Friday, June 27, 2003

 

Anyway we're sitting in a restaurant in Knysna, eating the best tempura prawns I've ever tasted, and the guy at the table beside us starts chatting to us. He was with a friend he hadn't seen in 25 years, and they'd downed 4 bottles of wine between them, and on hearing that Hamish was Scottish, he invited us round for the Scotland-South Africa rugby game the next day. We duly phoned him up the next morning, and he remembered meeting us (just about), so we went round for beers and a braai (bbq) and met some of his friends. Also met a bar tender who took us out to the local nitespot and was very friendly. I just couldn't imagine meeting some crazy tourists in Dublin and befriending them in the same way, but the people here are like that. In Knysna anyway. Took it easy the next day, just went on a lunch time cruise around the lagoon the next day and got ready to head off again.

Next stop was Plettenberg Bay, another seaside town along the garden route. We had the most amazing whale watching trip here. There were orca's (killer whales) in the bay, which normally only happens once or twice a year. Even some of the locals, who've been living there for a few years hadn't seen them. We went out with Ocean Safaris, who are part of a foundation that study dolphins and whale behaviour in the bay, and even they were really excited to see the orcas. They were swimming right up close to the boat, one or two full grown females and some babies. One breached, jumping right up out of the water, about a metre from the boat, and Hamish just happened to be standing right beside it. We passed a seal colony with the orcas (they normally feed on seals) but they went right past the seals, who were in a frenzy at this stage, and went inshore towards the dolphins, which they prefer to feed on. So we followed them in and the dolphins started swimming in towards the shore too, and swam right where the waves were breaking, to try and escape. Very exciting and very beautiful to watch, as there were about 20 or 30 of them, and when the waves broke you could see them all jumping out of the water. Thankfully, we didn't have to witness any dolphins getting eaten but I'm sure one or two were caught. Orcas are one of the most efficient hunters on earth apparently. They've been known to hunt blue whales, by lying on top of their blowholes in order to drown them. Thankfully they don't usually attack humans or boats.

From Plett we went on to Storms River for some black water tubing and also passed the highest (not the longest) bungee jump in the world, off Bloukrans bridge, but we didn't partake. In Hamish's words, "I'm way too old for that sort of carry on" etc The tubing was good fun, we drove into the forest, got dropped off, hiked down an almost vertical slope hanging on to ropes and step ladders, and reached the bottom of the gorge, where we jumped into our tubes and (alternatively) paddled down the river/clung on for dear life going down the rapids. It was FREEZING cold, even with two wetsuits on (the guy told us the only real risk was hypothermia - great!) and feet and hands being bare and not protected by the wetsuit, were the coldest. We had to get out and walk certain bits over rocks, and I could barely stand my feet were so numb. But we were given a glass of sherry at the other end so that soon got the blood flowing. Also saw baboons in the surrounding trees - they were screeching at us. The only way to go down the river is with tubes as its too rocky for canoes, so I suppose the baboons would not be that used to humans. Then had to kill 6 hours before the Baz bus arrived to pick us up, so after visiting the one shop and cafe in Storms River village, we had 4 hours left...slept, ate, drank. The bus came eventually.

We arrived in Port Elizabeth at about 9.30 that nite, and our legs were already beginning to ache from the vertical hike down and from trying to hold up our feet out of the water whilst tubing. Collapsed into bed and headed off at 7 the next morning for Port Edward, our next stop. We had to get some miles under our belt so arrived there at 9pm that nite. A bitch of a busride but at least there was lots to see on the way. We passed thro the Transkei, the traditional home of the Xhosa people, beautiful countryside, lots of mountains and gorges and very rural. Had to veer off to avoid goats and cows several times, got stuck at 6 different sets of road works, where the longest wait was half an hour. This area was known as the Homelands, and was where the white Afrikaaners wanted to try and set up a separate nation state for black people, but without providing any infrastructure or funding.

We arrived at the hostel eventually Ku-Boboyi River Lodge that nite and thankfully it was beautiful and very relaxing, so we ended up staying for 4 instead of 2 days. It is run by Eric, a Frenchman and his partner, and situated on top of a hill, surrounded by forest and banana plantations, overlooking the pool and the sea. It's by far the best hostel we've stayed in so far. Eric trained as a chef in France and we ate with him every nite on the verandah, the most delicious food I've had since we arrived in SA (40Rand/Euro5 for a starter and main course). In his back garden, there were banana, guava and lemon trees, along with lots of gekkoes, huge ants, crickets, 2 dogs and a huge big spider which ended up in our room one nite. Also saw fish eagles and Hamish reckons he could spot a dolphin from the verandah - I don't doubt that he did, but unfortunately it had disappeared by the time he'd called us out! Apparently there are snakes and lynx in the surrounding forest but we didnt see any. We did see some ververt monkeys though, by the side of the road eating out of a rubbish bin. We also did a horse riding trail with Amadiba Adventures, a local community based tourism initiative, along the coast near Port Edward, which was beautiful. Our guide was very informative, and talked much about the sangoma or witch doctors and his own beliefs. He pointed out various aspects of the landscape, including beach caves and patches of petrified forest protruding from the waterline. The beaches were pristine and deserted. When we turned inland, the landscape changed to rolling hills covered in grasses, the odd tree and the traditional thatched rondavels dotted here and there. We stopped for lunch at a water hole and met up with a group of hikers (also from Amadiba) who were several kilometers into their 3 day 50 km hike. We were glad to be on horseback ;-)

Our legs had just about recovered from the tubing, but after the horse riding we were again barely able to walk. However it was definitely worth the pain. Hamish's horse was a bit flighty, despite its name (Peace or maybe it was Piss, the accents are quite strong here) and started cantering away from the rest of us, but he did great considering it was only his second time on a horse!!

The area is known as the Wild Coast, and is undeveloped in terms of tourism, which is a nice change. The Pondo people, who have lived in this area for centuries are slowly beginning to welcome tourists and realising that it can benefit the community, but there is still much suspicion.

On to Durban then, for some lounging on the beach, and swimming in the Indian Ocean. It was nice and warm there, hitting 25 C and glorious on the beach, considering its their winter. Durban has a very tropical feel to it and has a big Indian population, which influences the food and architechture a lot. Preferable to Cape Town in that you can swim in the ocean. We are now in Ballito, a small town outside Durban, staying in the Beachbums backpackers, whose back gate opens on to the beach, so we're going to go for a swim this evening and maybe do some body boarding tomorrow.

posted by kate 1:28 PM

Thursday, June 26, 2003

 

We arrived in George, our first stop on the Garden Route, and ended up spending 3 nites there to catch the Choo-Tjoe train. Would not recommend George as it's flat, boring and pretty much a shopping centre. Also the food was pretty awful, steak and chips, ostrich & chips, croc & chips, springbok & chips - you get the general idea. It's quite an Afrikaans and rural area so lots of that type of food. The (2) main streets were miles long and we had to walk everywhere, its not a place to be if you don't have a car. Also our hostel was a bit of a building site and the first nite we could see our breath, it was so cold. But the sun shines every day so no complaints really. And as we go up the coast (North) it gets warmer anyway.

Got a train up the mountains (the railway was built by Italian POW's after WW2) into the Outeniqua Nature Reserve (very beautiful) and mountain biked all the way down! And it wasn't all downhill, so we were jelly legged by the end of it ;-) Our first bit of real exercise since we arrived and we were wrecked after it, but have had a few hikes and stuff since then, so dare I say it, we might actually be getting fit (might, i say). Haven't given up the smokes yet but maybe in Oz - they're too cheap here!

Also visited a crocodile farm in George which had 4000 crocs, only separated from us by a wall about 3 feet high. Pretty freaky, but they don't eat for 4 months in winter as it isn't warm enuff for them to move, thankfully. However, they were definitely awake and the smaller ones all swam into the water on our arrival. We left soon after that!

Left George as soon as we could, and got the steam train to Knysna, a pretty seaside town built around a lagoon. Lots of seafood and friendly locals, as we experienced on our first nite there.

posted by kate 3:55 PM

Monday, June 09, 2003

 

Still in Cape Town, have been to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 19 of his 27 years. Mad place, it was a leper's colony prior to having a prison - it's big enough 4km by 2km. Saw some of the local wildlife: springboks, ostriches, deer.
Very moving tour of the prison, our guide was an ex-political prisoner, who showed us his prison wing before going to explicit detail of his arrest, torture and interrogation - truly barbabric stuff.
Been on a tour to the Cape of Good Hope saw penguins, nice! Did the open bus tour of city - God, we are such tourists at the moment, it's hilarious with our not-quite matching waterfproofs (sad or what!!!)
Been staying with Deirdre, one of Kate's college friends, and her man, Karl, in Camps Bay for the last couple of days. It is simply gorgeous, very easy living.
Tomorrow, back on the road to George, where we can get a steam train to our next port of call Knysna.

Might actually send the link out one of these days 8-)

posted by Hamish 5:42 PM

Thursday, June 05, 2003

 

Well, Cape Town, eh? In June ... that'll be winter then!
Finally got our acts together and left rainy Dublin on 2nd June, arrived in sunny Cape Town morning of the 3rd.
Had booked a hostel in advance for a couple of days which was good, meant we were picked up the airport, which was fantastic (after a 12 hour flight PLUS 1 hour sitting on the runway at Heathrow - thanks French Air traffic control (!) - PLUS 1 hour sitting on the runway at Dublin - flat battery).
Amazingly enough, our bags made it to Cape Town on the same flight, excellent!!! So got dropped off in the middle of Cape Town on Wednesday morning. Showered, changed clothes and headed downtown. Had a drink, bought a SA SIM for my phone (073-3543342, I think the country code is 0027), went back to hostel and changed clothes again (realisation finally dawned, it IS winter here!!!!)
Anyway, weather still nice, just not enough warmth for shorts and tee-shirts. Went to the waterfront where we had a drink, literally, right next to half a dozen big seals who were lying there basking in the sun, mad!!!
Back to the hostel, for an early(ish) night - not much sleep on the flight due to four or five unrelated brats taking it in turns to scream their heads off, lovely(!). We were sitting on the balcony about to turn in, just saying to ourselves that, considereing our hostel is on Long Street (the busiest, most happening street in Cape Town), it was a bit quiet. Then 10pm arrived, and all the pubs, clubs and restaurants erupted into a cacophony of noise and music. This went on til 5am, when all the street cleaning machines took over. Thank feck for jetlag, otherwise I don't think we'd have got any sleep!!! Different plan for tonight, back home for an early evening siesta, then we'll go out at 10pm, same as the rest.
Ah, I hear you say, enough of the scenery, what's the damage to the wallet.\
Well, it's 12 Rand for a pack of twenty fags (that's 1.5 euros, a bit better than the 6 euros in Ireland or the 5 quid in Scotland!!!), 16 rand (2 euros) for a 75cl bottle of beer on the waterfront (expensive, apparently!) - 75cl is the size of a bottle of wine, I like this country !!!

Anyway, enough already, will try and post regularly(ish)

posted by Hamish 5:54 PM