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Saved: November 30th 2021
Laini at Two Oceans Aquarium
Laini in with the Clown Fish.Good grief! We have had the hardest time ever leaving Cape Town. After returning from our road trip, we were planning to leave on the following Tuesday or Wednesday because our time in South Africa is quickly running out. There is still so much to see in South Africa, and we are feeling short of time, we even visited the "Home Affairs" office to see if we could extend our visas. Apparently, just because they let you in the country with no hassles, it doesn't mean a visa extension will be easy. We didn't meet most of their criteria, so we thought we should just take the hint and get out of the country by September 28th.
Very quickly Wednesday turned into Thursday and Friday, and then the excuse of "you can't leave on a weekend" came along, so we stayed until the following Monday! We did manage to get in a few more sights before we left, including the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town's Waterfront area. It is a fabulous centre with excellent displays and a huge variety of creatures. Peter was ignoring the "Please Do Not Touch" signs at the Skate and Ray exhibit and tickling these
Penguin In Two Oceans Aquarium
These penguins immigrated from the antarctic and now have a home at the aquarium. crazy creatures under their chins. We also took a slow boat tour of the harbour on "Steamboat Vicky". The boat has an original steam engine that is over 100 years old. The tour took us around the harbour and it was fantastic to see the harbour from this little vessel. The guide jokingly told us that while other cities have "Meals on Wheels", Cape Town has "Seals in Wheels". The seals lay inside the giant tires that are attached to the docks to absorb the shock of the boats. We saw many seals on our little trip, including one on the dock next to where Steamboat Vicky lies. We also learned about the fishing lines that get caught around the seals necks, and if they are not cut off, the seals will eventually die. There are a few programs around the harbour in place to help the seals that have fishing wire caught around their necks.
On Monday morning we were able to catch a lift with Peter's cousin, Julian, as he was travelling to Mossel Bay on the east coast for work. Since Julian would be continuing on the next day to George, we asked if we could
Steamboat Vicky in Capetown Bay
The engine in this boat was over one hundred years old thank goodness the boat itself was only about twenty years old. Old and slow but good to see the bay from the water. hitch a ride on Tuesday as well. It would seem we were able to leave Cape Town, but not able to completely leave the family yet.
Mossel Bay is a lovely seaside town about 3 hours from Cape Town. We left rainy, windy and cold Cape Town in the dark, and arrived into a sunny, blue sky day in Mossel Bay. We had researched accommodation a bit before we left, so we were in search of the budget lodge that is housed in a train. It was great fun, albeit cramped, staying in a train compartment that is right next to the beach. We visited the oldest post office in South Africa - the story goes that in the 1600's a Portuguese explorer left a note in a shoe tied to a tree and several years later, another explorer found it - so we HAD to mail a post card from here! We also made our way out to the rocky point and watched kamikaze surfers ride the waves into the rocks. Much more to our liking was the watching the whales. We saw two whales quite close and followed them along the shore for a while. On our
Mossel Bay
View from the museum grounds toward the beachfront where we stayed in the train. trek back to town we had a small mongoose cross our path as well. We were feeling pretty lucky with our wildlife sitings. Later after we had returned to our train and were waiting for Julian to join us for dinner, we spotted a whale right close to the beach, right next to the train. WOW! We were very chuffed with our whale luck!
The next morning Julian picked us up and we drove onto George. George is inland and a hub for the area, but doesn't have a lot of sight seeing on it's own. It was here we decided to rent a car and see more of the area. As we were organizing this at the last minute, we were unable to secure a car until the following day, so we resigned ourselves to wandering around George and finding some budget accommodation. As it turned out, Julian will also be staying the night in George, so we were able to enjoy another dinner with him and he will ever so kindly drop us off at the car rental place. We have been very lucky to have Julian around! Thank you Julian!
The first stop after picking
Oldest Post Office in South Africa
Since the original post office consisted of a message in a shoe, they have conveniently made a stone shoe for the post box. up the car was to a cheese farm nearby. We enjoyed sampling many different flavours of cheese and of course bought a few to add to our picnic basket. We are loving the cheese sampling almost as much as the wine tasting!
The drive to Oudtshoorn from George is very picturesque. One thing we have noticed in South Africa is that the roads follow the contours of the land, be it up and over or in and around. This means that the roads are windy, narrow and challenging, but they also offer up many views as you round each corner or crest each hill. When we reached Oudsthoorn in the afternoon, we decided that some wine tasting was in order and we headed for the Kango Winehouse. This winery also does brandy and not just normal brandy, but they do flavoured brandy too. We sampled the Honeybush Brandy and it was quite delicious!
Julian's plans changed too, so now we would all be in Oudtshoorn together. We had one more delightful evening with Julian and with yet another tear in my eye, we said our final goodbye.
The next morning we were up and off to the Cango
Mossel Bay
Out at The Point, the rocky shore and lighthouse, Caves, one of the oldest tourist sights in South Africa. The drive itself from Oudtshoorn to the caves is another spectacular journey. Our photos can't do the caves justice, as they are truly magnicient. We joined the standard tour and saw only a tiny portion of the vast underground world that is the Cango Caves.
After we left the Caves, we stopped at the Cango Ostrich Ranch and enjoyed getting to know some ostriches intimately. As you will see by the photos, we were as close to these giant birds as we will ever get. If only I had known there was a weight restriction to riding an ostrich ... I would have gone on a diet!
The next stop was the Cango Wildlife Ranch. We were very busy being tourists on this day! The Cango Wildlife Ranch boasts being able to 'swim' with crocodiles (you are in a cage) and also has cat encounters where one can pet the white tiger cubs or the cheetahs. We didn't opt for any of the extras, as we had our cheetah encounter at Spier and we got very close to the crocs on our tour of the ranch. What we
Mossel Bay
Overlooking the bay and the train where we stayed. have noticed is that visiting the ranches, aquariums, bird enclosures and other animal places is that we have gotten closer to the animals here than we ever would in Canada. There are often only small barriers between people and the animals. At the Cango Wildlife Ranch they have "The Catwalk", which is a raised walk-way over the big cat enclosures. Viewing the big cats from above is great. Just don't drop anything into the enclosure! We were lucky enough to be there at feeding time and watched the male lion fight off a female for his large hunk of meat. The roar of a lion really does reverberate through your whole body.
Our day in Outdshoorn complete, we headed back toward the coast and spent the night in a lovely guesthouse on the beach in Wilderness. After a morning walk on the beach we packed up 'The Tick' and headed to Knysna. Yes, of course the car has a name and due to it's vibrant blue colour, we named it 'The Tick' after the cartoon character. That and even though we have punished the car, it keeps on ticking! (Don't tell the rental car company I said that!). Knysna
is a lovely seaside town and we enjoyed a coffee at the waterfront and a walk around the harbour. Unfortunately our time is short and we must push on.
We drove onto Plettenburg Bay where we found a lovely backpackers just outside of the town and on the beach. From the deck the following morning we were able to spot our first dolphins! Very exciting! We also saw more whales and enjoyed sitting on the sunny deck, sipping coffee and watching these fabulous mammals frolic in the water.
We reluctantly left our sunny spot to get to our appointment at the Plettenburg Bay Game Reserve where we had booked a 2 hour game drive. We joined 8 others and hopped in the back of a 4x4 to view wildlife on this private game reserve in the hills behind Plettenburg Bay. Within minutes we saw Zebra, Springbok, Eland, Waterbuck, Bontebok and other antelope species. We drove for quite some time looking for the Buffalo, but they eluded us. Perhaps the best viewing was the Rhinos, we drove around this corner and there they were! A mother, a juvenille and the big bull male hiding in the bushes. They are
such massive creatures with their large horns and huge heads. We drove a little further and found two more suspiciously checking us out. We carried on to view the Hippos. We finally saw Hippos out of the water! Not for long mind you, as we pulled up to say hello, the large male slipped into the water to keep an eye on us. I guess we outstayed our welcome as he started to snort and grunt very loudly while facing us. The smaller one on the shore started to reply, so we thought it was probably time to leave them. It was a great experience to be on our first game reserve, but it certainly left us wanting more!
From the game reserve we drove to Cape St. Francis were we spent two peaceful nights and enjoyed the quiet of the natural beaches. The area is loaded with holiday homes and has a lovely accessible beach, but it is not built up and most of the homes and resorts are tucked behind the large dunes, giving the appearance of being on wild beaches.
It was when we got to Hamburg, further up the coast that we experienced the
truly untouched beaches. Hamburg is about 15 km off the main road down a gravel road that passes through villages and towns. There is one lovely backpackers in this small village and it is situated on the river with views toward the ocean. A short drive brings you to the wild, beautiful, wind-swept beaches and huge sand dunes. We walked the first day for about an hour and enjoyed the crashing waves, and beachcombing for shells. The following day we returned for over 3 hours of walking, beachcombing, splashing in the waves and climbing the massive dunes. Except for some locals on tractors doing some sand mining in the area, we saw no one else on the beach. This is a truly special place and it was hard to leave, but press on we must.
Our next destination was Port St. Johns on the Wild Coast, the former Transkei area. It is reputed to be the last remaining untouched wilderness in South Africa. There are other more remote villages to stay in, but in the interest of time we chose Port St. Johns so we would not have to backtrack. Once again, we stayed in a lovely backpackers with
a view of the beach. Port St. Johns is a little larger and more bustling than most of the Wild Coast villages, but still, it is a village. Once again, we could have easily stayed longer here and enjoyed the hiking, the beaches and the village.
We decided to leave via a secondary road that would keep us well off the major highways and take us through the heart of the Wild Coast country. We are so glad that we took this route. The roads once again go up and over, around and down, following the topography of the area. We passed through small villages, scattered huts, and large towns. The road was not busy with vehicle traffic, but very busy with people walking, cows crossing, goats resting and donkeys standing. One thing we learned in West Africa, is that all animals will get out of the way of a moving vehicle, except for donkeys. They just stand in the middle of the road and stare at you. The road goes inland through this region, and then it rejoins the coast and follows the coast up toward Durban. We stopped the night in Port Shepstone and stayed in a
backpackers right on the beach. We were the only people staying there, so we were able to chat extensively with the owner and all the staff.
We left the following morning to head to Durban. But not before stopping a little wharf market area and tasting some fabulous curry. The young woman running the restaurant was very cunning, and she offered us a sample of some mutton breyani and it was so delicious we ordered some take away so we could have it later for dinner! A very smart businesswoman!
Unfortunately it started raining as we got closer to Durban and it didn't stop for two days. We managed to get into a backpackers in the center of town, as the car was due back at the city centre Hilton hotel the following morning. Once we got settled and into our warm cosy room, we decided to see if we could keep the car for a few more days and return it to Johannesburg. The rental company had no problem with that and so our road journey continues!
We will leave you here, in Durban. This has been a long enough entry already!
A little bit of
trivia - today, Sept. 22, we have been away 8 months and one day, and still loving it.
Lots of love,
Laini and Peter
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The Roberts' Family
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Thank you!!!!!
Thank you so much for entering this blog!!! I was sitting at my desk thinking...I need a break from work and just like magic... the auto email came with the notice that you had a new blog entry! Off I trotted for a cup of coffee and sat down to read! What a trip! I just loved your adventure with the ostriches! (The photos are wonderful too!) Made me laugh....right out loud!!!! So pleased you are still having such a good time.. has it really been 8 months... time has flown by! Wishing I could give you a real hug... but a cyber one will have to do! (Perhaps you could hug each other for me!) Miss you and can't wait for the next entry! xox pam and family