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| Garden Route - Buffalo Bay (day 6) |
Fri 13/12/2002 |
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Left Mosselbay in the morning and drove to Buffalo Bay just 10km short of Knysna, stoping along the way in Wilderness (also might have been caught speeding along the way) for an extended walk along the beach. Carried on driving towards Buffalo Bay arriving in the early afternoon at a fantastically located backpackers right on the beach bordering a nature reserve. The house is the only one for almost one kilometer in either direction and you only need to fall over twice to land on the beach or the rockpool.
As the weather was excellent we decided to relax on the beach for the afternoon and I tried my luck with a boogie board in the quite large surf. Didn't suceed catching the waves with the boogie board and got munched a couple of times before I decided to give the boogie boarding a miss, returning to swimming only.
Signed up for the evening braai which turned out to be fantastic with plenty of great salads and superb meat. The hostel also boasted a CD collection with many favourites of Nicloe and me so we were quite happy to not only enjoy the terrific meal but also hearing some decen tunes which we had been missing out on during the drive as our car did not have a car stereo.
Had lots of wine to dring and stumbled to bed sometime at two or three o'clock to be greeted by nicole who was in a foul mood by that hour as she had not been able to sleep with the music up loud and the party rocking on right next door. I had no trouble sleeping after I had put in my earplugs.
| Another Day on the Wildside (day 7) |
Sat 14/12/2002 |
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Went to Knysna in the morning looking around the crafts markets and clothes shops in town but had no success in finding any suitable dresses for Nicole, any shorts for me or any presents for Ja. We did find a very cool shop though that had taseful items all made from recycled materials such as sardine cans, soft drink cans or circuit boards. In the end we only bought some wine and rented "The Lord of the Rings" before heading back to Buffalo Bay for a few more relaxing hours on the beach and in Buffalo Bay itsself.
The Saturday evening turned out to be slightly less "hectic" as the South Africans say with more good music and drinking but somehow a little quieter and more relaxed than the evening before.
Put on the film in the TV room, which we had rented so that Nicole would be able to follow the second part which was about to be released, but the whole experience turned out rather un-cinema like due to the low volume of the film, the small TV and the noisy environment around us - shame as I regard the first LOTR a slightly better film than the second.
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| Wildside Backpackers |
Sunset at Wildside on Buffalo Bay |
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| Nature's Valley (day 8) |
Sun 15/12/2002 |
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- Carried on from Buffalo Bay to Nature's Valley in the morning and arrived at Hiker's Heaven just before midday. Left our stuff in the "honeymoon suite" and went to Monkeyland up the road where we spent the afternoon. The park is a primate sanctuary that get's most of its guests as donations from zoos who don't have enough space or from private individuals who are no longer willing or able to take care of their "pets". The enclosure is not that big and hence is full of all sorts of monkeys, despite the interesting display one doesn't need to spend more than an hour or two there.
On our return to Nature's Valley we walked along the beach and past the only restaurant and store where we bought some water and then headed off for an evening walk around the mountain to a river mouth on the opposite side. (appx 2hrs)
Got back and cooked dinner at the hostel and had an early night.
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| Monkeyland - Bruney |
Monkeyland - Bruney |
Monkeyland - Atlas |
Monkeyland - Lemur |
Monkeyland - Ringtail Lemur |
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| Monkeyland - ? |
Monkeyland - ? |
Nature's Valley Hike |
Jellyfish with Seasnails |
View over Nature's Valley |
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| Jeffreys Bay (day 9) |
Mon 16/12/2002 |
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Set off in the morning after having received another short demonstration over breakfast of how annoying Americans can be. Our journey was halted after only 30 minutes drive when we stopped at the Bloukrans Bridge, which offers the highest comercial bungee jump in the world at 216 metres and a relatively steep price tag of R500. To me the jump itsself was not as scary as the bridge swing at Gourits River, and whilst I was standing up on the edge I was thinking that I'd rather be BASE jumping off the bridge than with a bungee cord attached to my feet! More amazing than the actual jump was the group jumping with me, in particular one South African who was an inspiring example of courage and determination, as a former Cape Town policeman he had been shot in the head whilst on duty, leaving him paralysed to a large extent on one side of his body. Despite this handicap he made it out to the bridge and jumped after me - excellent.
Carried on to Jeffreys Bay after this morning excitement and checked into the Island Vibe backpackers which was absolutely packed with people and tents in the garden. We had been lucky again as we were able to get a twin room, which was located at the corner of the premisses in a small wooden hut, which had only recently been put up and painted. The latter was cause for slight concern as even with all doors and windows open the strong smell of solvents just wouldn't go away. My sister quickly came up with the appropriate name "toxi-huette".
Left the backpackers and had a look around town which turned out to being quite disappointing, as there were neither any interesting clothes or shorts in my size in the various factory outlets, nor were there any nice cafes or restaurants - all in all a major dissapointment. Heading to Jbay for the waves is probably great but don't bother going there for the rest.
Headed back after some more disapointment at the internet cafe which would not let me use my laptop and had super old and crap machines there. The afternoon we spent on the beach and I had a go at playing volleyball with some of the other hostel folks. In the evening we cooked at the hostel and some drinks at the bar watching an amazing sunset along the way.
The next morning proved to be quite interesting as I bumped into Janine the German girl with whom I had been travelling around parts of Mocambique. So we had a chat and then went down to the beach for some more walking and lying around.
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| Bloukrans Bungee Site |
J'Bay at Sunset |
Island Vibe at Sunset |
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| Port Elisabeth (day 10) |
Tue 17/12/2002 |
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Starting after a brief beach stop in the morning we headed out to Port Elisabeth, which was only a short drive from Jbay and checked into the Calabash Lodge, which we had selected as our home for that evening.
The Lodge staff was incredibly friendly and the place was super clean and decorated very tastefully, truly a place that one would want to return to if in the area.
With christmas coming up quickly and not many successes in terms of christmas shopping we decided to have a look round the huge mall in PE. It didn't take long to get totally frustrated and annoyed with the masses of people wandering through there, the Ocean Divers International store was pretty much my only highlight in there as I got to talk to one of the instructors who told me about a rebreather course they were offering and the equipment they were using for that. After a short stop for food we made our way out and returned to the Lodge to get our swimming stuff, which we were planning to use at the local pool, however the Lonely Planet was not quite accurate in terms of the opening hours of the pool (which closes at 5pm) so we ended up infront of closed gates. Slightly frustrated we headed back into town to find a zebra painted internet cafe on Westbourne Road which had been recommended to us by the guys at the hostel.
We successfully found Axxess Africa, a provider that is running an internet cafe on the side just for fun. The place had a great and friendly feel to it and we ended up having a nice chat, several beers and cigarettes with some of the employees and the owner. In the end I had a dialup account for the remainder of my stay in South Africa (cost R80 per month) and a better idea of what was going on in the provider business in the country.
South African Adventures along the Garden Route continue in part 3.
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| Calabash Lodge |
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