycling back to Aggeneys to buy groceries. The grocery expedition was initially a failure - halfway to the town I realised I had left my wallet behind! On the second attempt I decided to check out an alternative route back to the N14 which bypasses the town and would give us a shorter ride tomorrow. The upshot is I cycled twenty odd kilometers for a simple trip to the grocery store.

Later in the afternoon we wandered up the valley. Due to the risk of succulent plant poaching, we were told to stick to the road.

We are now out of the Kalahari and into Namaqualand. Red sand dunes have been replaced by stony hills, mostly quartzite here at Aggeneys.

Poaching of succulent plants for American, European and Asian collectors has become an enormous problem in South Africa with Namaqualand being especially hard hit. This evening my son, who is a botanist, warned me about wandering in the veld. Last year he did a botanical survey near Garies (to where we are heading in a few days time) and said that farmers in the area now shoot first and asked questions later when they spot a stranger walking on their land because the assumption is that they are poaching plants.

Tomorrow is another long pull - about a hundred and twenty kilometers to Springbok. The forecast suggests tailwinds. Let's hope it is accurate.

Today's ride: 96 km (60 miles)
Total: 435 km (270 miles)

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