Oudtsboorn -- Meiringspoort Ride

Monday, November 2, 2015

We woke to a rainy and cold morning, which resulted in a reshuffling of our program to do the ostrich farm tour in the morning and the ride in the afternoon after skies were to clear.  The owner, Bridle, gave us a history of the region and of the ostrich farming in this valley.  He is a 4^th generation ostrich farmer in his family who were French Huguenots.  His farm is essentially a self-sustaining farm with everything grown for and consumed by the animals (ostrich and cattle) on the farm.  Only soy is imported from the US for use in the diet.  The cattle consume what the ostrich does not eat of the plants.  We had a chance to see the ostrich close up and hear about the plume extraction from the birds, mating habits, and the fact that the lifetime of an ostrich on the farm from birth to slaughter is 12 months at which time the bird weights approximately 220 lbs.

The van transported us to De Rust where we had a salad for lunch in a small restaurant.  Along the way we had great views of the mountains and the fresh snow that fell last night on the 6,000 ft plus peaks.  This is quite unusual for November.  

De Rust Main Street

After lunch we began our ride from De Rust to Klaarstroom.  This ride took us through Meiringspoort out into the Great Karoo, which is a more arid and harsh environment than the Klein Karoo.  All the time we were riding through a gorge among the Cape Fold Mountains on a road that crosses the Groot River 25 times and ascends for 24 km to Klaarstroom.  The scenery was fabulous with red rock formations and vertical gorge walls.   

At Klaarstroom we stepped into a quaint place that serves food and has guest rooms and all kinds of memorabilia of by-gone eras.  We ordered coffee and relaxed before doing the return ride.  There was a gorgeous view of the mountains with a windmill in the foreground – an irresistible photo.

Off we went for the return ride to De Rust. 
  

Although it was downhill all the way, we had very strong headwinds and pedaled hard almost all the way.  About halfway we stopped to take the short walk to the 60 m waterfall, which had a full supply of water gushing off the rim due to the previous day’s rains.   

Further down the down the road we saw another waterfall coming off the side of the gorge.  This was such a gorgeous ride with beautiful scenery and a rapidly flowing Groot River continuously crisscrossing the road.  It certainly felt great to get out and bike and push us after being “grounded” due to weather yesterday. 

The drive back was pretty, because of fewer clouds, and took about an hour.   

We did a slight detour to see the exterior of a 1910 Dutch Reformed sandstone church in Oudtshoorn.  The landscaping with fynbos of the Klein Karoo was very pretty.  No grass, just indigenous plants, rocks and bare soil.

Tonight the owner will do a traditional South African braai (pronounced “bry”; like, but quite different from an American BBQ cookout) of sausage, ostrich, and various meats with lots of sides.  He is hosting cocktails prior to the 7 pm BBQ event.  There will be a definite need for a big ride tomorrow!!)

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