http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/verydarkhorse/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from verydarkhorse en-us Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:53:24 +0000 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:53:24 +0000 After sleeping like the dead in the Rondavel we packed up and headed for teh bright lights of Durban. There is quite an interesting route back and we stopped off at Howick where there is quite a good waterfall a few touristy shops and the some Anglo Boer War memorials. Noteably it is also the place where Nelson Mandela was arrested.Due to our aching muscles we took the day very slowly and ended http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/KwaZulu-Natal/Amanzimtoti/blog-347251.html Firstly I had better explain that we didnt actually go to Lesotho as we didnt have enough time but we were a stones throw away so I'd thought I would add itWe arrived at the Khotso Horse ranch at lunch time and were immediately awe insipired by the views.The ranch was in teh mountain near the town of Uunderberg in the Southern Drackensburg region. I beleive the ranch was approx 1500m above sea le http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Lesotho/Sani-Top/blog-347249.html Today we head into the moutains of the Free State. We are going to stay on a horse ranch yee haa. I will update you later.... http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Free-State/Drakensberg/blog-346449.html We arrived here after an awesome 7 hours of driving. Ryan drove all of the way. We basically drove along the entre lenght of the Wild coast. Very remote villages but lots of school children in smart clean uniforms hitching a ride. The land is very green here and almost reminded us of wales expect for the 30 degree heat.The further we drove the worse the weather became and it hasnt stop raining sin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/KwaZulu-Natal/Umzumbe/blog-346448.html Today is a big road trip day and we are heading for the land of the cannibals We hope to stay in a tree house but I will update you later when we get there http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/KwaZulu-Natal/Umzumbe/blog-345803.html Blimey it is hot here.We are staying in safari tents on a little wooden platform in a banana tree planation looking out over a lagoon to teh Indian ocean.As it was sunday we got a free breakfast at our hostel and managed a walk along the beach before hand. We had to retreat for teh shade by 10amThere is a pool here so we read and relaxed in teh shade with monkeys jumping over over head's until l http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Cintza/blog-345802.html A little stiff and sore from our adventure yesterday we slowly packed up and got back on the road. We are heading for the Wild coast. As we drove the temperature change was ridiculous. The rain slowly stopped and teh sun came out. It went from the teens to 30 degrees in about half an hour. Shows was altitude does.We stopped off in east london for some petrol and supplies.Then we headed to the Indi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/East-London/blog-345801.html We rose early and set off with our packed lunch and first aid kit for our day of hiking. The mornign started well by climbing down through a forest on well marked paths. It was drisseling a bit but we didnt really feel it as teh forest was so thick. A bit spooky really. The trail was interesting as there were information signs every now and again about various species we encountered.After about 1. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Hogsback/blog-345798.html Today we left our lovely guesthouse and headed into the mountains again. It was a good drive and all the roads were tarmac. Our destination is Hogback but the hostel is called Away with the Faires and is basically is a a big hippy retreat in the middle of no where which is trying to sell out on the Lord of the Rings theme. We are staying a in a hut called Bilbo You may ask why we are headed here http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Hogsback/blog-344798.html We arrived in Addo ridiculously early due to wanting to get the hell out of JBay. Our guest house was lovely. Run by an english couple it was a lovely welcome compared to where we came from. Due to our early start we chilled out in our Roundhouse thatched roof and all for an hour or so and then headed to the National Park. We decided not to pay for a safari as you can navigate the park by your http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Addo-Elephant-National-Park/blog-344796.html The weather turned awful today so we didnt have our surfing lessons as planned. We did make a good start in the morning by walking for about 2hours along the never ending beach line.As it was cold and the town is quite frankly awful we hid in our hostel for a while before heading to Cape St Francis. The kite surfers were out so we watched the Dude's do what they do best.We are looking forward to l http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Jeffreys-Bay/blog-344107.html We rose early for our adrenalin fix of the trip well my legs were shakingAt 7.30am we embarked on a tree top safari where we zip lined from one tree to another at some stages we were 19m above the forest floor. Dont worry it was safe and eventually I began to enjoy the trip. The best bit was learning about the tree of the ancient forest and how the eco systems works all very eco tourism but v http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Eastern-Cape/Jeffreys-Bay/blog-344105.html After our busy previous travel schedule we decided to chill out for a good few days in the national park and camped at the village of Storms river.Today we hired mountain bikes for the day and headed off into the forest for our 22km cycle route. We did not realise what was ahead of us but the blood sweat and tears were worth it for the awesome views and being so close to nature. Two very tired tr http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Tsitsikamma-National-Park/blog-344103.html This was one hell of a drive..... but the views were worth it. We basically travelled on 6 hours of dusty tracks and our hire car had turned orange as a result.The Pass was built by the Victorians and still is a feat of engineering today. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Tsitsikamma-National-Park/blog-344102.html Sorry we have not had access to internet for a while.....We had a good journey from the most southern tip of Africa into the heart of the Karoo area. The roads were good and it didnt take us long to get to our next stop The amber lagoon.This was litterally in the middle of no where a mad german woman packed up an sailed on the Amber Lagoon to SA and set up a little retreat in the middle of a de http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Oudtshoorn/blog-344100.html Would you beleive it we went shark cage diving today and saw about 5 BIG GREAT WHITE. I was a chicken and didnt get in the cage but it was scary enough on the boat. Awesome animals and I have decided that they get a bad press as they are very graceful when not muching on a rotten tuna head the baitAfter that we took the wrong road again but eventually got to our intended destination of Cape http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Gansbaai/blog-342318.html Thanks for the news from home good to read. I cant believe Obama has been elected excellant news. Anyway on with the blog....We left Stellenbosch at a reasonable hour and headed in the searing heat to Boschendal. We were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place and enjoyed a good few hours in the house gardens and wine tasting experiance. I even found Mr Pritchard's visitors log entry for earli http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Hermanus/blog-342317.html The weather was beautiful today. Bright blue sky and hardly a cloud to be seen. We made it to TAble Moutain and the weather couldnt of been better.After the amasing view the mountain has to offer we drove to Stellenbosch where I write this log from. The weather was even more scorching so we relaxed at our hostel for the afternoon. We are hitting the wine route tomorrow. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Stellenbosch/blog-341664.html Today was not warm to say the least. We planned to go up table moutain but the table cloth prevented us from doing that Because we didnt have the car until tomorrow we got the city sightseeing bus. Very touristy but it gave us a good tour of the city including district 6 and the trendy beach of camps bay. We did lots of walking and visted the Holocaust Museam very powerful indeed. The volvo wor http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-341663.html Today was a beautiful day in Cape town.We are woken by the sun pitching in our room each morning which make such a nice change from home. Today we rose late and had a massive breakfast in town before collecting our hire car. By 11.30am we were on teh road to Hout Bay. Beautiful beach. Unfortunately Chapmans pass was shut so we has a massive detour back to cape town virtually and then got lost in t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-of-Good-Hope/blog-341327.html