Baby albino whales and civilisation

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Trip Start Aug 12, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Nov 27, 2009

  Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa
Thursday, November 5, 2009

Hello my dearies, me again!

I've left it so long to write that this will either be a mammoth email or an abridged one (to be re-expanded over a mojito or two very soon).  You'll be glad to know I'm going for the latter and yes, if you just whooped it means you're an alcoholic.....

After Cintsa and a few big parties (free wine and volleyball at 5pm didn't help), we made our way down the garden route, stopping at Jeffrey's Bay, Plettenberg, Knysna, Wilderness, Oudtshoorn and Mossel Bay.  'We' being me and Karina, the Belgian I've been travelling with for the last 5 weeks, plus a few Germans and Swiss for a few days at a time each.  Karina and I have now said our goodbyes as she needs to be in Cape Town for a wedding tomorrow so this last week before my parents and sister arrive will be solo, although I've just landed at a fab backpackers in Hermanus so I doubt that will be for long.

With the exception of Outshoorn, I found the garden route to be a strange mix of adrenaline junkies and perma-tanned retirees, great if you love beach hols or throwing yourself off a bridge tied to a piece of elastic, a bit of a disappointed if you're neither like me.  In fairness we'd have been able to see a lot more with a car so probably didn't get to all the places it had to offer (there is zilch in the way of public transport here), which is why we decided to hire a cute little fiat piccanto in Oudtshoorn (famous for all things ostrich) to see the sites and it was our best day by far of this stretch.  It went like this: up at 8 am to drive to ostrich farm to learn they have 3 eyelids, their eyes weigh 60g each and their brain 40g, hence they're stupid enough to eat rocks.  I chickened out of riding one coz it looked a bit cruel, very good decision by the looks of the demo - they're mega speedy and the only way to get off is to fall off.  Next were the Cango Caves, 450 million years old and so huge they used to hold classical concerts in them until 1994 when they were declared a heritage site.  Our guide switched off the slights and sang opera for us - it was the most hauntingly beautiful thing I've ever heard.  After that we picnicked at the top of the Swartberg Pass (another heritage site) that winds its way up and over the Langeberg mountains, stunning views of course.  Half the 150km loop done we thought we'd earned a little wine tasting (Karina not me, I drove) and pulled in to a winery fro free sippage (vinyards is way too european a word!) and purchased a rather lovely award winning 2005 cabernet sauvingon for 4GBP.  Since we were on a roll it would have been rude not to stop at the dairy for cheese tasting too, yum, and watch the locals arrive to fill their plastic containers with the freshest, creamiest full cream milk you've ever seen in your life.  They don't do skimmed here, at all.  The drive back was via the equally impressive Meringspoorte Pass, as this region is semi-desert it's kind of how I imagine route 66 to be in America - straight empty roads and all reds and browns and distant mountain ranges.  We drove back at dusk which made it look even more dramatic.  The day finished with a tender ostrich steak (what else?!).  Awesome day.

Another highlight from this stretch was paragliding.  I did a tandem jump in Wilderness, who knew running off the side of a hill would be so much fun?  The guy let me do two since they weren't busy and now I'm hooked and want to look into doing a course in the UK - anyone want to join me?  I think I've found one for about 600GBP in Surrey.

After a quick stop in Mossel Bay to do what I think will be my last game drive of the trip, I went to Montagu to do some yoga, have a crystal reading done, sleep in a tepee and east organic vegetarian food.  I lasted two days and three nights.  Seriously it was lovely but nobody else there and it was so remote I couldn't go anywhere without asking the owner for a lift so I left a bit early.  It was nice not to have to pack and repack my backpack for a couple of days (am so over that right now) and just relax in one place.

I'm now in Hermanus, whale watching country (the town even employs a whale cryer) and I saw a few today, including a baby albino whale which is pretty rare apparently.  It's a busy little town and it's nice to be back in civilisation again with lots of things to do like horse riding, sea kayaking and an African wire jewellery workshop - all of which I might try if the budget and weather allows, we're due for some rain can you believe it!  After that I'll head to the obligatory Stellenbosch for wine tasting before hitting Cape Town on around 14th.  These final few weeks are going so fast I can't believe I'll be back with you all in less than a month!  I'll write one last entry before I hop on the plane and try and summarise the whole trip if that's possible.

As always, keep in touch and let me know your news,

Lots of love
Jo xx

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