Noordhoek Beach

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Either the jet lag kicked in or we drank way too many espressos the day before. Jared and I did not have a good night sleep and got a late start to the day. We woke up thinking we were going to do the Chapman's Peak drive again and experience the Noordhoek Beach, but I had something different in mind. Today was going to be the day Jared was going to get on a horse for the first time ever. Since I couldn't sleep I was able to google many reviews and recommendations for a horseback riding company. We found one called Noordhoek Farm Village, Imoff Farms. It offered horseback riding for R450 for two hours. So for $38 dollars you can go horseback riding for two hours on the beach. WOW!!! I think I might retire to South Africa.

This was Jared's first time on a horse and even though he was reluctant at first, he willingly agreed. The only problem was I grew up riding Western Style and this was English. The main differences being the reigns, the horn, and how you trot. Once on the horse this felt entirely foreign to me and I was a bit nervous. The Western saddles are much larger and there is a horn to grab onto when you get scared. Rebecca and Meredith you know exactly what I am talking about. It was explained to us the Western style was a little bit more relaxed and English was proper with posture and technique. I thought oh boy Jared is never going to get on a horse again. My horse's name was Echo and Jared was riding Pocket. Once we were off it was fine, and we both quickly got the hang of it. During our ride we started approaching the vast beach called Noordhoek. This beach is 4.9 miles long and at 12:30 in the afternoon completely deserted. A beach this nice would not be vacant in the US. We rode along the beach and in the water for a good ways before trying our hand at cantering and trotting. I must say that trotting English style with a horse is really difficult, you just feel like you are flopping all over the place trying to have correct form. Jared's horse did not want to partake in any of this activity. They must have given him a very old horse as he was a beginner. After trotting came cantering which was much better. Jared was able to experience a quick run and realized that it was actually fun. We also saw a ship wreck from the 1900s on the deserted beach. Hopefully this year when we are in California we'll go horseback riding and he can experience the difference. Needless to say the tour was a hit and completely worth it.

Once we were finished horseback riding we ventured back out on Chapman's Peak Drive this time to take our time and photos. I also told Jared to slow it down as this road was quite narrow and on the other side of me was a cliff. We took in many views and arrived at Chapman's Peak Hotel to have the world's best calamari. It came recommended thanks to Trip Advisor and several other blogs I read. The calamari was quite impressive. It came out in a frying pan. The pieces were big and quite tender unlike the ones we experience in the states. It was not overly fried and had just the right amount of seasoning. A man I work with is from South Africa and recommended trying the Calamari in Hout Bay. He definitely hit the nail on the head.

Tonight we laid off the coffee and hope to get some sleep. We are having left over pizza and cocktails and I am catching up on my blog. I know Jared is disappointed baseball is on at 4am South African time. He is definitely missing the Astros. Our TV only gets four channels so we might get wild and play some cards. Tomorrow is undecided on what to do. We were originally scheduled to go Shark Cage diving but it has been canceled due to the lack of shark sightings in the area. I know every parent out there reading this is quite relieved.

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