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Blog: SA Tour - last weeks

I did so many things along the way from PE to Cape Town! I`ll give you a short summary of the highlights.

Dear all,

I gave myself some rest in Port Elizabeth. The hostel was nice and quiet, so it was the ideal environment to read a book and relax. Didn`t see anything of the city except for the harbour and the wonderful sushi restaurant, The Oyster Cather, where I went to with Tim and Tanja, whom I had met before in the Drakensberg and who drove me down to Umzumbe.
     The sushi was great, the view was nice and most of all, it was wonderful to see each other again and chat!!!

The next day the Baz Bus came to pick me up again early in the morning. Heading to Storms River this time. The first day there was rainy and I didn`t like the hostel so much, so I walked over to the neighbours/competitors and asked them if I could sleep at their place the next day. No problem! I felt better after I had organised that and read my book, quitely laying in a hammock.
     Annemieke, Dutch girl I met in Chintsa, came on the Baz Bus the following day. We went to the Tsitsikamma park together, down to the river mouth. It is sooo beautiful there! We walked part of the Otter Trail, an amazing trail along the cost. Waves splashing agains the rocks, the deep blue/green colour of the Indian Ocean, the rocky trail...It was fun to walk it, one part we had to jump from rock to rock! The real stuff, not the touristy paths where no effort is needed: I like that!

My next stop was in Wilderness. After a ride delayed by crazy drivers and a flat tire, I arrived in a little paradise. The Beach House Backpackers I stayed at is situated upon a little hill, looking over the streched-out beach of Wilderness and the beautiful ocean. Two big decks to admire the view from and a 200m path down to the beach! The first day there I relaxed. This was a perfect place to do that!
     The next day I joined a group of Germans on a canoeing tour over the river up to a waterfall. Not very spectacular (I know I`m starting to get spoiled!), but fun!
     What I enjoyed much more though, was a little hike up to a very special cave. First we had to walk over the tracks of the Choo Tjoe train (which doesn`t go over that part of the tracks any more, because of rocks blocking the tracks now), went through a short tunnel in the rock and then, going around the corner, I discovered `The Cave`.   
The Cave used to be a restaurant for the passangers on the train, but since the train is not going there any more, 4 guys made it their home. Clifford decorated the cave with lots of mobiles made with shells found on the beach, funny looking pieces of wood and what ever else found on the beach. He looked a bit like a character of Pirates of the Carribean! The other guy I met had lots of travel stories to tell. These people and their cave came straight from a childern`s book!
     Before leaving Wilderness again I treated myself on a very relaxing full-body massage. Mmm, life is good!

From Wilderness I traveled to Oudtshoorn. Away from the ocean, into the lands, the Little Karoo, land of the ostriches and semi-desert in the mountains. Beautifull!Annemieke had joined me in Wilderness in the mean time and decided last minute (literally!) to join me to Oudtshoorn. 
     In the Baz Bus we met a Canadian couple which I had met many times before, but I had never really talked to them. But when we had to wait for our shuttle to Oudtshoorn, we got to talk and laugh a lot! I joined Susanne Bond (that`s her real name!) to the shop to get a bottle of good wine for the Ostrich braai we were going to have that night. Susanne did all the talking, because her husband didn`t know much English (they are from Quebec), but the one sentence he knew was: `Long time no see!`. This became the motto of our stay in Oudtshoorn!
     The next day was a very sportive day. 54km on a mountainbike down the hill, but with the wind and the heat making it quite an expedition! We were dropped on top of the Swartberg pass, from where we whobbled down the mountain over a dirt road to the Cango Caves. There was our first stop. I decided to do the Adventure Tour, which meant I climbed up the chimney, crawled myself through the post box (27cm high) and squeezed myself through the Tunnel of Love. Besides these adventures paths, the caves had wonderful stalagtites and stalagmites forming wonderful chambers and stages to offer. 
     Fifteen to 20 kms further down the mountains we stopped at an Ostrich Farm. There we had a classic visit with an explanation about breeding ostriches, a chance to stand on ostrich eggs and to ride an ostrich. Which I actually did! I hope I can soon post that video on my weblog!
     The last kilometres back to the hostel were killing, couldn`t feel my legs any more nor my bumb. So I switched of my mind and just cycled. When we arrived back at the hostel, the first thing we did is taking of our shoes and jumping in the pool. That was just what I needed! The fact that I made it, made up for all the struggle and the delicious dinner at a nice restaurant made it a perfect day!   

And then it was time to travel trace the last part of my itinerary, down to Cape Town. I arrived at 10pm, so I went straight to bed to be fit for my discovery of the city. Nina, from YFU South Africa came to pick me up in the morning the next day. I had a wonderful private sight-seeing tour around the Cape: breakfast at Camps Bay, the wine yards of Constantia, Simons Town, the Kirstenbosch gardens...
     That evening I studied the map of the city to situate it all so I could visualize it on the Red bus sight seeing tour I did the next morning. I started at the Waterfront where musicians where playing, where many restaurants and shops are in a pretty harbour setting, drove through the city centre, bought myself some earrings at the Green Market Square, saw the cable carts up to Table Mountain, which was covered in smoke due to a fire somewhere. Nina came to pick me up at the hostel again in the afternoon. This time I took my big backpack with me, because she had organised a place for me to sleep for the last couple of nights. Before going there, she brought me to her place, where I got to meet her family. I shared a very tasty braai there, before meeting my hosts: Heather and Henry. I very sweet couple who offered me a homey place to sleep at. 
      The next morning, Babs from YFU SA as well, picked me up and brought me to the YFU office. Other YFU office I have visited to put on my list! From there, Nina drove me up to Stellenbosch, university city and home of very good wine yards. The city has very pretty buildings, all harmonious and well-maintained. You can see the strong Dutch influences, the facades are typically Dutch. After a stroll through the city, where I met Annemieke again (!), we drove to Nina`s favourite wine yard, Blaauwklippen (they have a distribution centre in Friesland!!). I got the opportunity to learn how to taste wine and to actually taste 5 of their wines. Sauvignon Blanc is my favourite!
     In the afternoon, Babs took me to Blouberg Strand, Table View, from where I had a stunning view on Table Mountain, Lion`s Head, Signal Hill and Robben Island. Lovely!
     Three days were way to short to visit the city, I`ll have to come back again! That evening I packed my bags, to be ready for the following morning: heading to the airport of Cape Town at 6.45am.

Bye bye South Africa!

Next story - next continent...stay tuned...

Lots of love,
Helene

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