Garden Route

The past few days have been spent on the Garden Route, a gorgeous drive along the southern tip of South Africa. I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to get out of Cape Town, my first since arriving in September. I feel disappointed with how little I’ve explored South Africa but in all fairness, life and work keeps me very busy. This trip offered me a real chance to explore and not just take someone’s word for how things are in South Africa. My companions included Shelby and Brandon, my resident mom and dad while I’m in Cape Town, Lindsay, Kale, and Emily whose British humor I swear gets funnier and funnier the more time I spend with her.

Wednesday brought us a 7 hour car ride from Cape Town to Storms River in the Eastern Cape. We chose to drive the furthest on the first day and work our way back, thus saving the shortest drive for the last day. I find that there is nothing that I enjoy more than sitting in a car listening to good music and looking out the window at a foreign country. 7 hours in the car that day was a delight! Along the way we stopped for a quick trip to the beach and a real first Indian Ocean experience, Brandon and I jumped in fully clothed! Our next stop was so that Lindsay could bungee jump at Bloukrans, the highest commercial bungee jump in the world! I wouldn’t be caught dead bungee jumping so I filmed. It was so ridiculously tall, I don’t even know how she did it. That night we stayed at the Tsitsikamma Backpackers, getting some much needed sleep for our adventure filled day to come.

Bright and early Thursday morning saw us tubing the Storms River. Unlike “floating the river” in the states, this more resembled my canyoning trips in Jordan due to the low water level. Fitted with wetsuits and tubes, we hiked down to the river and spent the next few hours swimming, jumping, hiking, and navigating past boulders. Our guides, Richard and Gavin, never ceased to dunk people of pull tubes out from under people (me) when they jumped in. They were also very keen to jump off of anything and everything. I did not take part in this. The last jump of the day involved a hike up a cliff followed by a shimmy out on a tree branch. Only the boys jumped this as it had to have been 60-70 feet high! It looked painful just watching!

After a quick lunch we were on our way to do a zip lining canopy tour of the Tsitsikamma forest. This was so much fun! Our guides went out of their way to make us feel safe as well as tell us about the forest. We each got to experience 10 zip lines, all varying in length and speed. It was such a rush to fly through the forest and adjust your speed that you never have a chance to look down or be scared. I’ve never had an issue with heights, asking me to jump from heights is a different issue but this was absolutely amazing. What really impressed me about the tour was that all the guides were local and the company really wanted to boost the local economy. The town of Storms River really impressed me in that way as well. It was so small that everyone knew each other yet they are really working to benefit from all of the tourists that flock to the Garden Route.

Friday was much more relaxed than our previous day of adventures. After a lazy breakfast at a mom and pop’s coffee place in Storms River we headed west. I didn’t want to see the Elephant Sanctuary so Emily and I lazily explored the town of Plettenberg Bay. 11 months out of the year it’s a ghost town but during the summer holiday month of December, all of the millionaires return to their holiday homes. It really did feel like a resort town out of season so as soon as we had a nice seafood lunch on the beach we got back on the road. Our next stop was for a bit more exploring in Knysna (pronounced with a silent K). Once again another sleepy resort town out of season, the view of the entrance to the lagoon was the only thing really to do. Our day finally ended at the Fairy Knowe Backpackers in Wilderness. We enjoyed a nice dinner in town and returned to the bar at the hostel to watch the South Africa vs. France test Rugby match.

My favorite day of the whole trip had to be Saturday, when we ventured to Oudtshoorn (I have come to the conclusion that you must be a native in order to know how to pronounce this one.) Our first stop was at the Highgate Ostrich Farm. Yes, ostriches. After an educational tour we proceeded to feed them, stand on their eggs, sit on them, then RIDE THEM!!!

In case you find yourself in a situation where you must ride an ostrich, here is what you should do: grab the wings near the bases, sit on the hump UNDER THE WINGS, lean back and try not to fall off. Those were the only instructions I was given and I had tears of joy pouring down my face once I was done. I’ll try to post the video somewhere as it is pure hilarity! They run so fast and as I was in a pen, I was dealing with 10-12 other freaked out ostriches. Another uncommon animal to add to my list.

After the ostrich farm Lindsay and I headed to the Cango Caves for an “adventure tour.” This just meant that for an extra R10 we got to wedge ourselves in tunnels and pass through super tiny crevices. The first chamber of the cave used to be inhabited by bushmen and some of the markings are still there. The second chamber, by far the largest, used to be a concert venue during the 1960s through 90s until concertgoers caused too much damage to the caves. On our way through the caves I wound up running into another intern at the CTRC. We both knew we would be on the Gardent Route but to run into someone you know in a cave in whoknowswhere, South Africa is beyond surreal. The last part of the tour involved a lot of crawling, climbing, darkness, and sliminess from all of the condensation. Our guide was absolutely amazing. He had just enough passive aggressive attitude to make every comment about each tourist hilarious. On our way back he taught us some words to say in Afrikaans to piss people off, including the correct pronunciations for them. Well worth R75!

The last town that we stayed in was Mossel Bay, once again a resort town out of season. There was absolutely nothing going on there. It was strange because technically Mossel Bay is the starting point of the Garden Route yet we didn’t see any other tourists, not even very many inhabitants. It made it very easy to not get distracted this morning and to just get on the road for Cape Town.

Overall it was a good trip and a much needed break from Cape Town. Had the weather been nicer I’m sure I would be saying it was an amazing trip but really it was well worth it.
I made a few observations along the way: I don’t think I’ve heard Afrikaans spoken as much as I did during the past 5 days. Everyone spoke it and although I was completely understood, it just felt odd to speak in English, something completely opposite of Cape Town. I’m used to hearing Afrikaans from my friend but still, not to this degree. Also, driving. Need I say more? Well I drove here. Cars drive on the opposite side of the road than they do in the states. This is a bit difficult but I find that I’m getting really used to it so driving wasn’t that difficult. I find that I have more trouble shifting gears using my left hand. The pedals aren’t reversed which is helpful but I still have to concentrate really hard when I shift. I am absolutely terrified of passing/being passed. There is an entire etiquette for how to do this and how to indicate gratitude that when I see a car in the rear view mirror I just get nervous. Luckily I haven’t driven since and I don’t really want to do it again…

As my time here dwindles I hope to go on a lot more adventures. I am disappointed in myself as far as my lack of exploring. Whereas I feel that I have delved into the culture and psyche of South Africa, I feel now that I need to get out and see with my own eyes. Hopefully when my time here is up and I find myself on the plane home I will be in a different situation, but for now so many things remain to be explored.

Amazing

My apologies for the lack of updates. I figured I would show in pictures what I've been up to because words just fall short.

Heaven. Hout Bay at sunset.

The perfect day.

Gardening project (and mural painting) in Nyanga Township.

Hiking in Cecilia Forest.