Life in Knysna

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Well we have been here just over a week and are gradually settling into a long stay here. Knysna is quite a large town and it benefits from having a large lagoon so there are lots of water sports and lots of really good shops and restaurants. It's a bustling town and lots going on, we went to the evening food market which is on at the local school every Friday. It was a fantastic setup, the parents do the bar and all the local restaurants have food stalls, there was so much to choose from. You could try the local Bobotie or try Ostrich just for starters! When it starts to go dark they light big bonfires (no health & safety rules here) and play music, there were big families all meeting up, what a great idea and a nice atmosphere. We have been out to various towns and have done some more whale watching, it's a bit sureal, you can be driving down the road and spot a whale just swimming by. Needless to say we have been out for lots of lovely meals as it's as cheap to eat out as buy in. To give you an idea, a large glass of wine will cost you around £1.30, it's roughly £5 to have a meal out unless you want fillet steak and all the trimmings which will set you back £10. Going out for a coffee is less than £2 for both of us, so much cheaper than my McDonald's latte! Got up this morning to rain so it's as well we have planned a shopping day. It's a bit American here in the way that they have huge out of town malls, which are beautifully laid out and you can buy clothes have a meal, a massage and get your grocery shopping. We are going to hire bikes at the weekend and we have a walk planned. It's a very different place here and although there is a very wonderful side to this country there are also a huge amount of problems, on the edge of every sizeable town there is a shanty town. Thousands of people living in very small in many cases tin houses, all have a satellite dish though and all have the longest string of washing outside. Despite all this the people seem happy and even the beggars (not that many) are the most polite asking "please mam if you could just spare a few coins". We are very privileged and take what we have for granted all to often.

Where else can you drive down the road and have baboons sat on one corner, zebra on the other and all the traffic stopped on the road waiting for a pig to cross. Amazin!

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Photos

View from our balcony