Well, it has been over a week since I have heard Charles’ “Don’t Waaaaiiiiit!!!!” cry for breakfast, lunch or dinner and I seem to be managing to maintain all the pudge I put on eating three massive meals a day and not getting much exercise. This, despite the fact, that I have been getting loads of exercise the past week. Jules I tackled every trail we could find and we even threw in a canoe trip for good measure.
So, after a few days in lovely, sunny, warm, brilliant Cape Town with the ocean breezes and many goodbyes to the other Overlanders, we packed up our things and jumped into a very small, and probably incredibly dangerous, little white car thing. Not sure if it was more qualified for Barbie or for us but as we have made it safely back to Cape Town again, I will give it credit for being a form of human transport rather than doll transport. Our plan was pretty simple – drive up the coast to Plettenberg Bay, relax there for a few days, head to Fairy Knowe in the Wilderness Park area (still on the coast), then go inland to Oudtshoorn to check out the ostrich farms and finally spend a couple nights in Franschoek enjoying the winelands.
Plett (Plettenberg Bay) was fantastic. Gorgeous sweeping beaches with crystal clear turquoise waters. We were floored by the many mansions dotting the hills around the bay and are still baffled at how the people here are affording them especially after seeing the townships (shanty towns) on the way out of Cape Town. We did, just for fun, check out the pricing on these gorgeous mansions with unparalleled ocean views (OK, I’ll give you that there are equally lovely places on the CA coast). It appears that you can get a pretty decent sized abode (starter that is – 3 to 4 bedrooms and an ocean view) for around US $500,000 or ZAR3.5 million. We did a couple day hikes in the Plett area – Robberg and Tstitsikama – both of which ran along the coast and provided great views of the surrounding area as well as dolphins and seals. The trails were most interesting and not just for the scenery. They sort of, well, disappeared on occasion and we had to do a bit of searching to figure out exactly where it picked back up. This meant that we took a slightly different route going out than coming back. In many cases, we were climbing along rocks on the beach searching for some footprint painted on a rock or scrambling across and down stream/creek beds looking for where it picked up on the other side. Of course, when you didn’t need a sign post or direction, there was one, and when you did, there wasn’t. Still, it was fun and I can’t say I have been on a hike before with such varied terrain.
In Fairy Knowe, we did pretty much the same thing but our destination on these hikes was to water falls rather than down and along the coast. They were quite nice and for one of them, we had a 3km canoe trip to get to the jumping off point for the trail. Sadly the water lacked crocs and hippos grunting at us but it did have some nice birds and the scenery was quite pleasant as well. Trails were equally interesting as in Plett, which made for good laughs as some other hikers tromped by in their flip flops and sandals. We topped our final day at Fairy Knowe off with a paragliding trip. Jorg, one of the workers at the hostel, was an instructor so we went out with him. It was incredible floating, or shall I dare say soaring, over the hills, beaches and water. Jorg was quite a laugh as well so it made for an enjoyable chat. Although, it did make me a bit nervous when he got excited about what he was explaining and used his hands to gesture, leaving the sail controls completely unattended. He obviously knew what he was doing since we did land safely back on the ground.
Oudtshoorn was out next stop – ostrich capital of the world and known for being a leaner, tastier dark meat than beef. It is, in fact, quite tasty and the skin does also make for some very nice purses. Our first venture in Oudtshoorn was to go see the Cango Caves and take on their “Adventure Tour” which involved crawling through incredibly small places from cave to cave with names like the Devil’s Coffin and The Post Box. The caves were beautiful with loads of stalactites and stalagmites that had been formed over millions of years and in a few instances, joined together to make one giant column. I think we reached about 150 meters below the surface and did a few kilometres worth of trekking. We topped the day off with an ostrich meal – as you have to do when in the ostrich capital of the world.
The next day started off with an ostrich egg breakfast (not so sure about the texture of the egg when scrambled but otherwise quite a nice mild taste) and then went on to a farm where we could learn more about these funny little creatures that dotted the hills around Oudtshoorn. The tour ended with the chance to sit on and also to ride an ostrich. Somehow I opted myself into the riding section of the group and got dumped on the poor little bugger first. Boy did he go! Thankfully, they have two “jockeys” who are versed in ostrich riding that run along side and made sure you don’t hurt yourself. Basically, they catch them by hooking their necks and then dumping a bag over their heads. They walk them, must like a prisoner going to execution, over to a blocked section/cage where they are held so that us humans can climb on top. When they are ready to be released, the guide takes the bag off their heads and well, they back right out and sprint off. Meanwhile, the rider holds on to the bones in the wings for dear life, and if possible wraps their legs around the front of the body. I think I lasted about 5 seconds. It is quite sad really and I don’t think I this is something we should be torturing the poor birds with. They did not look happy at all to be caught and ridden.
We wrapped up our trip with a couple of nights in Franschoek just enjoying the scenery, checking out the cute little shops, tasting wine and with me, having a few meetings and trying to get to know a few people in the industry here. Odd to actually have meetings again…think I was doing quite nicely without them – at least for now. Still having too much fun wandering about.
Now I am back in Cape Town. Jules left early this morning so we had a celebratory meal last night at a fun funky restaurant that would have cost at least a couple hundred in the US but came to around $70 here (a good bottle of wine included). It was sad to see her go and today is a slow day with me doing a bit of an admin as I have free access to a computer and internet (sigh). Tonight I’ll hop on an overnight bus up to East London for a few more days of coast time (working my way up) before I head into Jo’berg to meet my friend and then head off to Kruger for the New Year.
Oh, I think I forgot to address the title of the blog…apparently you are to lie down and play dead (this seems to be a theme when being attacked by some vicious creature). Once you have done that, it is likely that the ostrich will trample you and that it will be excruciatingly painful. Given that you will still have your wits about you (ha, ha) you are to grab one of the legs (not sure how since they will be trampling you) and pull the bird down. The ostrich will fall on his back and then you are to grab the neck and smack it on the head. A blow to the head will kill it and then you are safe and free to go on with your day.
So, if I don’t get to this blogging thing again in the next couple days, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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