22nd Nov ======= Reached Storms River in the evening, this is a place full of adventure stuff and near the TsitsiKamma National Park. When I arrived at the backpackers, there was a fire going on and people sitting around it and drinking, met a group of South African girls who had just passed out of college and taking a roadtrip to decide what they want to do next. They had so many questions on India and opportunities there :) Its interesting how little people know about India in general and especially how the country is doing in the recent past. Partied [View Full Entry]

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20th Nov ======= After Birds of Eden, got dropped off at Plett and went straight to the beach from the backpackers. Plettenburg Bay means "Beautiful Bay" as named by the Portugese and the place lives up to its name. Spent couple of hours at the beach, just relaxing, back to the backpackers and drinks/dinner 21st Nov ======= Had decided that this will be a chilled out day, the day was sunny, so it was beach, booze, books, bakini babes and lots of sun :) Not much to report, tried being in water for sometime, but its freezing (15 degrees). So stayed [View Full Entry]

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Thought of the jump woke me up, I was probably terrified for the first 15 minutes after waking up. But staying quiet helped me stay calm, we drove down to the Bungee place and booked ourselves. There is a restaurant and bar where you can sit and watch others jumping (its shown on TV as well), but I wasnt in the mood to wait, thought its best if its just done with. Jana and I were joined by 6-7 other people, we were weighed, given a jump number, fit with a harness and walked through a bridge (which is like a [View Full Entry]

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The plan was to take the bus in the evening to go to Plettenburg Bay, but met a few people at the Knysna Backpackers who were driving down to Plett after a visit to Monkeyland and Birds of Eden. They were kind enough to offer me a ride and I tagged along. Thanks Ilse, Hanvis and Charmaine :) Monkeyland is a 12 hectare sanctuary providing a guided tour of the place. Basic rule - don't feed the monkeys, don't touch them and when looking up, keep your mouth closed, you don't know what a monkey would drop :) They had monkeys, [View Full Entry]

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Knysna, is one of the biggest towns on the Garden Route, its also one with a beautiful lagoon. After a lazy morning, I ventured to the waterfront and took a ferry ride on the Knysna River, right upto the Heads. The river is scenic and the Heads, well, it looks like the gateway to another world. Don't be mistaken though with the tranquility, Heads has two opposing currents in the water which has caused many boats to capsize. Some of the houses by the river are awesome and am sure cost a bomb! Later in the evening was back to the [View Full Entry]

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Stellenbosch is Wine country, student town and party place, all put together. Took BazBus (backpackers use this bus frequently), booked myself right upto Port Elizabeth, its a hop-on, hop-off service, so all transport issues on Garden Route solved. On the bus itself, met an Australian guy who has been travelling for 5 months through Uganda/Kenya/Tanzania/Malawi/Zimbawe. That's the classic overland route favoured by many travellers I have met. Also met a Dutch girl who is working in the townships in Cape Town, helping children and traveling in her free time. Stellenbosch is one of the [View Full Entry]

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Hermanus is one of the very few places on earth you can see whales from the land. I left Stellenbosch, with some sadness in heart, made really good friends there, but the journey must go on. Hermanus Backpackers, is owned and run by a couple (a french guy and a british woman who met in Africa, got married, came to Hermanus for a weekend many years back and never left :) It was a cosy place, felt like home Hermanus Cliff Path is an amazing walk, you go there and sit in a corner by the sea, under the big blue [View Full Entry]

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Was picked up by the tour operator at Cape Point, the crowd was an elderly group of Germans, Swedes and Australians. They debated my age hotly, their best guess was 81 born. Man, people never get that one right :) We stopped for lunch at Simon's Town, the driver was a Dutch guy settled in South Africa, he told us an amazing story of "Able Man Just Nuisance". Simon's Town was a British Navy base during World War II and once a soldier befriended a dog. He brought the dog (a Big Dane) to his quarters, soldiers weren't allowed to keep [View Full Entry]

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Slept like a baby, was tired after the trek yesterday, didn't know I had so many bones that could ache :) Made plans to stay at Cape Town tonight and go to Stellenbosch tomorrow, taking BazBus (that's the backpackers bus here) and will be staying at a dorm. Let's see how my community living experience turns out :) On my way to Cape Point from the cottage, I saw Ostriches. And when we reached Cape Point, realized that I had forgotten to drop the keys off, so had to go back. Well, as they say, something good comes out of everything, [View Full Entry]

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Got there finally after we lost our way, but Denzel was very helpful. Its a huge place, meant for 6 people and am alone here (2 halls, 3 bedrooms, bathrooms with tubs, self katering kitchen n big garden back and front, all for Rs 4380 per night :) Beautiful surroundings, if ever one was to have a place for solitude, this is it. Have got food, alcohol, music n myself for company. No TV. Perfect :) [View Full Entry]

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