Road Trip - Part 7

Monday 23rd March – Chintsa to Coffee Bay

We were up and off fairly early from Buccaneers Backpackers after Elaine had bought some ‘lucky bean’ necklaces and a handbag (seriously, another handbag!) from the shop.

Today we were to cross the Great Kei River and enter the area known as Transkei between 1959 and 1994. During the apartheid era the South African government set up ten ethnically and linguistically divided homelands for black South Africans, effectively ensuring that all racial groups developed separately. Transkei was set aside for the Xhosa people and had a turbulent existence until reincorporation into the ‘new’ South Africa in 1994.

The scenery was very different, rolling hills and valleys, fertile green land and small communities dotted all over the landscape consisting of both modern block constructions and the traditional round thatched huts or ‘rondawels’. Now we really were in Africa!


We passed the village where Nelson Mandela was born at Mvezo and the imposing retirement home he has built in nearby Qunu, where he spent most of his formative years.

As we sped along the highway we saw a traffic cop on the opposite side of the road waving his arms and pointing at the front of the car, obviously picking up on the fact that we had no registration plate. If he thought that we were going to stop he was sadly mistaken! Shortly after that we turned off the progressively worsening N2 highway onto the road to Coffee Bay. We still had about 80km to go and the scenery was breathtaking though the road was still getting worse! Eventually the potholes got so big and frequent that we were driving at walking pace and weaving paths between them.

Eventually though and after a short dirt road hill trial for the poor bakkie we arrived at the beautiful and remote Coffee Bay, allegedly named after a ship carrying coffee which was wrecked at the site in 1863, and the Coffee Shack Backpackers.

Of course we had to take the opportunity to stay in our very own thatched hut on the other side of the river. It was great, a bed, a chair, an oil lamp and some lizards living on the inside of the thatch!


We quickly moved our things across, had our complimentary drink at the bar and went out onto the beach. Another stunning and unspoilt bay made all the better by the fact that this was in a very rural Xhosa area and we were immersed in their culture and language. The language isiXhosa takes a bit of practice to say the least, especially as they incorporate a number of distinct clicking noises into words as additional letters! If you are interested have a look at the YouTube clip below and start learning!

Everyone in the Coffee Bay area that we met was very friendly and most had a good go at trying to sell us something, from crayfish to toe rings! You had to admire their entrepreneurial spirit!

We went back to the bar area, had a drink and some free oysters and waited for dinner to be served. Again traditional Xhosa food was on the menu and once again it was fantastic with sweetcorn cooked by standing it up in the open fire and turning occasionally. If you got lucky you may have got some popcorn too where it had overheated!

Then we were treated to some traditional singing and dancing by some children from the local school who were excellent and got the crowd on their feet, clapping and stomping along with them.


We had a great night and talked to some really interesting local people before heading off to the hut for a good nights sleep (though keeping half an eye on the lizards!).



We woke up with a plan, we were going on a 7km walk to the 'Hole in the Wall' but we hadn't reckoned it raining! The weather here has been so good over the last 3 months that it is a real surprise to wake up to anything other than blazing sunshine! We decided that the hole in the wall walk would have to wait for a future visit and quickly decided to check out and head up the coast to Port St Johns.

Before we paid our tab we bought a couple of plump crayfish from one of the locals and cooked them in a nice big pot in the kitchen! Crayfish in hand we said goodbye to the brilliant people at the Coffee Shack and headed back towards the world's biggest potholes!

Road Trip - Part 6

Saturday 21st March – Addo to Chintsa

We got up, had some breakfast and took pretty unpleasant showers in the highly sulphuric water at the backpackers. If you have ever smelt a stinkbomb you will have some idea of what the water smelt like! Hopefully we didn't smell as bad once we were finished!

We set off with the aim of reaching Chintsa near East London and the highly recommended Buccaneers Backpackers.

We decided that we would take the most direct route back to the N2 highway then head for Grahamstown. As with most of these routes it swiftly and unexpectedly turned into a gravel road, not favoured by Elaine! Unfortunately this one was about 70km long so she had a bit of a nervous hour, gripping the door handle tightly and taking sharp intakes of breath very time the road got really rough. The roads themselves are generally not too bad but the dust and noise of flying stones and sliding tyres can be a little unnerving.

Eventually we got back onto the highway and made good progress towards Grahamstown. The scenery had changed again. Gone were the lush green forests, replaced by towering Aloe Ferox and various cacti. Even the trees were noticeably different as we headed towards the more tropical environment.

We stopped in Grahamstown for some lunch and to stock up with supplies. This is the area where the ‘1820 Settlers’ were granted land and equipment by the British Government and Cape authorities, one of the largest settlements of British people in Africa. Many of the settlers turned their back on agriculture and moved to the towns, hence the visible Victorian/Georgian influence in Grahamstown today.

After an interesting hour walking around the city we continued our journey via East London to Chintsa on the Wild Coast, overtaking a fine array of vintage cars en route which were taking part in some kind of rally.

Again we had to negotiate a very rough track to get to the backpackers, fortunately it was only about 1km long, but what a boneshaker!

We arrived at the fabulous Buccaneers Backpackers and decided to get a safari tent. This cost only little more than pitching our own tent with the added luxury of a proper bed and a wooden deck with views of the lagoon, beach and ocean. We signed up there and then for the traditional Xhosa (the dominant black tribe in the Cape) feast on offer that evening at a very reasonable R60 (£4) including as much wine as you could drink. They also told us that breakfast was free to everyone on a Sunday morning, and that there was free canoe and body board rental too, what a result!


We unpacked the bakkie and made ourselves at home in our very spacious tent. It was at about this time that we noticed that the front registration plate on the bakkie was missing! Oh well, not much we could do about it there and then we’d just have to keep our eyes open and see we could see it on our way out, if not it was probably somewhere near Grahamstown and lost forever! More on this later.

We got into our beach gear and headed off to explore the nearby amenities. First we came to the lagoon and could see the canoes which were free for us to use. Then we came to the wonderful beach, golden sand stretched round the bay as far as the eye could see and the ocean was a deep blue. We walked and watched the local Xhosa children playing in the surf and kite surfers speeding over the waves pulled by the wind.


Having topped up the tan and had a good walk for a couple of hours it was time to get ready to eat and drink! There were plenty of takers for the feast night and the large room had quite a buzz about it as dish after dish came out to load up the buffet table. The food was great, corn bread, chicken, lamb, rice and lots of things that I simply didn’t recognise. Elaine and I joined forces with a Swiss couple to show the large group of Americans just how to abuse the free wine situation, suffice it to say that Team Europe & Africa slept very soundly that night!

When we woke the following morning we decided that the previous day had been so much fun we would stop for another night, which we booked before taking advantage of the free breakfast and lots of coffee to combat the strange headaches we had developed, must have been the sea air!

Another day on the beach followed, collecting masses of shells for Elaine to put to good use in a future project and a bit of canoeing thrown in for good measure. If you look closely at the view of the backpackers from the beach you will see the safari tents poking out of the hill surrounded by the rest of the backpacker’s buildings.


We enjoyed a spaghetti bolognese at the backpackers in the evening and spent some time in the bar afterwards rounding off what had been a very enjoyable and relaxing stay.

We will definitely be back.

Road Trip - Part 5

Friday 20th March – Stormsrivier Village to Addo Elephant National Park

Not much commentary on this one, just lots of pictures! We had a longer drive of 250km via the large industrial city of Port Elizabeth to reach our destination. It took us about 3 hours and left us with more than half a day to enjoy the Addo ElephantNational Park and the animals.

The setup at Addo was great, we pulled into the main camp, paid the very small fee (about £2 each), checked the ‘sightings’ board and headed off into the park’s 600 square kilometres of dirt and tarred roads.

African Elephant
Our first encounter was with a large lone male. We sat and watched each other for ages until the elephant crossed right behind the car. Amazing. Later on we saw a large herd of 10-15 elephants on the other side of the park.


Buffalo
Not a great photo but this was the second ‘Big 5’ sighting for us! Only 3 to go.


Burchells Zebra
Unsurprisingly closely related to the horse!


Kudu
Look at those horns! Beautiful animal which also makes for very tasty biltong!


Eland
Quite happily sitting by the side of the road waiting for a car to come by!


Warthog
Very good at running away as soon as they saw a camera!


Leopard Tortoise
This was bigger than it looks in the picture.


Other Sightings
Red Hartebeast
Vervet Monkey
Black-backed Jackal
Flightless Dung Beetle
Ostrich (yawn!)

And lots of other unidentified beasties.

We had a fabulous time exploring the park and we got to see two of the ‘Big 5’. It could easily have been 3 but we missed out on a pride of lions at our first turn! When we were talking to one of the rangers about what he had seen recently he told us that when we had entered the park we were behind his vehicle, at the first junction he went left and saw lions almost immediately, we, of course, turned right and saw none! The park has lion, rhinoceros and leopard but they all eluded us. Better luck next time!

We left the park in the near darkness and checked into a backpackers lodge just down the road which would be best described as ‘functional’! Still we had a great day and would recommend Addo to anyone.

Road Trip - Part 4

Thursday 19th March - Buffalo Bay to Stormsrivier

With only 120km of road to travel we knew that we had plenty of time to explore the various places of interest en-route and still get to our destination nice and early. Happily normal weather conditions had returned and it was time for the sun tan lotion again!

First port of call was Noetzie, a secluded bay guarded by 5 private castles, all of which are private residences. The 15km drive along the dirt road and the walk down 100 or so steps through the forest was well worthwhile to see this interesting spectacle, though the oldest castle only dates from 1932! For some reason we don’t have any photos of our own but have linked to this one from t’Internet.


We walked back up the steps (slightly more laborious) to the car and headed back along the dirt road to the highway. On either side of us we could see the properties on the highly exclusive Pezula Private Estate. The houses, well mansions really, looked amazing. If we ever win the lottery, well if we ever win it twice, we might be able to afford to visit for a few days! Apparently this is the most exclusive estate in South Africa and the level of security that was visible seemed to back this up. How the other half live eh!

We got back onto the highway and headed towards nearby Plettenburg Bay, not to visit the town itself (another upmarket summer playground for the wealthy) but for Elaine to spend some of her birthday money at the art and craft shops there. Two hours later and with new bangles and accessories onboard we continued our journey to Stormsrivier.

Very soon we entered the Tsitsikamma National Park and a new Province, Eastern Cape. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty within which we would find Stormsrivier Village.


Very soon after the toll booth we crossed over the Bloukrans Bridge, home of the world’s highest bungy jump. Despite my temptation (ahem) to jump 216m off a perfectly good bridge we drove on, quite quickly!

After admiring the scenery for a short while longer and negotiating the now traditional South African roadworks we arrived at Stormsrivier Bridge, a sort of base camp for exploring the local area. We had a walk over the bridge (Jon’s legs were shaking) and decided to find the route to visit the ‘big tree’ nearby. Unfortunately we were informed by the information desk that the ‘big tree’ was inaccessible due to the roadworks taking place, just typical!


We had something to eat and decided to make our way to Stormsrivier Village (the only place with accommodation in the national park) and check in to the Dijembe Backpackers Lodge. After our experience at Buffalo Bay we checked into a double room with a nice comfortable bed!


We spent the afternoon and early evening exploring the local area before returning to the backpackers for an evening sitting round the fire and talking with the other residents! A day of bits and pieces and lots of stunning nature, positioning us nicely for our next destination - Addo and the Addo Elephant National Park.

Road Trip - Part 3

Wednesday March 18th - Wilderness

We woke up to sunshine! Hooray! Time for a shower, breakfast and tent packing, all achieved by about 0900hrs!

Canoeing was on! We said our goodbyes to the few people who were staying or working at the backpackers and headed off round the corner into the Wilderness National Park and the canoe hire people at Eden Adventures. For a very reasonable fee we were given the paddles to Canoe No. 6 and two life jackets and off we went!

We headed off on the 1.5km paddle upstream towards the end of the navigable river where we could join a 2km long wooden boardwalk through the mountain to a waterfall near the source of the river. Surprisingly all went well. Jon provided power from the front whilst Elaine kept us on course and provided additional power from the rear! After a very pleasurable paddle looking at the wildlife (including a swimming African Puff Adder (killer variety!) and a pair of Knysna Loeries we dragged the canoe up onto the rocky beach, stowed the paddles, pulled our bags out of the dry buckets and set off along the boardwalk.


After 45 minutes good walking exercise we reached our destination, a beautiful series of sink pools fed by two fairly large waterfalls. Time for a swim/paddle in the freezing mountain water and some lunch on a 2m square island/beach in the middle of one of the pools.

After an hour or so it was time to head back to the canoe and make our way back to base. Strangely enough the journey back was also against the current so we had another good work out amongst the flora and fauna of the Touw River. A blissful and healthy first half of the day!

When we got back to the car we treated ourselves to an ice cream, rubbed our sore shoulders and set off on the short (40km) drive to Buffelsbaai (Buffalo Bay). We arrived at the Buffalo Bay Backpackers and pitched our tent within throwing distance of the beach.

Elaine was actually the first guest at this backpackers three years ago! She helped paint the walls and even had to unwrap the packaging from her mattress and bedding before she could sleep! Johan the owner was pleased to see her and amazingly had spent time working at The White Swan in Henley-in-Arden, just around the corner from Jon's home in the UK!

We spent the early evening watching the surfers on the 'morning' beach and looking at some of the art on show in the backpackers.



As evening drew closer we decided to make the short journey to Knysna and have a nice meal at Cornuti's Restaurant at the 'Knysna Heads' (apparently the second most dangerous port entrance in SA). Before we left we did notice that the sea was turning a little rough and dark clouds were rolling in. Was the tent going to be a good option? We didn't care, we were hungry!!!

The meal was fabulous and the view from the terrace was fantastic. The heads are two natural outcrops which separate the sea from the lagoon, forming a narrow channel navigable only by the best seafarers and even they cross their fingers and pray!

By the time we were ready to head back to Buffelsbaai the rain was really falling hard and the wind was blowing. Things were even worse at the backpackers. We quickly emptied the tent of our belongings and asked Johan for a room instead! Once you get to our age there is nothing to prove by sleeping in a cold, wet tent! We sat around the fire and had a drink with some of our fellow residents, joining in the jokes about the poor souls who were sleeping in the tent outside, not letting on that it should have been us!

The following morning the weather was fantastic once again. The tent was still in situ and bone dry! We packed our things, nursed our now VERY sore shoulders, had breakfast and got ready for the next leg of our journey. Just one last task before we left, kindly ask Johan's Jack Russel to stop reading our copy of Coast to Coast and get out of the car!

We said our goodbyes and were off to Stormsrivier in the Tsitsikamma National Park.

Road Trip - Part 2

We left Gouritzmond on Monday 16th March to start our road trip proper. The aim was to head up the N2 to the small town of Wilderness (a gentle 125km) and camp there for the night.

First up was a visit to Mossel Bay for some supplies, sightseeing and something to eat. Mossel Bay is famous as the place discovered by the Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Dias in 1488 proving that Africa had a southern tip thus showing it was possible for ships to sail from Europe to India. The town also has the only north facing beach in Southern Africa – both strange and interesting I think you will agree! After a couple of hours sightseeing and posting some postcards from the Milkwood Tree used as a post office since 1500 we set off for Wilderness.

An hour or so later we arrived in the green, sunny and stunning Wilderness via a winding mountain pass that reminded me of Cheddar Gorge back in the UK.
At this point the weather was great so we headed straight for the Fairy Knowe Backpackers and pitched our little tent (borrowed from Linda and Meiring of course)!

Once we had settled in it was time to explore the local area so we took a short drive along the old, mountainous and winding road to nearby George and took a walk in the nearby National Park. We decided that the next day we would hire a canoe and explore the local river.

We headed back into town for something to eat and a nice bottle of wine on the beach. Having moved beaches a couple of times already to sample as much of the local area as possible we had our most bizarre experience to date.

As we pulled up to the beach car park we saw another car parked right down at the end. A short while later a short black man in shorts and a t-shirt came running over to the car and asked us if we could help him as he was stuck in the sand. Elaine put down her knife and we told him that we would see what we could do!

Of course being security conscious we drove towards his car to see whether he was alone etc. In the back of the white Mercedes was a slightly dishevelled young lady who was evidently not the wife of our new friend (didn't get his name but for the purposes of the story we will now refer to him as STUPID)! It transpired that they had been stuck for 4 hours and the man's wife was now getting really mad and phoning him every 5 minutes!

After a little digging I told Elaine to jump into the driving seat and let STUPID and I push. STUPID put the car into 'reverse', Elaine drove and we pushed. Nothing. More revving and pushing. Nothing. Something wasn't quite right with the sound of the car and the way it wasn't moving so I told Elaine to jump out and had a go myself. First attempt, same outcome. Second attempt (remembering that to get a german car into reverse you either have to lift or press the gear stick) we shot out of the sand and onto hard ground. Immediately I knew what the problem was, this guy was STUPID, he'd been driving the car into the sand in fourth gear for 4 hours!!!!

When we hit gravel there were shouts of joy. STUPID hugged me and jumped into my arms and the local lady of the night tried to hug Elaine who did her best to keep her at arms length! STUPID then told us that he had borrowed the car from his work at COPE (South African Political Party) where he was district organiser in George! We should have gone to the papers!!

We returned to the backpackers still laughing and shared our tale with the two German members of staff who were the only ones in the bar. We had a nice evening together and settled down for our first night in the tent.

We awoke to a very strange phenomenen, rain! Not only rain but it was pretty cold as well. What a shock to the system, certainly no canoeing today and no striking of the tent either as it was soaking. We quickly decided that we would stay for one more night (surely it couldn't rain on two consecutive days) and take a trip to the Klein Karoo (little desert) on the other side of the mountains to visit Oudtshoorn (home of the world's largest Ostrich population) and the Cango Caves.

The drive over the Outeniqua Pass was fabulous, with the added bonus that the weather improved as dramatically as the scenery changed from lush green foliage to spartan semi desert (though admittedly the next two pictures make it look as if the weather got worse).

After a 100kms or so and passing through Oudtshoorn we arrived at the Cango Caves and ate our packed lunch looking out over the Cango Valley that we had just driven along. Two trips were on offer Standard or Adventure. The Adventure trip included squeezing through holes smaller than my body, that and the fact that Elaine has bad childhood memories of doing it, meant that we opted for the more sensible Standard trip (chickens)! I guess that we have all been down enough caves to know what to expect but this was actually a really good one and we had an interesting hour with our entertaining guide travelling through part of the network.

It was time to head back to Oudtshoorn and have a look at the town and some Ostriches! First though, especially for all you animal lovers, we stopped to have a look at some camels, well it is a desert afterall!
Boy there were a lot of Ostriches to see, they aren't joking when they say that this is home to the world's largest population! One group took a shine to Elaine and showed her their best mating dances!

Having seen enough funny birds and of the town itself we bought some Ostrich Burgers, Ostrich Biltong and some freshly squeezed fruit juice and headed back to Wilderness.

Fortunately the weather had cleared up and we were able to sit and braai our burgers back at base with our two new German friends and a bottle of wine. For the record Ostrich is not only really healthy (virtually fat free) it also tastes very good too. Surprisingly it does not taste anything like chicken, which most other exotic things seem to!

All in all a fantastic day considering the wet start and all was looking good for canoeing the next day.

(Time for a break for both reader and writer I think! Part 3 soon!)

Road Trip - Part 1

Better late than never eh! We'll try and put some of the highlights of our trip into words and pictures for you starting right now!

The basic plan was to drive along the coast, along the 'garden route' and see how far we could get in the little over two weeks we had allowed ourselves. We were armed with a vehicle, a tent and a copy of 'coast to coast' (the backpackers friend)!

We set off on Friday 13th March on the 300km drive to Gouritzmond to stay with Elaine's friend Leonie at her parents spectacular family home with her mother Leona, husband Radie, sister Karen, brother-in-law Riaan and niece Emma.

So much for roughing it in a tent for now! The journey was pretty staightforward and it was nice to see that real progress has been made on the roadworks - we were only stopped once, a real improvement on when we last travelled this way for 'Up The Creek'.

As soon as we arrived at the house Radie told me that we had to go on a mission in search of an ostrich egg (the equivalent of 20 chicken eggs) for breakfast the following day. We drove to some of the local ostrich farms and asked but the best we got was a promise to ring if any became available. Disappointing but there's always next time!

Of course we had a Braai and a few bottles of wine in the evening followed by a deep sleep accompanied by the sound of the Indian Ocean crashing onto the nearby beach.

Saturday consisted of excellent company, food, Super 14s rugby and more Braai food! It also taught me the power of the sea in these parts, the current just wouldn't let me make progress back towards the beach until Karen came to my rescue with a boogyboard, now an item on my shopping list as a 'must have' during beach visits.

On Sunday we relaxed and had a walk around Gouritzmond and a short drive along the coast during the sunset looking at an old abandoned mansion and spotting some interesting wildlife.

Monday was to be the first day of our road trip proper so early to bed with great expectations for the coming two weeks!

We're back!

We are finally back in Stellenbosch after a fantastic road trip up the Garden Route and on into Transkei. We got as far as Port St Johns before making our way home at the weekend.

Now we've got a thousand photos to sort out and some serious blog updates to do!

We'll try and break the trip down into manageable chunks and show you a few pictures over the next few days so please be patient!

Jon and Elaine xxx

Road Trip

Now that we have completed the mosaic (except for painting the side walls that is) we are taking a well earned break and going travelling.

Today we leave for Gouritz to visit Leonie's family for the weekend then we shall continue up the Garden Route and spend two or three weeks exploring and finding things of interest.

We are not taking the laptops with us so the Blog updates may be a little infrequent, what's new there then?! But we will try and keep you up to date as best as we can.

See you in the next update, whenever that may be!

Jon and Elaine xxx

Wildlife

One or two people have mentioned that there has been a lot of talk about eating and drinking but not so much about the African wildlife.

Many apologies for this, we are about to set off on a road trip where hopefully we will be able to see some of the 'Big 5' but until then we thought it maight be a nice idea to show you some of the critters that we have already encountered. Being Africa most are extremely dangerous!

African Killer Domestic Cat

African Killer Lizard

African Killer Chameleon

African Killer Penguins

African Killer Emus

African Killer Goat

African Killer Piggie

African Domesticated Non-Killer Crocodile


Wow, you've really got to have eyes in the back of your head in Africa!

Cocktail Party

Last Saturday saw us celebrate Elaine's birthday (again!) and the near completion of the mosaic.

Unfortunately we don't have any pictures to show you but trust me, it was one monster of an evening!

Elaine's brother André and his friend Lombardo were our professional cocktail makers for the evening and we set up a fantastic temporary bar in the gazebo complete with fridge, blender, shakers and huge range of spirits and mixers.

Food was provided thanks to Linda's hard work while we were knee deep in cement, tiles and grout, and a platter that we ordered in.

André and Lombardo did us proud, cocktails of every imaginable type flowed as did the regular tequila shots and eventually most people ended up jumping into the pond, mobile phones and all!

I have absolutely no idea what time we got to bed but it took both of us until Tuesday to feel on form again! Believe it or not we have not really been drinking so much lately!

Mosaic Madness

It's just about finished! The last two weeks have been really hard work, plenty to do and a top temperature of 42 degrees!

We managed to finish tiling at lunchtime on Friday 6th March and then had the grouting to look forward to!


We just about finished grouting before it got dark but as you can see it is a very messy job. Ninja had to hose us down outside before we could do anything else! The only thing that shifted the mess was a scouring pad and some 'Handy Andy' (Jif basically!).

Elaine was especially pleased to get this far on the project as the following day was her belated birthday cocktail party (more on that later) and now the guests would be able to see the (near) finished product.

The grout has needed a couple of applications in some places and the cleaning and polishing has taken the rest of the week so far before we can finally apply the sealant and get round to painting the sides. The overall effect is simply stunning, Elaine deserves congratulations for not only having the ability and talent to produce something like this but for the sheer amount of hours work she has put in. Well worth it in the end if you ask me.