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Published: August 9th 2007
Big Blue
This scene in my hostel depicts a fleet of Dutch sailing ships, similar to the Europa.There was only one thing going through my mind as I watched the 'Blue Pointer' pull up to the dock. It was a line from one of my favorite movies and it seemed fitting at the time: "You're going to need a bigger boat!" The sun was just beginning to show itself behind the distant mountains when we pulled out of the harbor at Simon's Town, passed the small lighthouse and headed into the rolling waters of False Bay. Our destination was a small group of rocks jutting up out of the water called Seal Island and it was about half an hour away by boat. We motored our way towards the heart of the bay while we watched the sun fight a valiant, but loosing battle with the thick clouds that were over head. The small rolling waves were minuscule compared to what we had sailing on the Europa, but they were still too much for one of the people on board and he spent a large part of the voyage in the confines of the boat's head. There was an atmosphere of cautious excitement on board as a small, low profile pile of rocks materialized out of the gloomy,
Dry Dock
This is the bark Europa, my former home, getting a new paint job. early morning light in front of us and the strong smell that filled the air told us we had arrived at Seal Island. As we got closer, we could see that the island was completely covered in seals and the sky was filled with seabirds and the symphonic songs of the sea filled the salt-soaked air - It was a beautiful scene, but we had come to False Bay to see one of the ocean's more mysterious and misunderstood creatures, the seals and the birds were just a bonus. The seals on the shore and in the shallows surrounding the small island acted just like their Antarctic brethren, but once they left the island and headed out to sea their playfulness ceased and they started swimming erratically with quick and purposeful moves, almost like they were competing in a race. Out in front of the boat we spotted a lone seal swimming towards the island in a less hurried fashion. Suddenly there was a violent explosion in the water in front of us. The seal that had been swimming there had vanished in a large, red-tinted splash of white water and gray fins. There was a brief moment of thrashing
Dry Dock (2)
It doesn't look all that bad despite hitting an iceberg. fins and splashing water and then all was silent and the surface was calm, all that remained of the doomed seal was a small, reddish streak on the waves and our memories, nothing more! We had been witnesses to a seldom seen, somewhat violent side of nature and it was exactly what had brought us all together on our small boat in the middle of False Bay so early in the morning. We had spotted our first great white shark of the day and we got to see, first hand, how violent they could be! Perhaps all the stories that labeled these magnificent predators as mindless killing machines were correct. Perhaps the movie 'Jaws' was not that far off - I somehow doubted it, but I was there to see the great white with my own eyes and to form my own opinion about their true nature. We circled Seal Island once dragging a carpet cutout seal decoy behind us and we quickly had a small white shark come out and investigate. It didn't take long for the shark to figure out that it was not a real seal, but an impostor, and it went on its way without so
On Table Mountain (1)
One of the many beautiful lizards we saw on top of Table Mountain. much as a nibble - I was told that they blindly attack everything on the surface, especially if it looks like a seal! Once our circle of the island was complete we dropped anchor near the south shore, right in the path of the natural chum line that perpetually flows on the currents away from seal island. We dropped two lines overboard. One of the lines had the carpet cut out of a seal on it and the other had a large chunk of tuna at its end - We were not chumming, but we still had to attract the large fish to the boat. We immediately had another shark come in to investigate. It grabbed the seal decoy and dragged it under the waves, but it quickly realized its error and and spit it out - I was surprised that it seemed to ignore the tuna! The sharks were definitely around and they seemed playful, so we prepared the cage and dropped it into the water - It was time to go swimming!
There were two big sharks swimming around the boat, so the captain asked for volunteers to be the first one into the cage. The water
On Table Mountain (2)
One of the many beautiful lizards we saw on top of Table Mountain. was dark blue and somewhat forbidding and it seemed like nobody else was interested in being the first into the water, so I stepped forward, put on a wet suit and walked over to the side of the boat where the cage was - It was, after all, the reason I was there! I had looked closely at the cage before we left the dock in Simon's Town and I had been comfortable with its construction, but, as I sat on the rail preparing to slide down into the unknown, murky depths amongst some of the world's most feared predators, I started to question my original analysis of the cage - It was suddenly looking more like a tiny tuna can bobbing up and down in the water just waiting to be opened! Just as I slipped into the water one of the largest can-openers I have ever seen swam by right next to the cage! The first thing I did as I entered the cage was the exact thing I was told not to do, "under any circumstances"! I offered up a tasty morsel, in the form of my foot, to the shark when I accidentally stuck my leg
On Table Mountain (3)
The view of the city from on top was amazing. out of the small opening in the cage - Luckily my foot looked less like a seal than our carpet cutout and the shark wasn't interested! I was quickly joined in the cage by my fried Allen and the lid was closed on us! We only had snorkels, so we had to hold our breath when we were down in the cage, which was difficult to do at first due to the cold water and the massive, toothy fish that were about, but we quickly figured out what to do. At first all we had to look at were the small fish that were slowly devouring the large chunk of tuna and a bunch of small, glowing jellyfish that were all around us in the cage. The scenery rapidly changed when the small fish instantly disappeared without a trace and a large, torpedo-shaped form grew from the shadows and swam right for us. I could easily see its large, black eye as it surveyed us in the cage and its huge jaws, filled with row after row of serrated, triangular teeth, were slightly opened, poised to devour its next meal. The great white turned well before reaching the cage and
On Table Mountain (4)
The views away from the city were even better. then it swam by, no differently than any of the other sharks I have been in the water with, and then it disappeared into the gloomy shadows from whence it came. Our first great white visitor was just a juvenile, measuring only about three meters in length, and it didn't exhibit any of the mindless behavior popular stories led us to expect. The small fish appeared just as quickly as they had disappeared and they resumed their feast. We quickly learned that we could usually tell if sharks were around by just watching the small fish - If they were there gorging themselves then the sharks weren't there and vise versa. A few minutes passed without seeing anything and then the lid of the cage came up and we were told to get out - The boat had slipped its anchor and we had to reposition it. About ten minutes later we were back in the water watching our second large shark swim around us. We were in about forty feet of water and, when the sun was shining, we could just make out the sandy bottom. The small fish were still feasting away, so I was staring at the
The Orange Breasted Sun Bird
This is one of the most beautiful birds I saw during my walk on Table Mountain. bottom, humming the theme to Jaws to myself and waiting for our next visitor. Suddenly another massive shadow came into view below us. The shadow soon turned into an enormous great white shark, one that made our previous visitors look more like guppies, and it gracefully moved its tail back and fourth as it slowly propelled itself through the water along the bottom just below us. It never even looked in our direction, it paid no attention to the seal cutout or the tuna and then it disappeared again into the gloomy shadows. We had another small shark swim by and then the huge shark returned, circled the boat a few times near the surface and then it disappeared for good. Our time in the cage had come to an end, so we climbed back up on deck and gave the next group their chance in the water.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding cage diving with great white sharks. Most of the people who are against it derive their argument from a perceived rise in great white attacks since cage diving became popular. They feel that we are teaching the sharks to associate food with people, but,
The Cape of Good Hope
Looking towards the Cape of Good Hope from the top of Table Mountain. while that may be true, their argument ignores the fact that more and more people are placing themselves in the path of these sharks every year - Some of the best surfing beaches and diving spots around the world are also prime hunting grounds for the great white shark. It is also true that most of the cage diving operators use questionable practices, mainly chumming, which is the process of throwing buckets of fish blood and parts or fish oil into the water to attract the sharks to the area and to get them stirred up into a feeding frenzy. These practices virtually guarantee that the divers will get close up views of the sharks and that those views will be of the menacing killing machines that they went there expecting to find. I am personally against chumming, mainly because it whips the sharks into an unnatural state, so I spent some time looking for an operator that did not chum. My research lead me to African White Shark Eco-Charters and their list of clients, including many of the world's top documentary makers, told me that I had found the right place! While we did attract the sharks to the
The Decoy
This is the carpet cutout of a seal that we used to draw the sharks into the boat in False Bay. boat with the seal decoy and the tuna, we did not need to attract them to the area. The waters around False Bay have a naturally high density of great white sharks, thanks to the large seal colony, so, instead of chumming, we just dropped the cage into the water where there were already a lot of sharks. Instead of terrifying, bait-chasing leaps from the water with open jaws and gleaming white, triangular teeth, we got to see the sharks naturally hunting, which was far more impressive anyway! Instead of adrenaline pumping, cage-attacking encounters with 'mindless killing machines' we got to see beautiful sharks swim past us in a fashion no different than any other shark I have been in the water with - In fact, I think I would have had no problem being in the water with the sharks that visited us without the protection of the cage! My impressions of the great white shark have been greatly changed as a result of my cage diving experience. There is no doubt in my mind that, under the right circumstances, the great white would be a very dangerous fish, but I also think that, unless you decorate yourself like
The Shark's Fin
Our decoy worked and the Great White Sharks came to play. their main food (surfers and SCUBA divers look a lot like seals from underneath), or swim in a pool of pureed fish then you have little to worry about from these magnificent animals - They are not like they appear in the movies! That being said, a few weeks after we went diving I saw a story on the TV about a surfer who was attacked by two different great whites at the same time while he was riding a wave at a local beach and the video was amazing - The story was about his triumphant return to the surfing scene at the same beach the attack had happened at. Of course, even in that case the sharks only bit him, why didn't they eat him? It is because we are not what they are hunting and they knew it right away!
By the time I took the plunge into the cold waters of False Bay I had been in Cape Town for just over a week. The previous two months on the Europa had been wonderful, but the constant motion of the ship coupled with the unusual sleep schedule on board made R&R my number one priority.
That's Not a Seal!
Our decoy worked and the Great White Sharks came to play. I spent most of the eight days I was in Cape Town leisurely exploring the city on foot. In the evenings I would join my friends for dinner at one of the many excellent restaurants in the area. One night we went out to a restaurant that my father had read about in a gourmet magazine back in California. The taxi driver pulled up in front of a small place on a poorly lit street in the BoKaap and asked us to stay in the car while he went in to find out if they had any tables available - I don't know if that meant the area was dangerous or that the restaurant was normally full! The restaurant was completely empty, so we went in and got a table. Under normal circumstances I avoid eating at empty restaurants, but we were there under strange circumstances and when we saw the menu we were all glad we had decided to stay! The restaurant was called Biesmiellah and its cuisine was Cape Malay. The decor was not what you would expect from a restaurant mentioned in such a big culinary magazine - It was covered with mirrors and fake wood paneling,
Too Many Shark Pictures?
Our decoy worked and the Great White Sharks came to play. much like a '70s diner would have been in the US. On the wall behind our table there were two beautiful Islamic murals and a large piece of wooden trim carved with Arabic script. We had a hard time ordering because everything looked so good. In the end we settled on ordering all of the starters to share and one main dish each - A lot of food for three people! A huge platter of food came out with an assortment of spicy sauces and the feast commenced. An hour later we were all sitting there completely stuffed and very satisfied. The food was delicious and plentiful and absolutely worthy of its mention in the gourmet magazine - I was surprised that nobody I had asked in town had ever heard of the restaurant (except for the taxi driver).
One of the must see attractions in Cape Town is the view of the city and the surrounding landscape from the top of Table Mountain, a stunning, flat-topped mountain that dominates the skyline. Most adventurous travelers reach the top by climbing up one of its steep trails to the summit. Keeping with my plans for R&R, I opted to take
Here is One More
Here is a good comparison on size. the cable car up the steep ramparts to the top. The view from the rotating cable car was impressive and somewhat exciting in itself, so I was glad we did it. We spent most of the day on top exploring the many trails and walkways that crisscross the summit plateau. The views of the city and the Cape peninsula were impressive! We spent most of our time up there chasing after colorful lizards and birds and there were several beautiful types to be seen - My favorite was the orange breasted sun bird. We followed a long loop trail through the swampy heart of the plateau and then we sat on some rocks for a while and took in the view. The trail we followed back to the cable car was narrow and beautifully exposed as it wound its way along a small ledge at the edge of the sheer cliffs on the city side of the mountain, which was a highlight of the day for me!
One of the more time consuming tasks that I had to deal with in Cape Town was getting a visa for South Africa. Per the official rules, arriving in South Africa on
Swimming with Jaws!
This picture was taken by my friend Alan while I fumbled with my low quality disposable camera. a boat of any kind means that you get a visa as a 'sailor' instead of as a 'tourist'. Since I was traveling out of the country overland, I did not have a plane ticket out of South Africa, which made things even more difficult for me. Because of my problems I remained signed on to the Europa as crew for the week that the ship was in dry dock and I had to visit the ship on multiple occasions to get my details worked out. In the end I was allowed into the country, but only after being forced to buy a plane ticket I wasn't going to use and getting yelled at by one of the least friendly immigrations officers I have ever had to deal with (outside of America that is!) At one point I was told that I would not be allowed into the country because I didn't have paper plane tickets and that I would have to accompany the boat up to Holland instead of staying in Africa!
During my many visits to the dry dock I got to watch the Europa get transformed from a rusty, time worn vessel into a gleaming, newly
One Last Shark!
Ok, it is actually me. A shark would have been much better looking. painted masterpiece. On the day preceding my plunge into the shark-infested waters of False Bay I walked down to the same quay site we had tied up to on our arrival in Cape Town. The Europa was there and the new crew was on board and the new passengers stood there with the same eager, slightly overwhelmed grin on their faces that I must have had on a similar day back in March in Ushuaia. I stood on the quay site with my remaining friends from our voyage and said farewell to the Europa one last time - With the blast of the ships horn and some tossed roses, the Europa sailed away!
My plans for Africa were somewhat flexible - Basically I had no plans, so it was an easy decision to make when my friends Alan and Steph, my former crew mates on the ship, asked if I wanted to split costs on a rental car for a month in South Africa. We had worked out all of the details and we picked up the car the day after our dive with the white sharks. With some difficulty, we managed to shove all of our stuff into
False Bay
False Bay is one of the best places in the world to see the great white shark. the tiny trunk of our white VW chico, which we named Vallery (Val), and we set off into the wilds of Africa!
Our first day's drive was a short one and we made good time despite having been away from driving for several months. We pulled into the Dirtopia Lodge, located in the heart of the beautiful Stellenbosch wine country, and checked in by mid afternoon. I think all three of us were a bit surprised when the owner of the lodge led us down to a beautiful house surrounded by lush gardens and vineyards and then showed us all of the amenities of what amounted to our own wine lodge, complete with pool and braai area - The advantages of traveling during the off season were starting to reveal themselves! We were so excited about our home for the night that we scrapped our plans of touring all of the wineries in the region. Instead we decided to head into the town of Stellenbosch, buy some supplies and return to the house for our first braai (barbecue) in South Africa. As we cooked we watched one of the most amazing sunsets imaginable - Looking across the vineyards, the
The Cage
This is the cage that I was in while I was in the water. It looked strong until it was time to get in. sky over Table Mountain turned a fiery red, accented with shades of yellow, blue and orange and then slowly faded into a brilliant blanket of stars!
We were on the road early the next morning. Our ultimate destination was on the southern coast at a town called Hermanus, but we took the longer, scenic route. We spent most of the morning driving along winding, mist-shrouded roads through the lovely hills of the wine country. By the time we reached the picturesque town of Franschhoek, about mid morning, the clouds had been replaced by deep blue skies, so we decided to stop and have a cup of coffee at one of the sidewalk cafes in town. Later the road climbed steeply into the Overburg Mountains and we wound our way through some spectacular mountain scenery along a series of steep, hairpin curves and then we emerged onto the coast. We joined the coastal road on the east shore of False Bay and we followed the beautifully rugged coastline for the rest of the day. We made a lunch stop at a penguin colony where we got to get close to several African Penguins, which was a lot of fun even
Simon's Town Lighthouse
This is the small lighthouse at the mouth of the harbor in Simon's Town. if we had seen a lot of penguins already! We passed through Hermanus and headed all the way out to Gansbaai, but we decided that Hermanus looked like the better place to stay and we headed back there for the evening.
Our next day on the road was filled with grinding gears and near stalls as I took my first turn at driving. Surprisingly I had no problems with driving on the wrong side of the road, but it seemed like an impossible task to teach my left arm to properly shift the gears. Luckily most of the roads I drove on for my first few days were rural, so I was able to work my way through my inept driving ability and eventually I had the car (mostly) under control. We wound our way through kilometer after kilometer of pastureland and then the ocean appeared in front of us, a short while later we came to the end of the road. We climbed up a series of creaking, wooden, staircase-like ladders, gaining floor after lonely floor as we ascended the tall round tower and then we emerged at the top of the castle-like Cape Agulhas lighthouse. We stood
My Own Place in the Vinyards
This is a picture of the Dirtopia Lodge, which we had all to ourselves in Stellenbosch. next to the ancient light, now powered by electricity and somewhat obsolete, and we stared out across two oceans at once - Cape Agulhas is the southern most tip of the African Continent and it serves as the official dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. My love of lighthouses forced me to linger for a while on top - It is not often in today's litigious society that you actually get the chance to climb to the top of one of these magnificent and historically important structures! We drove a little further down the coast on a sandy, potholed road to the actual cape. I made sure I was in line with the center of the plaque that designated the exact line and then I plunged my hands into the cold water, one hand in the Atlantic Ocean and one hand in the Indian Ocean. After a quick lunch in view of the waves, we were on the road again. The scenery was about the same all day, but occasionally we got a special treat like a field full of ostriches or a small group of extremely endangered blue cranes, we even saw a few mongooses. By late
Stellenbosch
Grapes on the vine near my lodge. afternoon we pulled into the sleepy seaside town of Whitsand. The lodging gods were smiling on us again, because we ended up having our own beach house!
Our journey along the coast continued early the next morning. We drove back down the long, straight road that joins Whitsand with the coast highway and then we turned east. We followed the coast highway, which was a long way off of the coast, for most of the morning, stopping at an aloe 'plant' for a cup of coffee. At about the time our stomachs started telling us the time, Mossel Bay appeared in front of us. We found a nice restaurant with lovely ocean views and a warm, sun-soaked patio and we ate lunch under a beautiful cerulean sky. After lunch we took a quick stroll through the garden-like Bartholomeo Dias Museum complex where we saw the famous post office tree and a nice shell museum and then we hit the road again, this time putting the coast behind us. We took a wrong turn in George and ended up lost in the heart of George's large township during what seemed to be rush hour - It ended up being an
An Amazing Sunset Over the Vinyards
We watched the sun go down in spectacular fasion as we did our first braai in South Africa. interesting glimpse into life in a township, so I suppose it was a right turn after all! From George the road wound its way up a steep series of switchbacks and then disappeared into the clouds. We emerged into a lovely valley of golden grass and sunny blue skies - The misty clouds hung over the summits of the mountains we had just crossed, but they seemed to be barred from entering the valley! We arrived in Oudtshoorn a short while later and we found a place to stay. In typical Oudtshoorn style, we enjoyed a delicious ostrich braai that evening and then we exchanged our stories from the road with the other people in the hostel - We unexpectedly ran into a friend from the Europa at the hostel, so we had a lot to talk about!
Oudtshoorn has a lot of wonderful sights surrounding it, but it is most famous as South Africa's Ostrich Capital and there are an amazing array of ostrich based activities available. I was excited to be in Oudtshoorn. I have always loved ostriches and ever since I was young I have had a 'Joust' induced urge to ride one (Joust was a
African Penguins
We stopped to see the African penguins on the coast near Hermanus. bad Atari game). I was excited as our ostrich tour started at the Oudtshoorn Ostrich Farm. We started with a quick talk on the ostrich industry and then we headed out and met our first ostrich. The ostrich is the world's largest bird, it is flightless and it is a fairly dangerous animal with its strong legs and sharp claws on its feet - They have been known to kill attacking lions in the wild! We got to feed and kiss the odd looking birds and then we all walked to the riding paddock. I was excited, because my time had finally come! Our guide told us about the history of ostrich riding and explained the procedures and then she asked for volunteers. I jumped up quickly and offered to be the first in the saddle. A grimace formed on our guide's face as she searched for the appropriate words and then, finding no easy way to say it, she said, "I'm sorry, but you are too big!" My childhood dreams were crushed! She told me that I could sit on one, but that the jarring motion of riding one could injure the ostrich - I briefly considered purchasing one
African Penguins
We were there while the chicks were still at home, so it was a lively place. of the giraffe-sized ostriches I had seen in the fields on the way into town. They dwarfed the ones we had available to ride and they would have had no problem with my weight, but I didn't want to deal with the hassles of getting my ostrich on the plane and through customs back home so I abandoned the idea. I could feel the ground shudder beneath my feet as I strolled the walk of shame and prepared to 'sit' on my ostrich. Instead of a saddle, ostrich riding uses a blanket over the feathers to prevent the rider from pulling them out when they fall off - I learned later that falling off is inevitable! The first step in riding an ostrich is capturing it without getting kicked and then placing a blindfold over its head - Once their eyes are covered they become very docile and controllable. Next they are led to a small 'V' shaped corral. The corral holds them in place while the rider climbs up and tucks his legs under the bird's wings. Finally, the ostrich is led out of the corral and the blindfold is removed. The bird takes off running and you control
The Cape Agulhas Light
We climbed to the top of this lighthouse to look out over the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the same time. the direction the bird goes in by gently pushing its neck from side to side, pulling back to stop - Just like the reins on a horse. As I already mentioned, I only got as far as the sitting stage in my ambition to ride an ostrich, but even that was a great experience - I was amazed at how well suited the ostrich was to riding and how warm the bird was! We left the riding corral and went to an adjacent one where we got to experience the 'Neck Massage'. Basically, you hold a big bucket of ostrich food in front of you, about chest high, and you back up to the fence and wait. Within seconds several ostriches approach and reach over your shoulders and around your neck with their amazingly flexible necks to get to the food - It was a strange feeling, but a very enjoyable experience!
After a quick display on the strength of the ostrich egg - I wasn't too heavy to stand on them - we set off for our next destination of the day, Cango Caves. From the descriptions I had heard about the caves I already knew that they
were heavily developed, complete with sidewalks, stairs and handrails. I wasn't expecting a grand adventure in an unknown, subterranean grotto, but any day spent underground is a good day! Our guide had an amazingly eccentric English accent and the way he described the formations and told jokes added a level of hilarity to the tour. We entered into a large cavern with some amazing formations and there we learned about the cavern's former life as a concert venue. We proceeded up a steep metal ramp-like staircase and then through a series of progressively tighter passages and rooms, some of which were a difficult squeeze for me, and we saw several nice formations, but then the passage ended in front of us. Our way was blocked by a large cave formation, but our guide insisted that we continue on - He pointed to a tiny hole at the base of the formation and directed the first person through. Several commands were shouted into the hole to guide the people through and, from the sounds of it, it was not just another tight passage. My time came and I went face first into the small, dark hole. The passage turned steeply up
Cape Agulhas
This is the southern most tip of Africa and is the only terrestrial place on the planet that you can put your hands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the same time. and turned into a smooth-walled chimney like tube that was just large enough for me to squeeze through. It was not a difficult climb, but I had to find the hand holds and foot holds by feeling around in the dark. I made my way up the tube, pushing my large camera bag above me, and then I emerged into a small room at the top where I passed the bag off to my friend and finished the climb. Next came a belly crawl along a smooth, flat rock and a slide down a smooth slope called the mail slot and then we were back in the main part of the cave. We quickly traversed the tight passages and the big rooms and we emerged in the fresh mountain air and warm sunshine. The tour through the cave turned out to be a lot of fun. It was definitely very developed, but it was developed in a way that retained some of the adventure that is inherent in cave exploration.
Instead of heading straight back to Oudtshoorn the way we had come, we turned the other direction. We had decided to take the long way back to town. Our
In the Saddle Again
So I was too big to ride an ostrich. My childhood dream was crushed, but they did let me sit on one. road wound its way through some lovely mountain scenery for a while and then we turned off of the sealed road onto a rough gravel road. We climbed up a series of steep switchbacks, our little car groaning as we went. We stopped at a turnoff with a nice view and then we continued up. Eventually we could go no higher, we had reached the Swartzburg Pass. Looking back in the direction we had come from, we could see our road follow the contour of the mountain as it descended until the tiny gray ribbon disappeared around a curve far below. Ahead of us there was a sweeping view of mountainous canyon land that stretched as far as I could see and it looked like the road went right through the heart of it. We spent the rest of the day traversing the spectacular landscape, finding new and amazing vistas around every dusty corner, and we pulled back into Oudtshoorn just before sunset. We finished off the day watching Gandhi in the hostel's common room.
We were on the toad again early the next morning. We dropped a friend from the hostel off at the bus station in George
Beautiful?
I do believe that the ostrich falls into the 'it is so ugly that it is beautiful' category. and then we were on the coast road again. The section of coast we were driving along was known as the Garden Route and it is normally one of the most visited destinations in South Africa, but luckily it was the slow season! We stopped for lunch at the Knysna Headlands, which was a beautiful and rugged set of cliffs that open up into the ocean, and then we headed all the way to Storm's River Village in the Tsitsikamma area. We found a place to stay at the Didge, an interesting and very atmospheric hostel in Storm's River. We spent the next day exploring the forested splendors of the national park. We did a few nice walks along the wild coast, which would be a surfer's dream if it weren't for the rocks (and sharks!) the scenic highlight in Tsitsikamma for me, as wonderful as the coastline was, was not the crashing ocean waves, but the Storm's River Mouth canyon. We took a small boat journey into the canyon and I was immediately impressed by the sheer walls and the narrow channel between them - It was an amazing sight to see! When we weren't out exploring the the
An Ostrich Neck Massage
This was a strange feeling, but it was a lot of fun. area we spent our time enjoying the atmosphere back at the hostel - There were nightly feasts around the campfire where everyone gathered together to share stories of adventure. We were constantly entertained by the hostel's crazy dogs. There was Milo, the tiny dog that was clearly in charge of everything and there was the needy, spaniel-like dog that always wanted to be petted and then there was Tiger. Tiger was the demonically energetic dog who always acted before the thought. He was famous for fetching flaming sticks out of the fire, in fact, all he wanted to do was fetch, regardless of time of day or item being fetched - Excluding the flaming stick, I think his favorite was a worn out Frisbee or a bottle cap. One night we were sitting around the fire and Tiger was faithfully fetching every time the stick was thrown, flaming or not. One time the stick landed in the frog pond and, following a big splash, Tiger returned wet, but with the stick. Another time the stick got stuck in the top of a bamboo thicket - Instead of abandoning the search, he ran and leaped into the bamboo about four feet
Cango Caves
This is one of the many amazing formations in Cango Caves. off of the ground, completely disregarding his own well being. He thrashed around a bit and then came crashing to the ground in a cloud of bamboo leaves with the stick in his mouth! We ended up spending two nights in Tsitsikamma and then we set off on an epic drive to the north and the heart of diamond country.
We traversed over seven hundred kilometers of beautifully scenic African bushland. Large groups of vervet monkeys, a few large eagles and our first antelopes came out to the road to greet us and, while we knew we would be seeing all those animals in great numbers in the coming weeks, it was exciting to see our first African animals. We arrived in the town of Kimberley just after dark and we found lodging in the old Greatbatch house - Greatbatch was an important architect in Kimberley who built several of Kimberley's most important buildings during the diamond boom.
Kimberley is the home of the 'Big Hole', which is the largest hand dug hole in the world. When diamonds were discovered in the region (a few children found a pretty stone in the river) a diamond rush started that
Cango Caves (2)
This is another of the many amazing formations in Cango Caves. drew entrepreneurs of the likes of Cecile Rhodes to the area. Later, powerful companies like Debeers sprung up from the earth and the diamond industry as we know it today was born. Today most of the big mines in the Kimberley area have been closed down and De beers only maintains a 'ceremonial' headquarters in the area, but the diamond tourism industry is alive and well. We were in Kimberley to see the Big Hole, but we found a lot more than we were expecting.
When you read about the Big Hole all of the descriptions help you form a mental image of a big hole in the ground. It is when you walk out to the end of the cantilevered platform and you stare down into the yawning, water-filled abyss below your feet for the first time that you realize that no description could adequately portray its immense size! The visible hole has vertical walls that taper out at the top into angled slopes and, at the bottom, disappear into the dark green waters that now conceal the hole's inconceivable depth of nearly four hundred meters. With the modern city serving as a backdrop, the Big Hole is
Up the Swartberg Pass
This was an amazing drive and our first test for our car Val. a truly impressive sight! The museum also contains an excellent re-creation of what the underground mining was like, complete with a simulated trip down into the mine in the elevator and a simulated explosion! The last part of the tour took us into the diamond vault where we "oohed" and "ahed" as we got to see a fortune of diamonds of every type, including several cut and uncut diamonds of truly massive proportions. Outside the vault there was a display that taught about the diamond industry from finding the diamonds all the way to cutting and grading them. There were also reproductions of some of the most famous diamonds in the world, some of which are currently listed as 'missing'.
After our tour of the Big Hole we drove into town and got a tour of the exclusive Kimberley Club, a members only place that was the stomping grounds of Cecile Rhodes and the Oppenheimers to mention a few. Now the club is semi exclusive, having opened their doors as a fancy hotel. We still got a very good tour from the club's secretary. We learned about the history of the club and we got to see a few
Down the Other Side
From the Swartberg Pass we had kilometers of mountainous canyonland to traverse before we made it back to Oudtshoorn. It was an amazing drive. of the members' only areas, despite not being guests. The man that gave us the tour of the club also gave us a tip on a nice place close to town to watch the fast approaching sunset. The place sounded so nice that we abandoned the rest of our plans and headed out of town. We stopped at a large reservoir, parked and walked under a railroad bridge, through a canyon of tall grass and came to a stop at a trash-strewn, gravel shoreline. Across the lake there was a huge sea of pink that blanketed the surface of the water and filled the air. The song of thousands of pink flamencos drifted across the lake and filled our ears. Just as the fiery red sun began its descent into the shadows the flamencos mysteriously took flight, as if on cue, and filled the reddening sky - It was a perfect African sunset!
The following morning we said goodbye to Kimberley, a town that ended up being one of many highlights of our journey through South Africa, and the nice people at Greatbatch and we headed east. We were leaving South Africa for a while. The mysterious mountain kingdom
The Knysna Headlands
We stopped in Knysna for lunch on our way to Tsitsikamma. of Lesotho filled the horizon ahead of us...
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Your Mother
non-member comment
Son - You've got the saying all wrong!
Son, the old saying goes, "Any day ABOVE GROUND is a good day." You had it backwards. Carry on!