Blogs from Tsitsikamma National Park, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa

Tuesday 4-5 to Wednesday 4-6 Around Tsitsikamma, we visited the largest and oldest (700 years) yellowwood tree in South Africa, known as the Big Tree. Considering the giant red woods in the U.S. and the giant fig trees we’ve seen in Australia and Costa Rica, this tree paled in comparison. Not so impressive and sadly not very yellow ;o) But it was nice to take a stroll in the crisp morning air. I didn’t realize how much of South Africa is managed forest. Everywhere we drove, we passed acre after acre of planted pine trees and logging trucks. More impressive than the Big Tree was the world’s tallest bungee jump (217m) at Bloukrans River. We watched the jumpers while sipping our hot, creamy beverages from the safety and comfort of a viewing platform. It was cool ... read more

Wrote this part at 6am in Wilderness: I talked to the girls at midnight on the deck, and finally the clouds had completely blown away. There was a full blanket of stars! After so many cloudy nights, it was wonderful to see them. So many stars that I could not recognize any constellations due to the noise of the "extra" stars. The girls are doing fine although Kimberly does obviously miss me very much. It's now almost 6am - I woke up at 5 and couldn't get back to sleep so I came out here, back out on the deck. The sunrise is beautiful, there is a lone kayaker on the lagoon, and many different bird calls. The clouds are just plentiful enough to make a nice colorful sunrise, and the wisps of clouds look quite ... read more

Hi All, We finally arrived home at about 9 pm on Friday, 20th February and now that I have my internet back I am going to take you through the rest of our fabulous trip. In this way you won't have to sit through looking at all my photos later on. Above is a map which I hope will show you our journey. I will begin on the 26th January which was the day after the braai and when we began our tour of the garden route which takes in part of the western and eastern capes of South Africa. We left Riversdale at about 1 pm and decided to take a quick trip down to Still Bay. However, it was a lot further than we had thought and by the time we got back onto ... read more