Lekgalameetse / Orrie Baragwanath Pass / 23 Rivers Challenge

5 mates loaded up their plastics and headed for Oppie Oewer in Tzaneen, to join Gerrit on his 23 Rivers trip. We left Centurion early morning and stopped off at the Rose Cottage in Dullstroom for breakfast, from there it was onto Lydenburg and then the scenic route to Tzaneen. This is what Gerrit has to say about the trip: Not for the faint hearted. A two day ride with a sleepover next to the Mohlapitsi river in the valley. 24 river crossings. A jeep track up the Wolkberg mountain, with switchbacks and awesome scenery and riding. Tour guide. Three dinners. Three breakfasts. Two lunches. 200 km of sheer riding pleasure. Bring own tent and sleeping gear. The rest will be provided. Two nights accommodation in chalets. One night in the valley in your tent. Backup vehicles transporting all tents, chairs, sleeping bags, foodstuffs , cashbar, tools, tubes and anything else needed. Plastic bikes are perfectly suited, but dual bikes up to ktm 990 also welcome. Very rocky route with river crossings. Fair amount of skill needed for this one. One of the best rides you will find in Limpopo. Overview of the riding: Day 1: we left Tzaneen fairly early and then did some dirt to the Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve gate, paid our fee's and then found a nice cool spot near a river. Immediately the fire was started to get some boerewors going for a light lunch and beer, while we waited for the lunch to be ready we followed the stream to a near by waterfall. After lunch we headed towards the infamous Orrie Baragwanath Pass, definitely a nice challenging track, with plenty switch backs, sheer drops and plenty rocks - exactly what we came for. Part of day 1 was to cross a fair number of the 23 river crossings, before we got to the camp for the night. We arrived at the Mohlapitsi wild camp at around 4pm and the 1st order of business was a dip in the river, with full kit, it was a scorcher and an ice cold beer topped off an incredible day of riding. Next was to setup camp, this was my 1st camping trip on a bike, thankfully all the gear was carried in the support vehicle. The setup was comfortable, but would change dramatically before the next motocamping trip and again after that one, to get to the point that I'm not at - more about that in future posts. We were treated to an incredible bush dinner and retired fairly early, after a hard days riding and a even more epic riding the following day. Day 2: We had breakfast, packed up camp and got ont othe route by 9ish. The route had even more epic river crossings and the route up to the Serala plateau, in the Wolkberge, was some of the best riding of the trip. Riding Gear: Helmet – Airoh Strycker Helmet Boots – Alpinestar Tech 7 (Enduro version) Pants – Troy Lee Scout GP Pants Body Armour – Leatt 3DF Airfit Hybrid Body Armour Gloves – Five TFX3 Airflow Adventure Gloves