Africa Week 3 - Hakuna Mthatha

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The Garden Route & J-Bay

Day 15, Wednesday, March 9th, I went for a morning visit to the Knysna Elephant Park. The park is a preserve to protect and rehabilitate elephants that used to roam free in the area. The Knysna forest used to have thousands of wild elephant but development and ivory poaching has left only three in the surrounding forest. The park is home to 12 elephants. I had planned to tour the park and have a forest ride on an elephant. John was going to drop me off and go for a surf nearby. The tour walked us through the facility before going to the fields on a tram to see the elephants. Most people just did the tour so it was their stop to see the elephants first and they told the people who would ride to stay on. One woman with her husband and small child started demanding they wanted to ride too (although they had not booked it). So the kind guides were trying to radio to see if they could arrange it. After about ten minutes they were working it out and told her the upgrade price and she decided not to do it. The German couple next to me was getting quite worked up having to wait. It was entertaining. Finally we got off to the next stop at the end of the park. It was surrounded by beautiful lush forest. There were a few huts and the two elephants ready for our ride. The German couple was the only other people riding which was great. I was riding the first elephant named Harry and my guide was Zenzo, from Zimbabwe. We set out for a tour around the outskirt of the park. It was beautiful and lush and fun to be riding on this majestic animal. Harry (the elephant) is a 22-year-old male and weighs 4.5 tons. It is very sad to know that poaching for the coveted ivory tusks has become such a problem for elephants and rhinos that poachers raid the national parks and even sneak on game reserves to steal the tusks. The saddest thing is they dart the animals to remove the tusks, which severs a major artery. When the animal revives it lives for a couple hours disoriented before dying from blood lose. One of the parts main goals is to raise awareness for these issues. The tour was very informative and exciting. We finished with a down hill gallop back to the corral (they hurry home at the end just like horses). We got to feed and spend some more time with the elephants before we got to walk them back to the herd. Walking with the elephants was probably my favorite part since you got to see up close how massive they are. They are such beautiful and gentle animals. It was about a 15-minute walk until we met the rest of the heard. One of which was a cute baby elephant that was Harry’s son. It was so cool to interact with the elephants up-close. It was a special experience I will never forget. When I returned to the reception where John was planning to meet me, he was already there. I came to find out I had accidently taken the car keys on tour with me so he was stranded (oops). He filled the two hours having breakfast at the nice restaurant and reading up on elephant facts in the bookshop. We headed back to Knysna for lunch to try some of their famous oysters for lunch. Knysna is a beautiful town that surrounds a huge ocean fed lagoon. We went out to the island to look for the Knysna Oyster Factory. Turns out it shut down and moved to a smaller location on the marina called the Oyster Bar. It was a gorgeous sunny day and we had a perfect view of the boats in the harbor. We enjoyed fresh oysters and local Sav Blanc (so good). After lunch we explored the heads (gate to the ocean) before heading up the coast to our next destination Cape St. Francis. Our friend, Smiler, set us up with his other friends that have a beautiful self catering apartment near the beach. We arrived around 6pm and Shevonne and Drew were grilling in their outdoor kitchen. It was a gorgeous night so we joined them for dinner and set out by the fire getting to know them. They also have a darling 4 year old named, Kei.

Day 15, Thursday, March 10th, we caught up on some much-needed rest in our beautiful and comfortable apartment. This is definitely one of the favorite places we’ve stayed. Cape St. Francis is a beautiful beach town that used to be a ranch. When the rancher sold for development he stipulated all the houses needed to be white with black roofs similar to the original buildings on the ranch. It really makes a beautiful unobtrusive backdrop for the white sand beaches and crystal blue water. It was a rainy overcast morning and we drove about 10 minutes to Seal Point the bigger surf break. The waves had picked up so we spent a few hours surfing. After the surf we explored the town and found an Internet café where we researched plans for the rest of our trip.

Day 16, Friday, March 11th, was another rainy morning. I stayed in with a warm cup of rooibos tea and wrote the blog and some more trip planning. John went back to Seal Point for a surf. I watched the news and heard about the terrible earthquake in Japan, 8.9 (still can’t believe that - scary). And if that wasn’t bad enough there was tons of coverage on the horrible tsunami (poor Japan). Then they were saying it could him 26 more countries including Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States. I started worrying about Anna and Jack in Hawaii and all of our friends on the California coast. Plus I was worried they might not get the news since it was the middle of the night. When John returned we went to the Internet café to check on the Tsunami warnings around the globe. After some research it said is was possible it might hit the US and Hawaii was the most at risk. We tried to reach Anna and Jack but they did not answer so we called John’s dad. He made us feel better reminding us they live on high ground and said he would keep trying to reach them. Then we called a friend in San Francisco (4am local time) and he said they were cautious but did not think anything severe would hit the coast. After feeling relieved we went to see a travel agent for help with our ambitious travel plans. The weather cleared up and it was a warm and sunny afternoon. I took advantage and took a long walk on the beach. The sand is so soft and beautiful. There were a few people long boarding when I returned so I went to get John. We headed back to Seal Point for a sunset surf but ended up just enjoying the sunset instead.

Day 17, Saturday, March 12th, was a foggy morning. We had to go to Jeffrey’s Bay (J-Bay) to extend our rental car and luckily ended up with a free upgrade. The new car is decked out like a street racecar for some reason. It is an electric blue Renault Clio with white racing stripes on the side. John is pretty stoked. The day got even better when we drove around the corner to see the swell had picked up and Super Tubes was firing. We were changed and heading for the water in minutes. He surfed Super Tubes and I wanted down the beach to the more manageable tubes. I surfed for four hours until I was exhausted and John stayed in an extra hour or so. Day 18, Sunday, March 13th, we woke up early and went to check the surf. The swell had dropped off a bit and it was a gorgeous sunny day. Our friends invited us to breakfast at the golf club. When we arrived Kei wanted to ride on the golf carts to the restaurant so we got a nice tour of the grounds. We dined outside and enjoyed the ocean breeze and view of the beautiful bay. After breakfast we all went to the beach and swam and played in the sun. Shavonne and Drew had mentioned how they free drive to collect the most amazing oysters right from the beach. John and Drew grabbed some gear and dove for a couple hours. We could see fins frolicking in the air and thought they must be getting lucky. When they emerged they had a bag full of fresh oysters. Shavonne got to work shucking them like a pro and squeezing fresh lemon to garnish. We sat by the water and enjoyed the freshest most succulent oyster lunch. That afternoon we relaxed before we had a nice brai for dinner. We all had such a beautiful day together. They are such a cool family and what a great lifestyle.

Day 19, Monday, March 14th, I took a beach walk first thing in the morning then walked Kei to school with Shavonne. We were hopeful the surf had picked up as predicted. It had so we surfed all day. John surfed Super Tubes and I surfed Tubes again. It was a bit smaller but more consistent. We surfed until late afternoon. I got out and saw John was still getting some good rides. I walked over to Nina’s while I was waiting to use the Internet and order us a late lunch. I ordered a grilled calamari and avocado salad and a small pizza for us to share. The waitress asked me if I wanted a half of full portion salad and I said full since I was staving. When the salad arrived I was shocked to see its enormity. Luckily a hungry Johnny was just waiting in to share it with me. The food was so fantastic we went back the next day.

Day 20, Tuesday, March 15th, was groundhogs day in a good way. I went for a walk on the amazing beach at Cape St. Francis. The surf had picked up from Monday and was still consistent. We surfed for hours and grabbed a calamari salad at Nina’s again. We ran some errands before returning to the hotel to go to dinner for Drew’s Birthday. We made “Old Fashioned” cocktails since they like whiskey and had never tried them. Then we enjoyed a great dinner of fresh local calamari and fish at a restaurant at the harbor. Then we enjoyed some delicious chocolate cake and ice cream back at Shavonne’s. It was another really great day.

Day 21, Wednesday, March 16th. We woke up early to enjoy our last morning in Cape St. Francis. We loved this place so much we spent an entire week here and it went by so quickly. John went to surf at the local spot, Bruce’s, which was finally breaking. I went for a final walk on the beach with Shavonne and Kei before we dropped him at school. I had tea and great conversation with Shavonne. She set us up with some more contacts and recommendations for the rest of our trip. John was able to surf the local break, Bruce’s, before we set off on the next leg of our journey to the mountains of Hogsback. We had a fun 5-hour road trip stopping off in Grahamstown to do some errands including picking up two indigenous trees from a local nursery. We are staying at this eco-resort that encourages guests to plant trees and gives a free night stay in return. We love the idea and are thrilled to do something good for the environment. As I’m typing this, Johnny just yelled “Giraffe”, not something I usually hear on a road trip. I looked along the road to see three large giraffes munching on a tree (so cool). In Grahamstown we found a great nursery to buy indigenous trees. We selected a Sneezewood and a Fernhout. A few hours later we arrived in Hogsback at Terra Kaya. We had a small wood cabin in the lush forest with an amazing view. They don’t use any electric lights it is all lanterns and candle light. The cabin was fashioned from invasive forest trees, stones, mud and recycled car windows. Quite a cool place. The only thing I was not a fan of were the composting toilets (a bit smelly). That night we sat in the cozy living room of the main house while it poured rain. We played Scrabble by candlelight while waiting for dinner to be prepared. The owner, Shane, was an ex chef so he prepared a beautiful organic meal sourced from products on the farm.

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Photos

Harry the Elephant
I rode harry through the forest

Cape St. Francis Golf Course
Went for Brunch

Comments

[robyn johnny]

Africa Week 3 - Hakuna Mthatha
Hello fam & friends. We are loving our traveling and meeting wonderful people. Here is the latest post. I'm a bit behind since we have not had internet the past week due to our remote location. We are missing you all. Lots of love, Robyn & Johnny

[Janet Tosicik]

hi from Indiana
I enjoyed your blog so much, John and Robyn. You write well, Robyn, I can see and imagine the animals, the surf, the food, and the kind people you are meeting. Thank you for sharing your experiences! love, Mom