So many people think that cosmos always grew in South Africa and did not ever come from anywhere else – in other words that it is indigenous.

Cosmos seeds in fact came to South Africa in the stock feed from Mexico, brought over for the horses during the South African Anglo-Boer War.

The higher I rode and pushed my bike up the Moteng Pass, the more delicious the winter peaches from Ntate Makhoabenyane’s tree tasted.

By the time I was a third of the way up, small morning clouds had grown into huge puffs that were turning grey and looking angry.

But I just plodded on.

I stopped at a waterfall to take a swim. It seemed silly seeing as I feared it could rain but right then I was hot and tired.

If the heavens opened, I would do something about it when that happened. Luckily, no rain fell but the clouds remained angry-looking.

Back on the road, just near the biggest waterfall on the pass, I suddenly had company. Three blanketed horsemen were making there way down to the bottom.

Unlike other horsemen I had seen they had no saddles and rode their horses bareback. They also used home-made bridles and reins, made from plaited grass.

I shared the last of Ntate Makhoabenyane’s peaches with them. Then they went on down hill and I went on, up hill. Whew!

Image: Duncan Guy, CC-BY-SA

WHAT DO YOU THINK? What do you think of horsemen who are able to tackle southern Africa’s highest mountains bareback and using reins made of plaited grass?