Garden Route Part 2

After completing the bungee we had a braai (bbq) and cooked up some amazing chicken and sat around the fire talking with some of the staff and other travellers. It was a great night and we filled every new person in on our bungy experience... I mean every person. Whether they wanted to hear it or not (or watch it or not) they heard all of our view on the experience. I don’t think anyone minded and if they did we didn’t perceive it as we were too excited, overwhelmed and in shock that we had just completed the most massive task on our to do list...and that is not our garden route plan but our life list.

The next morning was supposed to be an adventure down Storm’s river on a tube but with the nonstop rain (thank god we had done the bungy the night before) it was cancelled. A quick search of the weather forecast for the area revealed that it was most likely not going to happen for quite some time if rain was to be an issue – so we kept on trekking down the route. We left and on the way re-evaluated our garden route list and started cutting things down left and right trying to gain some time in Cape Town.

Our first stop was at the Plettenberg Bay’s Elephant Sanctuary where we were able to meet the elephants up close. It would have been nice to do this before running into them in the wild with our dinky little car. We learnt a little about the elephants and their behaviour, touch the elephants (all over) and then feed them as a thank you for spending the morning with us. The best part was leading the elephants by the trunk through the forest. It was super neat despite our hands being covered in elephant snot but this was an obvious reaction due to the fact the elephants trunk is its nose, water vacuum tool and spray tool. The elephant doesn’t actually drink through its nose because then the water would enter the lungs and it would suffocate. It sprays the vacuumed water into its mouth to drink it. After the thank you’s we realized that they weren’t exactly as gracious and left us feeling used (although we used them for our pleasure) because they knew when the food was all gone and at that point just walked away without even saying goodbye.

From the Sanctuary we bee lined it to Knysna for lunch at Fat Susi’s Cafe which was famed for great food and one of the top ten places to eat on the garden route. I foolishly chose a sandwich that had anchovies (smelt like dead fish) while Katie feasted on one of the best chicken burgers we had ever been fortunate enough to sample – yum yum!

We jumped back on the highway and headed on our way to Ootshornd (Out’d Shorn –as in Out with a D rather than a T). For some reason, still not yet understood, our GPS took us off the major highway and into a rather hellish winding road thru the mountains but it was of no concern because it was quite a nice scenic view. After struggling with road construction, detours and my (Jeremy) driving, we managed to get to back on the highway but decided that we could easily still see the Ostrich farm, knock off a couple of items in Outshornd and make it to Mossel Bay by nightfall. It was obvious by now that we were in Ostrich country as the farms went from cattle to endless herds of the largest bird...and to our surprise we must have hit the only pocket of nice weather and sunshine.

#13) If you want to physically understand the diversity and the segregation that still remains in this country, all you have to do is drive and you can and will see it. We are not only taking about diversity in the geography but about the country in general. For example, there was no longer domestic animals venturing across the roads and villagers walking from town to town but rather well defined farms and extremely large houses and well manicured yards and acreages. This diversity continues to greaten as you head further down the coast.

The Ostrich farm was very informative and unique. We learned that the male ostrich is a player/stud (requires at least three females to remain satisfied), is plucked every nine months while quite alive and is extremely deadly while being terrified of thorn bushes (used as a means to scare off the ostriches when entering their territory). We witnessed this as one of the guards led us into ‘Jack the ripper’ and ‘Susie the stripper’s pen to observe the nest and to stand on one of their eggs. It sounds horrible but we actually stood on one of their eggs without ever fearing that it would break. Anyways as we were leaving the nest, Jack decided he wanted us out and to take a charge at us (amazing how fast he could accelerate) but stopped dead in his tracks when the guide lifted the branch of thorns she was carrying. I am glad because that one single claw on their foot could easily rip a wide open gouge from chest to feet. A tip that we feel should be passed on to everyone is that If you ever run into an Ostrich in the wild just lay down because they won’t be able to strike you or at least they will have a lot more trouble doing so. And when feeding them lay, your hand perfectly flat or you may just come up a finger short. This was probably one of the scariest animals to feed because they move around so erratically and strike like a bullet when they pick food from your hand. Too fast to even really capture it in a picture well at least the adults...the little ones were easier to approach. A kind woman in our group held Katie’s hand (as per Katie’s instruction) close enough that the birds could feed (she did not want to do it on her own but after watching I wasn’t sure that I wanted to either).

Next we were herded to a pen of Ostrich’s where some of the tourees sat face to face with the birds as we were given a breakdown of their anatomy by the guide. Literally face to face as there were maybe six inches between those giant eyes and these people’s faces...much braver than I. We then mounted an Ostrich to take a picture and a chance to ride the Ostrich’s. We had decided not to but Katie literally didn’t have much of a choice as when she went to get off its back (for picture purposes) the guide simply asked if she was ready and before receiving a response slapped the Ostrich’s ass and had her ripping around the pen. It was hilarious to watch her doing circle’s around the cage as she had no idea that the guide was still following her to make sure she would be ok. They thought it was pretty hilarious and had no qualms about riding the Ostrich’s because shortly after we watched them doing a running jump onto an Ostrich and race each other down a small horse track.

It took us another couple of hours to reach Mossel Bay and we were disappointed that as soon as we had left Outstornd and headed back to cross the mountains (the mountains shield the inland from the coast) we were back in cloudiness and rain. What made it worse is that the mountain passes that we were heading through were also listed as some of the nicest drives and the top hundred things to see while on the Garden Route. We couldn’t complain because we had had such nice weather and this area was hoping to be relieved of the worst drought they had in the last 150 years. Rather than stop in Mossel Bay we actually stayed in a small town called the Little Brak River about ten minutes away. It was not a backpacker as we had expected but turned out to be a comfy and clean place to sleep and not to mention had free internet.

14) When here if you wish to use skype make sure that you either ask or hide in a corner because although it says free internet the people here pay through the roof for it and just like airtime you have to buy data packages that are prepaid and once they run out they run out until you purchase more. I only say this because we had no idea and after the six guests all used Skype (everyone was there for the free internet) and multiple times we had maxed out the internet. Nothing here is free, even local calls at a tourist information office will be charged to you otherwise the staff will have to pay. Unfortunately, they just don’t say anything and you find out the hard way and then feel bad about it.

We met two nice couples from France and America (not typical Americans or at least we felt that they wouldn’t be judged that way) and we all headed down to the museum the next day followed by lunch at another top ten spot to stop at on the Garden Route. At the Bartholomew Dias museum, we increased our geographical knowledge (something we are realizing was worse than we thought) and learned a great deal about how the Portuguese really were the ones to explore the world first. They were some of the first to discover South America, Africa, India (with the exception of the local people).

#15) So everyone has heard the advice that if you are traveling abroad that you should declare that you are Canadian rather than be thought of as an American (despite to the French who don’t care) but you don’t really realize how true it is. After speaking only two words most people stop to ask where we are from. Although, they may just be asking for interest sakes it seems not so because our answer is almost followed by: fortunately not American, thank god or another hundred versions of something similar. Although, we feel that we declare it subtlety through our Canadian sweaters and shirts with large print, most people seem to not notice. And in some cases they just don’t believe you (supposedly some of our neighbours disguise themselves to appear Canadian) and you may need to carry a passport strictly to prove that you are truly Canadian.

From Mossel Bay we decided to try and drive to L’Auguluas to see the most Southern point of Africa and the point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet (don’t they meet everywhere?). After staying much later than we should have in Mossel Bay, we figured it was going to be difficult detour. However, we made it just before the last remaining sunlight disappeared (althgouh there really wasn’t any sunlight because it had not stopped raining along the coast since we left Storm’s river). We did manage to get to take a few pics and dip our feet in the ocean before we were thoroughly drenched. After debating for some time whether we dared to venture a further three hours in the rain and dark to Cape Town, we decided to try and find accommodation in what looked like a past castle. Unfortunately, it was full and was obviously expensive because they would only inform us that the price was in the high end. We settled on a backpackers (our ideal price range) and tried to dry out our belongings.

The next morning we headed to Cape Town to try and discover what everyone described as one of the must see’s of South Africa. We were a little confused as to why another city could be so miraculous but I guess we were soon to find out.