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Published: November 19th 2006
James took only a small while to find his feet in Kayamandi and got stuck in with everything, feeding the lil ones, playing, letting them climb all over him so his sunburn was in agony, I heard him mutter 'mmm...double exit' as one of the lil ones brought up his food both out of his mouth and nose and he had to clean him up! Made his debut on the mini-bus taxis...for someone that avoids busses in England and finds them a struggle it was amusing for me and the ladies at the back of the bus to watch. He got abuse for opening the window, always seemed to sit in the wrong seat and had to get up to let people out at every stop, he looked shattered by the end of it. All been there, that was me 8weeks ago. Think he got a lot out of it...very keen to go back to the creche and school for a third day.
We left Kayamandi to travel the Garden Route for four days...we shared the driving and there was a lot of it. I've come to the conclusion driving and the 'it will click' comment is a myth. The
Zoleka's creche
The children with their ne crayons and paper from Mushy!scenery was beautiful and I loved the drive but find the actual driving bit stressful.
First stop...Oudtshoorn, (in fact our second stop, but Mossel Bay was only for lunch and thought it was pretty average in comparison to the other bays we saw later) ...ostrich capital of the world. Ostriches are classic! They're full of character with their lil screwed up faces and bodies that are completely out of proportion with everything else. Even the way they attack is amusing...they can only lift up their foot and kick straight so anything below that they can't get to, they sit on. Ostrich riding was hilarious...it moves at sheer pace.
Left ostriches for a 5hr drive to Addo and spent the day on safari (animals and food the central part of our trip) Other than the leopard, we saw all the big five...elephants, buffalo, wilderbeast, rhino...the lions came so close to the landrover we had to sit completely still for a while. They provided dinner at the lodge in the middle of the park and we ate kudu (straight from the park to our plates).
Addo Elephant Park is spectacular, thousands of hectacres of natural beauty...such a wonderful sight
Moyo Restaurant, Spier Winelands
Managed to get another cancellation under the oak tree...beautiful night to suddenly spot an elephant in its natural environment. Saw a herd bathing at a water hole then later caught a different herd heading back into the bush at sunset. Lots of other animals to spot to keep you amused, we spent seven and a half hours driving round...not sure whether its their appearance that is appealing or Phumba from Lion King forged my opinion of them before I even saw them, but love the warthogs.
Underestimeated the Lonely Planet Guide's 'sleepy' comment about our next destination Plett Bay...it was dead at 10.15 and nowhere would serve us food as the kitchens closed 10 minutes previously. To be fair we didn't really need another meal the amount we have been spoiling ourselves with food, but even the bars closed before 11. Our 7km of white sand beach in which only two other people besides ourselves stepped foot on all the next day made up for this. We shared the sea with a group of around twenty dolphins who were playing only metres from the shore. Utterly beautiful.
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Paul Maloney
non-member comment
Hi
Hi Emma and James, Great photos keep them coming. Cool adventure, look forward to hearing all the stories first hand too. Tell Jim I'm still running things at Ming's Office. All the best, Paul