Day 1: Matatiele to Tafeni Cottages Distance 67.9 km Altitude 1,459 m to 1,694 m Ascent / Descent +1,185 m / -980 m Terrain Gravel road, rolling Start Matatiele Finish Tafeni Cottages, +-7 km north of Swartberg Cold out of Matatiele. Properly cold , jacket on before the wheels turned. Mist sitting low across the Eastern Cape hills, everything damp and green and grey. The kind of morning that makes you question the alarm, then reminds you why you set it. The route followed quiet gravel roads toward Swartberg. Rolling and undulating throughout. Nothing savage, but nothing flat either. It's the kind of terrain that warms the legs slowly and tests whether the setup works before anything serious begins. The bike, the bags, the kit. All of it getting its first honest read. Day 1 always tells you something you didn't know. At Swartberg, a small spaza shop provided the essentials: white bread, processed cheese, polony, and Purity baby food for dessert. Standard bikepacking cuisine. The shop manager, Raza, an Indian immigrant fluent in Xhosa and Zulu, helped track down a local contact, Tarryn from Tafeni Cottages. In small Eastern Cape towns, the local knowledge network matters more than any app. Finished the day at Tafeni Cottages on an idyllic farm, roughly 7 km north of Swartberg. I stayed in a Polo-themed room. A quiet evening to a solid first day.