November 26, 2025
To Mahikeng, South Africa
Magnificently coloured birds sang and played in the garden in front of my room this morning as I had my breakfast. Vibrant yellows and oranges and purples were plentiful. I was excited to be crossing another international border today, and was soon on my way out of town. The road quickly climbed up and out of the valley that I had descended into yesterday. The rain from the jight. Efore left everything looking and smelling fresh. I breathed in deeply, taking in the clean and cool countryside air as I pushed my pedals steadily, making my way gradually to the edge of Botswana.
The scenery was beautiful. Green grass and leafy trees for as far as I could see, covering gently contoured hills. Farms on either side of the road, and farm animals grazing in the morning sunshine. I reminded myself of the comforting thought that the fact that farm animals are allowed to graze so freely probably implies a lack of predators in the area!
A lovely tail wind assist ensured swift progress was made and I was soon at the Ramatlabama border control Post. My passport was stamped out of Botswana and into South Africa with minimum fuss by friendly border control officers on both sides. I rode between the usual queues of lorries often found at borders, and a soon came across the bold sign welcoming me into South Aftica. It felt good, as always, to traverse into another country by land as I had just done. I changed the remaining g Pula that I had into Rand, at a decent exchange rate, using a "Currency Services" kiosk just after passport control, and was soon on my way on South African roads! My destination was Mahikeng, the closest town to the border 30km away.
Mahikeng is the capital city of the North West price of South Africa. Its name means "place of rocks" in the local Tswana language. During colonial times it was called Mafeking, or Mafikeng. Today the city boasts large shopping malls connected by busy wide streets in grid pattern. As I rode into the outskirts of Mahikeng, labourers cutting grass with "slashers" all whistled and waved at me. I was getting very good at whistling and waving back, and enjoying the gleaming smiles as I sped past. Lorry drivers hooted in support of my grand entrance into this bustling town. It was noticeably busier than anywhere I had seen in Botswana, which is understandable given South Africas's population of 64 million, 32 times that of Botswana!
I didn't find the city particularly interesting. Lots of traffic, dust and shopping malls. The nicest place I came across was actually the garden in the reasonably priced Rabbi's Lodge where I was staying! I visited Maheking Mall, where I got my South African sim card, and shopped in the abundantly stocked Checkers supermarket where I was spoilt for choice. I tried to walk around town to see anything of interest but gave up because of traffic and dust everywhere. I did, however, spot a man in a suit chasing another man not in a suit, shouting as he chased. I asked a bystander what was going on and was told "He is chasing because he has been cheated (sic) for his wife's money". I didnt query further.
I spent some time back in my room planning the next few days of my route South, just to ensure adequate accommodation where possible. My first impressions of South Africa have been positive. The people are very polite and friendly, the roads seem good so far and the Supermarkets seem extremely well stocked! It is very early days yet, as I have 1400km to go before I hopefully reach the Southern tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas, and hopefully, with a bit of good fortune, I will have many happy stories to tell over the next few weeks.
Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 1,272 km (790 miles)
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