Day 406 South Africa 13/12/2011, Jungle Monkeys, Port St Johns. Thick headed and very tired.

I literally had to drag myself out of bed this morning. Debs seemed to be fairing a little better, but neither of us were exactly the picture of health. Breakfast helped a little and we were feeling alright when we went to broach the subject of a transfer to the hostel staff. Suddenly things are not looking so good, to say the staff here are a little vague is an understatement. We might have to try and persuade a local minibus driver to take us, which may or may not be possible. We left the staff saying that they would make some calls and come up with a plan. The owner fortunately seems a bit more clued up, so we are cautiously hopeful.

The walk round the supermarket was painful for me and it was all I could do not to fall asleep. Today is clearly not going to be terribly productive, although we did manage a walk along the beach road. If the wind hadn't been blowing a gale whipping up sand in our faces it would have been very pleasant. It is certainly pretty impressive watching the turbulent sea join the fast moving river water.

Unfortunately thanks to the unhurried attitude of the staff towards our wish to organise a transfer, we haven't really been able to relax and see more of the area. Instead we have been trying to make contingency plans in case we have to ride back up to the main road. In the end after prompting the staff continually, a phone call was made and everything was sorted. It was just a shame it took all day to get an answer, when as far as we could tell the phone call could have been made yesterday when we arrived.

With the transfer sorted we then hit a bit of a wall when it came to arranging somewhere to stay in Mthatha. The backpackers that we wanted to stay at are full, so we will probably end up in another expensive B&B. It all seemed so easy when we were riding in!

Instead of getting stressed about the whole situation, we decided to have a couple of beers and then sleep on it. Things generally have a way of working themselves out in the end.

Day 405 South Africa 12/12/2011, Flagstaff – Jungle Monkey, Port St Johns. 51.87miles/84.18km, 5hr44minutes, Av 9.0mph.

The water came on, we were in the right room, the price was as quoted and eventually a very drunk staff member came to the room so that we could pay and get checked in. All in all it was a very strange experience, which we are happy to say ended with us having a restful night's sleep.

Leaving the hotel, it was onto the road and back into the hills. Thankfully there was a little more cloud cover than yesterday, so the temperature wasn't too bad. In theory today should have been an easier day. We left Flagstaff at a little over 1000m above sea level and were heading over the next 80km to Port St Johns which is at sea level. It doesn't take much thought to realise that we should have been going downhill. Why then did we seem to be climbing for three quarters of the day?!

The hills continued relentlessly as we headed towards Lusikisiki. Seeing a petrol station we decided to stop and have a cold drink. While we were parking our bikes a young Indian guy, who may have been the owner, came over for a chat. He asked us if we were alright and enjoying cycling through the area. We told him that we had only encountered friendly people and so far everything had been fine.

He then went on to tell us that another cyclist had stopped there a week or so ago, who had had to fight off a local from trying to steal his bike, when he had stopped to shelter from the rain. Enquiring further, it seems that the cyclist must have been Udo from Germany, who we had met in St Lucia. Having had such a good time so far, it is a bit of a cautionary tale and reminder that we still need to be on our guard. We hope that Udo is alright, from what the guy said he had obviously managed to fight off his assailants. As a nice parting gesture, the guy gave us a chocolate bar each saying that he knew we needed to keep our energy levels up.

Perhaps the Indian guy's comments were playing on our minds, but as travelling through Lusikisiki the people didn't seem as friendly as they had earlier. Shortly after we stopped for lunch on a hillside, a pick-up pulled up and two guys introduced themselves as off duty police detectives. They told us that this was a very high robbery area and we should move on as quickly as possible, preferably not stopping until Port St Johns a further 30km away. To illustrate the point, they went on to tell us that a shopkeeper had been recently gunned down in a robbery around the corner from where we were stopped. Explaining that we had to eat fell a bit on deaf ears, and they weren't happy until we started to pack away our stuff. Shoving bananas and whatever we could we could into our mouths, we set off again; it hadn't been an ideal lunch!

Having cycled up and then down several more hills, we approached what looked like the steepest yet. While we were mentally preparing ourselves for the climb I heard a hiss coming from my front tyre. What luck, three punctures in three days and once again the glass littered roadside was to blame!

Having been warned about the area, we really didn't need to be stopped on the side of the road fixing a puncture. Fortunately I have become well practised over the last few days and we were soon back on the road. The best thing I can say about the hill was that at least it didn't mess about. It just got on with going up and as quickly as possible. By now we were nursing pretty tired limbs but slowly and surely we got to the top, only to be greeted by another a few kilometres further along. Thankfully it was the last up of any length and we were soon heading down rapidly to Port St Johns, which to be honest looks like a dump! It is however pretty dramatically set, surrounded by steep cliffs, jungle and the sea.

To be expected, Jungle Monkey backpackers is up a hill; their camp-site is fortunately, unlike some others, not on a slope. Having got our tent pitched, we sat down to a well earned beer and the bar is where I pretty much stayed. Any further exploration of the area will have to wait. If it hadn't been for meeting Debbie and her partner, from a nearby dive school, we would have been having a very early night. As it was we both drank rather more than we planned and hit the sack a lot later than was probably wise.

Tomorrow we have to try and arrange a transfer out of here, we would really rather not cycle the 90km up, up being the operative word, to the main road.

Day 404 South Africa 11/12/2011, Mbizana – Flagstaff Hotel, Flagstaff. 37.38miles/60.51km, 4hr40minutes, Av 7.9mph.

Having had a slightly strange breakfast experience; we were watched like hawks as we helped ourselves to cereal and yoghurt and then had to wait 20 minutes for a cup of instant coffee, we said our goodbyes and set off into a bright sunny morning. Daph's B&B may have been an unlikely place to stay, but we had a pretty good time there and we were made to feel very welcome.

Any ideas that the road was going to level out were ended pretty quickly and we found ourselves climbing steadily on what was now a very warm day. Once again the people of the Wild Coast were there to buoy us along with friendly waves and greetings. We were even accompanied at one point by two guys on horseback shouting Happy Christmas!

Continuing the festive theme a 4x4 full of Santa hat clad South Africans pulled alongside and asked if we would like a beer! It was a lovely offer but we politely refused, we had enough problems with the heat and the hills as it was. With all the greetings not only did our legs get a good work out, our waving arms did as well! Some of us got a bit more of a workout, as I had to fix yet another puncture. It seems that when I repaired the inner tube yesterday, I neglected to remove all the glass from the tyre.

The warm weather and blue skies may have made for some hot going, but it certainly highlighted the beauty of the scenery. Some of South Africa's landscape is truly breathtaking, or maybe it was just the hills!

Slowly but surely we made it to Flagstaff, having narrowly avoided a thunderstorm along the way, and set about finding the hotel. The hotel was easy to find, staff however were an entirely different matter. While Debs went to try and find someone, I stayed with the bikes and had an encounter with three guys all competing for the drunkest man in Flagstaff competition. Handshakes, hugs and pats on the back later and I was pleased to see Debs return saying that we had a room. We are now checked into a room that once again has no water, it has been promised later in the day, are not certain of the price and have no one to pay anyway. The only staff we have encountered so far, are cleaning staff who speak limited English. We have to assume that they were allowed to give us a room and hope that the price they told us was correct.

Having got settled in we wandered into town to get some food and then returned to the hotel. With any luck the water will come on later as promised and we will get a decent night's sleep. We have a slightly longer day ahead of us tomorrow when we head back down to sea level and the town of Port St Johns. We will be replacing the B&Bs and Marie Celeste like hotels with a few nights at one of the seafront backpackers.

Day 403 South Africa 10/12/2011, Leisure Bay – Daphs B&B, Mbizana. 37.40miles/60.51km, 5hr01minutes, Av 7.4mph.

We treated ourselves to breakfast at the hotel this morning. Eric's speciality pancakes and French toast were certainly filling and it took us a while to get going. Having woken to bright sunlight, by the time we set off, the clouds had set in and we were treated to a cooler overcast day. With a day of climbing ahead of us, this was pretty ideal cycling conditions. After a brief stop to get some food for lunch, we set off into the hills.

Compared to some of the routes we have taken, today's wasn't particularly steep. Despite the fact that we climbed most of the day, I personally found it easier than the last few days of coast road. The coast road had been relentlessly up and down, with almost no flat sections where you could stretch out your leg muscles. At least today we had a few good sections of level(ish) road where we could just pedal.

Today the effort was rewarded by friendly locals and some terrific scenery; a lot of the friendly greetings were probably due to the fact that Debs has once again covered her bike in tinsel for Christmas.

What wasn't so rewarding was getting a puncture in my front tyre. Having been warned countlessly about how the area may be dangerous to stop in, having a car pull up with four guys in it just as I started to mend the puncture was a little worrying.

We never did find out what they stopped for, perhaps to answer the phone (not that anyone seems to pull over for that), but they soon drove off leaving us to it. So far any concerns people have shown regarding us riding through the Transkei, have proven unfounded. There is no doubt however that very few white people travel through, other than by car and we suspect even fewer stop.

With the skies darkening and the wind strengthening we arrived in the town of Mbizana and thanks to the signs found Daphs B&B. We would rather have stayed somewhere cheaper, but along this stretch of road there are very few options available. Free camping has always been and option in the past, but only if we can find somewhere secluded. Other than a few places earlier in the day there has been nowhere that looked promising. Most of the problem being that we are travelling through a very densely populated area.

Despite being a little expensive the B&B seems alright, unfortunately they haven't got any water at the moment which means no shower. It appears that the whole town is off while the municipality carry out repairs. You still might have thought that a B&B would have some kind of water storage system. Especially as I later found out that the water is often off in the area!

While Debs rested, I braved a walk through the town to go and get some shopping. Mbizana isn't the prettiest of places and the now rainy weather didn't make it look any better. I received a few strange looks from the locals, probably as much because I was clad in a t-shirt and shorts as the fact that I am white! That said, I don't imagine they get too many white tourists wandering around. The dirty streets and splashing rain meant that I returned to the room filthy, only to find that we still had no water. I would like to say that it was the last time I had to head out, but as the restaurant stopped serving at 5:30pm, I ended up going for a takeaway at the local KFC. It seems that the two things you can guarantee in a South African town is a Spar, or equivalent supermarket, and a KFC.

The water eventually came on, although it was really no more than a trickle. Debs quickly rushed to shower, in case the water went off again. While I decided that I would wait until morning, which turned out to be a foolish decision. Yes you guessed it, by morning the water was off again.

Having whiled away some of the evening watching television, we decided to go to the bar for a quick beer and ended up having a few. It was the Telkom cup football final and the bar was pretty much full of very drunk locals. Despite our protestations, the owner/manager kicked a couple of people off the bar stools so that we could sit down and we settled in to watch the match. Neither of us are big football fans, let alone South African league football fans, but when in Rome! To say it was a bit of a rowdy affair would be an understatement, but for the main part it was all good natured.

Sometime towards the end of the match the, by now very drunk, manager asked if we would mind watching the rest of the match in our room, as he thought things may take a turn for the worse. We have no idea if they did, but thought it prudent to listen to his advice. It was a sudden end to what had been a slightly bizarre evening. With the possibility of a long day ahead of us tomorrow, it was probably best that we went to bed anyway.

Assuming we can find somewhere to stay, we should be stopping in the town of Flagstaff tomorrow. Failing that we may have to put in a long day to the next town. With any luck though we should be nearing the end of the steep climbing. Which of course will probably turn out to be famous last words.

Day 402 South Africa 09/12/2011, Ku-Buboyi River Lodge, Leisure Bay. Planning for the road ahead.

Not much to report other than we had a very restful day. Debs has been planning for the road ahead and trying to work out when we will realistically get to Cape Town. Time wise we are essentially one month ahead of schedule, so will be looking to bring our flights home forward.

With help from the staff here we have found a B&B for tomorrow night and the staff at that B&B are looking into somewhere we can stay the following night. It looks like due to the amount of rain that has fallen in the area, that any plans to take dirt roads through the Wild coast will have to be forgotten. Instead we will be riding to Port St Johns and then heading up to the main N2 highway. Not what we really wanted to do, but the prospect of fighting our way down washed away gravel roads isn't very appealing. Either way I am sure it will still be an adventure!