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Published: March 8th 2011
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Barbara & John in the Garden Route, Graaff Reinet and North East Highlands of the Eastern Cape
This newsletter covers nearly two weeks of diverse areas and has to say the least been a little tiring, but apart from one day, it has been absorbing and fascinating.
Our period in the Garden route commenced at the western end, in Mossel Bay. The weather here was misty and cloudy but warm. Our apartment was large and had a great view of the harbour and ocean. We spent 2 days here, one on the beach, where I got sunburnt and the other touring many of the beaches up to and including Wilderness. The area is a popular tourist spot and so the beaches are generally pretty good, our preference being Herold’s Bay and Victoria Bay, which are both small but have a good ambience and sandy beaches. The general area is not scenically impressive but it is very green with rolling hills. We also visited the Map of Africa near Wilderness which is a meandering river said to outline Africa; I’m still to be convinced but it was a pretty scene, but bettered by the huge expanse of beach and
ocean which could be seen from the top of the hill.
Our second stop, at the other end of the garden route was the delightful Plettenberg Bay, probably the best resort town along the coast. It is affluent and has great ambience. It is very relaxed with lots of people around and yet it does not appear crowded, quite in contrast to nearby Knysna, with its many awful Townships, which did not impress us at all, despite its tourist attracting lagoon. On route we spent some time wandering along the dramatic beaches of Buffalo Bay, each of the three bays has its own characteristics appealing to different age ranges and interests. While in Plettenberg Bay we visited three of the four wildlife parks in Crags. The first visit was at the wild cat sanctuary, Tenikwa. All of the animals have been rescued and kept for public viewing, albeit most of the animals in the sanctuary are kept in order to release them back into the wild. On our tour we saw African wild cats, Serval, Caracal, Cheetah and Leopards. It was fascinating as we walked inside the camps rather than outside the wire. We were able to get up
close to all but the leopards, which was excellent. The highlight was being so close to a couple of Cheetahs, including having our photo taken with one of them, even though it appeared asleep. From here we went to Monkey Land. All of the monkeys here have previously been in zoos or held as pets. Here they get used to not having close human contact before being released into the large forest enclosure which then becomes their local habitat. The monkeys are from all over the world; there are no apes here but there are some pre-simian lemurs, from South America. It was good fun seeing them swinging from the trees and in play as we walked amongst them. We then went for a walk though the world’s largest free flight aviary. The top part of the boardwalk turned out to be the most interesting with so many different birds, large and small, plain and colourful. The flamingos were probably the highlight, again because we were able to get within a few steps of them and they seemed to ignore us; marvellous!
On another day we did a trip along the Keurbooms River Ferry; a black tidal river which
forms the central core of the national park. It was a tranquil ferry trip which we shared with many other grey tops. The pace changed though after our lunch overlooking the huge lagoon adjacent to the ocean with a long narrow strip of beach in between. The Robberg Nature Reserve, a few miles west of Plettenberg, is a dramatic special place. We had some sensational views of both sides of the narrow peninsular, of beaches and wonderfully coloured red and brown rock faces. It was tough hiking, the terrain was rugged and rocky with big drops waiting for the misplaced step or slip on the rocks. Barbara battled bravely but she succumbed after about an hour, along a difficult section, where a slip could have resulted in serious injury.
On our way to Graaf Reinet we drove to the Storm’s River Mouth section of the Tsitsikamma National Park. We did the shortish trek to the mouth of Storm River and the suspension bridges. The walk was generally gentle and mainly in the shade on what was another hot day. The scenes were very pleasing particularly the large irregular rock formations which had many vibrant colours. The view up river
was also spectacular since it sits in a high and narrow gorge.
Graaff Reinet and its surrounds are very impressive. History oozes through the pores of its wide streets and Dutch/Victorian architecture which are very appealing to the eye and there is a tranquil ambience to the town and its almost entirely white coloured buildings, many of which are now linked with tourism. We visited many of the sights: the Old Library (museum); the Drostdy, which still houses the slave bell in the Stretch’s Court; and Reinet House, a magnificently restored Victorian furnished Cape Dutch reformed architecture building. This house includes so many items of furniture and all the paraphernalia that goes with the upkeep and running of a very large house, including kitchen, laundry, stables, distillery and mill as well as a medical centre. Surrounding the town is Camdeboo National Park, which includes a game viewing area. This belittles the park since it encompasses 19 kilometres of road, dirt track. The area covered is huge, mainly incorporating large tracts of dwarf scrubland, surrounded by a mountain and lake (dam) landscape. It is somehow tremendous to be driving within this park in what is untamed wild life country. The
park appears quite lush and as such we were surprised how few animals were to be seen. Many seem to steer clear of the gravel road. Notwithstanding this we had several exciting encounters. Early on we saw several springbok as well as two mountain zebra, which are supposed to be rarely seen. We then had a meerkat run in front of us before disappearing down a hole. We saw numerous Ostriches and a few larger antelope, although we were not sure whether they were Eland or something similar. We also had a very close encounter with a troupe of Velvet Monkeys. We also saw a few wildebeest from afar but through the binoculars they looked awesome. We only left when we did since we wanted to get to the Valley of Desolation before the sun set on these dolerite stones. We managed to do this and were well rewarded with some fabulous views. It is an astounding site and sight. We met a local well travelled businessman/cyclist at the top of the mountain, having viewed the valley, and he said he is being encouraged by family to move away from this remote area, but he says he cannot bear to
move away from what he considers to be one of the most enchanting places in the world.
Like so many towns in the hinterland of the Eastern Cape Graaf Reinet is at least 100 kilometres away from its nearest neighbour. Most places are so remote and the roads seem to go on forever, but the scenery never disappoints. From Graaf Reinet we went to another game park near Craddock. We again had some great viewings but many animals were at a distance which meant the Bins were essential. From Craddock we had a three hour drive into the eastern highlands where we stayed in a farmhouse near Lady Grey; another room with a view, but eerie bedroom. The next two days were spent mainly on gravel tracks taking in some incredible mountain and valley views through several steep passes in what is mainly arable and dairy farmland. It is amazing how they make a living given the diverse terrain which is all between 4000-8000 feet above sea level. In winter the area around Rhodes, Tiffenddell, is the centre for skiing. How the local Township dwellers survive in their tin shacks in the winter beggars belief.
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