Pain in the...ribs!

It happened just over a week ago. K and I decided to go for a 10km cycle around the neighbourhood. Whilst fooling around on my bike, and trying to impress K with a "front tyre in the air for 5 seconds wheelie", I lost balance on the bike and went tumbling. Problem was, the side of the handle-bar jabbed me in the ribs as I hit the ground. Getting up and brushing it off as nothing, we continued the ride home. I didn't think much of it that night, but woke up the next morning, barely able to pull myself out of bed.

The hike up the mountain in Clarens, and the frisbee throwing with Frank and Pat didn't do much for the healing - and after returning from Clarens on Sunday evening, barely able to breath, we decided to get the ribs x-ray'd. According to the doc, there's nothing broken, just some internal bruising. Given the discomfort, it would have been better to hear that something was fractured - at least I would then have an excuse for walking around like I'm 75 years old.

Clarens gets a thumbs up

Well, all I can say is that Clarens, and the Golden Gate area is definitely worth visiting, and deserves much of the fuss that we have heard about. Although we only spent a couple of hours in the town of Clarens (of which most of the excitement takes place in a 4 block area called 'the square'), the entire region is full of rolling hills, green grasses and mountainous peaks and valleys.

We stayed on a game farm called "Rebellie Game Farm", which is between Clarens and the Golden Gate National Park (a part of which is pictured here). Although the dirt road was quite challenging, and at times a little unpleasant, the farm and accomodation more than made up for it. We stayed in a 7 sleeper thatched cottage, which was more than comfortable. It was equipped with a separate jacuzzi room, which proved very useful after the 3,5 hour drive down on Friday afternoon.

Saturday saw us climb to one of the peaks behind our cottage - a climb that definitely raised the heart rate somewhat. Upon reaching the summit (which had a fence running across the entire range), we were treated to magnificent views of the neighbouring Lesotho.

We took the mountain bikes with us, and Frank and I got some good mileage out of them on the rocky dirt roads. We also spent a bit of time hiking through the valleys, and looking for bushman paintings, after Dave, the owner of the place pointed some out to us.

All in all, another great weekend, in the great South African outdoors. I can definitely recommend a trip to Clarens, and if you're looking for a place to stay, Rebellie Game Farm is a gem of a spot (if you can put up with the gravel road that is).