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Published: January 18th 2006
Storms River
View from our hostelJanuary 12, 2006
On monday we spent the entire day on the Baz Bus, traveling from Cape Town to Storms River. The entire drive was amazing, with beautiful scenery all along the Garden Route. It was really interesting seeing all the stops along the way, getting a feel for each town. Before stopping at Storms River, our driver took us to the highest bungee jump in the world. It’s 216 meters high, over a huge gorge. We drove over the bridge, and that was enough excitement for me. I would seriously have to consider it, even if they were going to pay me. I couldn’t believe how much people would pay to jump off that platform.
We arrived in a sleepy Storms River. It was beautiful, with mountain views at our doorstep. It was tiny though. It was pretty much shut down for the night. There was one grocery store, a restaurant, and two hostels. There was an adventure store that organized tours, and the one road was also the road that led into the national park, Tsitsikamma. We took advantage of the quiet town to relax, after the craziness of Cape Town. We hiked through the park one
day, and on the second rented mountain bikes. At first I was cursing John the entire time, as the bike trail is just a huge downhill slope for ten minutes, then a huge climb back up. After we navigated our way down the steep, rocky path, and had started the climb back up, I started to come around. Once at the top (after a break, halfway up), the views were stunning and we eventually made our way out to the river’s mouth. The ocean view was worth all the work! We got back in the early afternoon, convinced that our bums would never be the same. I thought we’d need those inflatable donut pillows to sit on for the next week.
The hostel was very nice, and we had mountain views from our bedroom window. There was a beautiful backyard, with something that they called a pool, but resembled a lagoon. We didn’t go in, but did sit around in the backyard in the hammocks for a few hours each day. We made our own meals while in Storms River, in an attempt to get back on budget. It was nice to have a break from the craziness of
Cape Town, before heading to the beach!
January 15, 2006
We rode the bus from Storms River to Jeffrey’s Bay on Wednesday night. Jeffrey’s Bay is a big beach town, with tons of surfers and a bunch of Billabong, Quiksilver and Rip Curl outlets. The morning after we arrived was beautiful, sunny and warm…perfect for the beach. Unfortunately, I had taken the advice of Magueye and had only brought a one-piece bathing suit to Senegal. I thought that we wouldn’t be in South Africa until the winter, so I didn’t bring a bikini, so we spent all morning in the outlets, looking for a bathing suit for me, and boardshorts for John. This is the only kind of shopping that John doesn’t mind doing (because he actually likes looking at stuff for himself!), and we ended up leaving with quite a bit of stuff. That afternoon, we took a long walk down the beach, and were amazed that we didn’t see a single surfer. We thought that J-Bay was the place for great surfing, but we quickly found out that the best waves come in the winter. The beach was gorgeous though, and the water was much warmer
than Cape Town!
The next day we woke up early, hoping to do our laundry (in REAL washing machines!!!!) before heading to the beach for the day. John decided that he was going to try surfing anyway, since he didn’t really need the huge waves that the professionals do. After the laundry and lunch, we lathered up with sunscreen and headed to the beach, which was just meters from our hostel. We found ourselves in something of a sandstorm. The wind was blowing so hard that the sand was blasting the skin off of us. It was painful to be on the beach, and we realized why no one else was down there. We tried to sit for a few minutes, deciding if it was worth it to rent surf boards. We walked up the beach for awhile, to see if we could find a more protected area. While we were walking John spotted a dolphin in the water. We sat for awhile and watched, and must have seen twenty dolphins swimming and playing in the water in front of us. I was so pumped! We decided to put the surfing off for another day, and just hang out
by the pool at the hostel instead. We spent some time on the internet before heading out for a nice dinner. We had been out a couple of times in Cape Town, but this dinner was incredible. John had seafood and I had a steak that was incredible! It was great to have really good food, after all that pasta and pizza! We also sampled some of South Africa’s wine, which we also really approve of! John was really adventurous and ordered smoked crocodile and quail eggs for his appetizer. We thought Dave would be proud! I even tried some, which was a big step for me! Even after desert and a bottle of wine, the whole dinner came to only $40. We were amazed.
Our last day in J Bay was cloudy and rainy, so we looked through the shops one more time, spent some time on the internet and relaxed at the hostel. Our trip that night on the Baz Bus was not long, and we arrived in Port Elizabeth by 10pm.
January 17
We only had one day in Port Elizabeth, because it’s a stop over town for the bus. We arrived late at night,
but it leaves for the next leg of the trip in the morning. The lady who ran the hostel gave us a ride to the waterfront where the main beach is, in the morning. We laid on the beach for a few hours, then headed up to the boardwalk to find lunch. We looked around that area for awhile, trying to keep out of the sun for a few hours. We returned to the beach for another swim and some tanning, to find that the wind had changed and the whole beach smelled like sewage. It was too much to take, and after an hour we decided to take a walk along the boardwalk. We looked at a bunch of the craft markets, trying to decide if any of the stuff looked different than the ‘one of a kind’ stuff they were selling in Senegal (or Pier One for that matter). There was some interesting stuff, and the afternoon passed quickly. We went to the movies that night, and saw The Family Stone. It was weird watching a Christmas movie and seeing the snow and stuff. It’s so hard for us to believe that everyone at home is actually freezing
East London
John with the lion cub right now.
We didn’t have very long in Port Elizabeth, but we were okay with that. There didn’t seem like there was very much to do, and one day was enough for us to spend there.
January 18, 2006
We arrived in East London after hearing mixed reviews about it’s charms. Some people we had talked to told us not to spend very long here, and we have to admit, we agree with them. It’s really pretty charmless, and even a bit drab. We have a great hostel, right on the beach, with a little cabin that looks out onto the ocean. There’s a lookout, where you can sit up and watch the waves. We tried to go into the ocean yesteday, but it was absolutely freezing, and spent most of the afternoon watching the little kids go in instead. It’s amazing what they can withstand. John went in briefly, but it was purely for bragging rights, and he was out faster than you would believe.
We had a great day today. We went to a Lion Park nearby, where there are tons of animals, including lion cubs that you can pet and hold. We saw a
crocodile, and a bunch of 80 year-old tortoises that were absolutely huge. Then we spent some time with the lion cubs, who were absolutely adorable. We saw some year-old lions also, and their parents. All the lions are hand reared, and are eventually sold to zoos or small game parks, because they can’t hunt themselves. There were also cheetahs, bengal tigers (they are breeding them here because they are almost extinct in India and Pakistan) and giraffes (which we never saw). We spent a long time with the cubs, playing with them and petting them. It was incredible to be able to touch them and hold them. Well worth the trip!
Tonight is our last night in East London. Tomorrow we’re heading to Port St Johns, which we’ve heard really good things about. We have three days there before heading off to Durban for two, then Jo’burg. We can’t believe that our time in South Africa is almost finished, it seems like we just arrived! On the other hand, Dakar seems like a million years ago…
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Marian
non-member comment
Oh my god, those lion cubs are the cutest things I've ever seen! I can't believe you got to hold them--I am very jealous. And nice flip flops in that one picture. Glad they're working out for you ;) I saw the Family Stone last week and loved it. I haven't cried that hard in a long time. Diane Keaton always blows me away and I know I'll like any movie she's in. I was glad to see a Christmas movie because it really didn't feel very Christmassy this year, since we got home right as it was happening. Alex will just die when I show him the pictures of the cubs.