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November 23 thru December 2, 2005 - From Cape Town to Swellendam, Oudtshoorn, The Garden Route, Mossel Bay to Jeffrey Bay. Stop at Knysna, Plettenberg and Tsitsikamma National Park and Storm River Mouth


Photos

This slide show below is just a sample...for more photos please click the following date links:
-- 23 November
-- 24 November
-- 25 November
-- 26 November
-- 27 November
-- 28 November
-- 29-30 November
-- 1-2 December

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11-22-2005 Tuesday

We are leaving on our trip tomorrow. We marked up a map of South Africa noting all of the places that we would like to visit drawing a zigzag route so that we can see as much as we can. Here is the plan:

From Cape Town we will drive to Swellendam, Oudtshoorn, The Garden Route, Mossel Bay to Jeffrey Bay. Stop at Knysna, Plettenberg and Tsitsikamma National Park and the Storm River Mouth. Continue to Graaff Reinet, Aldo Elephant Park, Hogsback, Lesotho, Bloemfonten, Kimberly, Golden Gate National Park, Royal Natal Park, The Drakensberg, Kwazulu Natal, Eshowe, the Valley of Thousand Hills, Hluhluwe Umfolos Park in Zululand, The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park, Mkuze Game Reserve. We plan to enter Swaziland and visit the city of Mbabane. From there we will enter Kruger Park and the area of Graskop. This will take us to January 5th, and we will have three more weeks to return to Cape Town. So put on your seat belts and join us for the trip. We have a plan, but we are flexible and many changes will occur along the way. South Africa is bordering (from left to right) with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is actually inside South Africa.

11-23-2005 Wednesday

We’ve been driving along N2 to our first stop, Swellendam. It is a small town of 14,000, dating back to 1776, where it was a center for the Dutch. (Also called the Boer and the Afrikaans). There is a beautiful Dutch Reform Church in the middle of the town. The city backs up to a spectacular 1600-meter high mountain range.

It was our first day putting up our tent, and we realized that our air mattress doesn’t fit into the tent after it is blown-up, so we had to put the mattress in and later fill it with air. When the mattress is too full, the zipper of the tent will not close, so it is all an adjustment and we learn as we go. The air pump connects to the car battery and we also have light in our tent. It takes about 15 minutes to put the tent together and we love our new dwelling.

Once the tent was up, we went for a hike in Marloth National Park. I had to add a new word to my English vocabulary, indigenous: plants and flora that grow naturally in an area. The South Africans are very proud of their indigenous plants. We walked through an indigenous forest all the way up to a very tall waterfall.

11-24-05 Thursday

We wake up to the singing of the birds, fresh green morning smells and the mountains above. We are on our way to visit Youngberry Farm. Swellendam is the largest youngberry growing area in the world. I though that young berry means young, as opposed to old. I did not know that it is actually a name of berry. They grow youngberry, blackberry and blueberry. You can go through the farm and eat as much as you want and we stuffed ourselves. The youngberries look like the blackberry, but are larger, sweeter and juicier. They blueberry grow on trees. In the farm they produce liquor, jam, mustard and sauces from the berries.

Back in the car, we are going to Oudtshoorn, driving along the scenic R62 route. Along the road, we saw a family of baboons.

As you approach the town, you can spot ostriches on large plots of farmland on both sides of the road.

We settled at Paradise Backpacker in town, it is a real paradise. The grounds are beautiful, there are four fully-equipped kitchens, showers, nice sitting areas and a bar. It is very busy here with many young kids and also two single German women who are way over 60 and travel alone. People who travel alone use the Buzz Bus service. It is a special transportation service for backpackers and they travel between the various hostels. It is also expensive and very limited.

Here is a brief history of the region:

1652, the Dutch East India Company established a refreshment center in Cape Town. The Dutch will later call themselves Boers and later Afrikaans, believing that they are the Chosen People who were sent to Africa to save the souls of the natives by converting them to Christianity. They considered themselves to be a superior race.

1820 – British settlers arrive in eastern Cape. South Africa later became a British Colony. There are eleven official languages here. Zulu is spoken by 24%, Xhosa by 17.5%, Afrikaans by 13.5%, English as a first language by 8.2%. In different areas you hear different languages. In Cape Town, Afrikaans is spoken by many people, both black and white. English is also spoken by the white people and most black people speak Xhosa. I met a group of 4th graders, mostly white kids in Jeffery Bay, they all spoke Afrikaans to each other.

11-25-05 Friday

At the Paradise Backpacker, you get a complimentary ostrich egg for breakfast. You make your own egg. It is nice to see how everyone gets creative with the production. Benny, the omelette master, mixes the eggs with onion, zucchini, spinach, and tops the omelette with thin slices of tomatoes. The young kids are looking on swith admiration and taking notes. Ostrich eggs contain a lot of cholesterol and are supposed to have a distinguished taste. However with the additions and all of the spices, it tasted like regular egg to me.

Oudtshoorn is the ostrich capital of the world. The birds were bred here since 1870. A kilogram of feathers was like a kilogram of gold. Each grown bird grows one kg of feathers per year and after they are cut, they grow back. The farmers grew very rich very fast and built themselves grand mansions with imported tiles, floors, doors etc. They were called “ the feather barons”. The feathers were very fashionable in Europe. But when WWI broke, there was no market for the feathers and many of them went bankrupt and sold their homes. Ostrich farms today sell mostly meat and skin.

We are going today to visit one of the ostrich farms. This farm was started in 1906 by a Dutch man, who became very rich and built a beautiful 14-room mansion on the farm, but went bankrupt in 1914. Harry Lipschitz from Slovenia bought the farm. His great grandson, Stan Lipschitz still lives in the house and owns a farm of about 3000 ostriches. The ostriches need a lot of space and that is the reason that the farms are so large. We tour the farms starting with the eggs, incubators, and the few day old babies and on. Apparently the ostrich is not very smart and cannot be trained. It has no memory. Their brain size is smaller than their eye. They eat all day, about four kg of food per day and eat everything, even baby shoes. They also eat stones to help with digestion. In the farm they are fed corn, alfalfa and eggshells. The eggshells are very strong and thick, about 2 mm. When the egg is full, you can stand on it. It is high in Cholesterol and is equal to 24 regular chicken eggs. The male is larger and black in color with a yellowish tail. The female is grayish. They look clumsy, but can run up to 60 km per hour. They are the only bird with two toes. The large toe is used for kicking and protection.

We took turns sitting on an ostrich. Brave Benny was riding on one.

From the farm we drove to the Congo Caves, about 30km from Oudtshoorn. One of the largest stalactite and stalagmite caves in the world. For the life of me I cannot remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, so in the interactive center I learned a trick: stalactites=ceiling, stalagmites= ground.

The tour was offered in two languages: English and Afrikaans. Afrikaans sounds like Dutch. The caves are large, long, and of course every stalagmite must have a stalactite and when they meet there is a pillar and when the pillar cannot grow in length so it grows wider. We saw beautiful crystal formations and the many photos that I took will tell a better story.

November 26, Shabbat

We are driving south on the R328 toward Mossel Bay. We watched the surfers, walked up to “the point” where there is a cave that was carved by the ocean when the water was at that level. It is very high now. On with the N2 and we are now on the Garden Route, from Mossel Bay to Jeffery Bay. The road goes along the Indian Ocean, passing through meadows, hills, farms, villages and rivers. We pass the town of George, Wilderness and we arrived at Knysna, pronounced Nysna. We checked into the Highfield Backpackers. They do not have grass, so we put our tent next to the pool, on the cement. We took a walk to town and visited the waterfront. I was very impressed by the many artwork in the center. Wood carvings and moving art made from wheels, tin containers and water. Many artists live in this town.

The city of Knysna has one of the most beautiful locations of any town I have seen. It is located on the edge of a large lagoon, surrounded by forests. It was originally a timber port and shipping center. It is famous for the “Heads”. That is the place where the ocean enters into the land to create the large lagoon.

November 27, Sunday

I woke up to the sound of the birds, and Benny singing Happy Birthday. I am 59 today and one more year until the big one. I feel like the luckiest person in the world, free of worries, sleeping in a tent next to the person that I love, living my dream and in control of my life. We had a lazy morning, talking to other travelers. The lobby/ dinning room of the backpacker places is where you get the best traveling advice. Young people from Germany, England, Switzerland, we all go to the same places. Everyone loves to share information and I have my maps and books ready, and I marked roads and attractions. We took a walk in Knysna, a beautiful city. We walked to the end of Long Street, where new developments are being built at the waterfront.

In the afternoon we drove to The Heads. The ocean breaks through the mountains and enters the land. The view from the top is so amazing and we sat and watched for a long time. The mountains, rock formations, the splashing waves, the white beaches where people were swimming. On one side of the Head there are large expensive houses. The other side is a natural reserve. We drove down to Coney Glen Beach, with brownish reddish rocks and high splashing waves and later drove around Leisure Isle.

In the evening we went to celebrate at a local restaurant Anchorage, and I had Sole and stuffed butternut squash with stir-fried veggies. There was even a candle on a cup of cream boullion. I am so happy and content. Only wish I could have my kids and grandkids with me.

Monday, November 28

The cell phone was ringing many times, but we could not hear anything. We were able to talk to Nitza and Guy. I hugged and kissed the phone.

On with the Garden Route, we stopped at Plettenberg Bay, another resort town with white sandy beaches and river that goes through the town.

Continued on the R102 through the Nature Valley, scenic drive, and winding road through the Tsitsikamma forests. We noticed large burned areas in the forest.

We entered the Tsitsikamma National Forest and we climbed up to the outlook, to the River storm Mouth, where the river enters the ocean. We crossed a hanging bridge above the river and climbed all the way up to the other side to get an amazing view of the river mouth and hills covered with red flowers.

Tsitsikamma National Park is a dense forest with indigenous plants, Yellowwood and Millwood trees and other trees with natural hanging ropes, monkey ropes. Benny was swinging on one.

Tonight we camp at Jeffery Bay Backpacker, right on the beach. Great facility. Many young Germans are here and they cook hearty dinners in the kitchen. Backpacker in South Africa offers a variety of accommodations: rooms with shower, without shower, dorms for 4-6 and a large grassy area to put your tent in. The common area has nice kitchen, coffee and tea, lobby, warm showers, bar. We prefer the green grass. And what do we take to the tent? Flash light, change of clothes, toiletries and books. Books are a very important companion on our trip. Benny is reading The Da Vinci Code and I am reading Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.

Tuesday, November 29

We are on the beach, and the sound of the waves is louder than the sound of the birds. There is a new morning sound: the sound of zippers. You zip two sets of zippers when you go in and out, so you know when your neighbors are up. Zippers in and Zippers out.

The couple next door is biking around Africa. All their belongings fit on their bike.

We enjoy a long walk on the beach. White powdery sand with the most beautiful shells. Walk around the city of Jeffery Bay.

November 30, Wednesday

It was drizzling in the morning. We folded up and left on our way to Graaff Reinet, located in the Karoo National Reserve. The Lonely Planet and the other guides that we have do not list any camping ground in the area, so we did some searching and discover the Caravan Camps! The locals stay there and we meet a new crowd. No more the young backpackers, but families, couples, people who are here to work. The caravan camps are very inexpensive, 20R per night per person ($3.00) and they offer kitchen, hot shower and private baths! Tonight I will have a bath! The camp is located a ten minute walk from the center of town, along a riverbank. It is raining when we arrive. When the rain stopped, we put up the tent and later went to visit the Graaff Reinet Club, a club for English gentlemen. The club was established in the 1840s by the British, who did not want to mix socially with the local Dutch or the Afrikaans. The club has many hunting trophies; the most interesting one is the two elephant feet that are used as wine coolers.

We started our trip in the city of Swellendam where we saw a beautiful Dutch Reform Church. The Dutch (Afrikaans) built their first center in Swellendam, and when the British came, they moved up to Graaff Reinet. When the British came here, they moved to the Natal area.

We cooked a great dinner in the kitchen. It started to rain again, and we fell asleep to the sound of the rain on the tent.

December 1, Thursday

It stopped raining and we are welcomed by a beautiful day, perfect day to try a safari in the Karoo Natural Reserve. It is a small safari; we will visit many more during our trip. We got there early and we drove slowly through dirt roads and mud and spotted Kudu, (large antelope with twisted horns), gemsbok (long straight horns) buffalo, monkeys and lots of birds.

From there we continue to the Valley of Desolation in the Karoo Nature Reserve. There is a 360-degree view from the top with the city of Graaf Reinet down below and rugged, piled dolerite columns of the valley are set against the backdrop of the endless Karoo plains. We see yellow lizards, large ants with white behinds, and red and black large grasshoppers.

Life stops in South Africa at 6:00pm. Stores close early, around 5:00 pm and people are going home and the towns look like ghost towns in the evening. Not a soul outside. Everyone behind barred gates, fences, and locks.

Also the Internet caf?s are closed early. It cost .75 cent per minute to use the Internet caf? and the service is very slow and it takes forever to email photos. Only one company, Telcom, services the telephone and Internet in this country.

We enjoy our stay at the caravan camp. There is a couple that stays here for few months; the husband is working in the area. There are two Indian men from Durban who are working here. They are third generation in this country and suffered a great deal during the apartheid. I also meet an Afrikaans woman who is working now as a missionary, setting up farms for orphanages.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Today we drove to Nieu Bethesda, a tiny isolated village that is famous for the Owl House, the creation of a lonely, ill and very eccentric woman, who for 30 years used broken glass, wire, paint and cement to create sculptures of owls, camels, figures and characters from different cultures.

Jacqui from the tourist information center invited me to her house to use her computer.

Tomorrow is going to be a very exciting day. We are going with Xolile to visit the Township. The locals here are from the tribe of Xhosa and they speak Xhosa. I have to practice clicking my tongue. Hello is Molo in Xhosa.

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