South Africa has been a surprise. We’ve been amazed at the beauty, diversity and friendliness of the small part of the country we’ve seen in the month we’ve been here.
Sadly however, hardly anybody that we talked to was optimistic about the future of their country. There is disillusionment at the slow speed that the government of Prime Minister Cecil Ramaphosa is addressing the years of corruption and poor governance of the Zuma government. Violent crime is an unfortunate fact of life, meaning a heightened awareness of your surroundings is always needed, giving life here a real edge. There is also major infrastructure challenges resulting from political infighting and corruption – particularly with water, exacerbated by drought, and electricity meaning water shortages and load shedding. Most people we spoke with would leave the country if they could or encourage their children to. It was for this reason we were routing for South Africa for the rugby World Cup final and thrilled when they won – a great outcome for the nation which will hopefully inspire it on to a better course!
Our journey has taken us from Cape Town to the southernmost tip of Africa and then on to the beautiful Garden Route along the southern coast, and then inland through the artistic enclaves of Hogsback and Clarens, as well as a trip back through time into Lesotho, some spectacular hiking in the Drakenberg mountains, and back up to close the loop on our African adventure in JoBurg.
We stopped by at Eagle Encounters near Stellenbosch to get up close and personal with some of the great birds we had seen from a distance on our safaris.
…as well as some other charismatic little critters
The countryside around Stellenbosch was beautiful
Then it was down to the coast with some big waves crashing down on the shore of Hermanus
The Kindles have been one of the best things we’ve brought with us and typically get several hours of use daily!
We had the quirky ‘last resort’ campsite to ourselves, which had just opened for the 2019 summer
…which meant a massive bonfire from the garden clean up cuttings around the camp in the off season.
It had been a bit too long without taking the 4X4 off-road and we loved exploring some beautiful trails along the coastline of the Cape Nature Walker Bay
The highlight was a visit to the dramatic Klipgat caves
A little further south we came across a few Southern Right whales chilling just 100 metres from the coast. After being decimated by whaling for several centuries, numbers have been steadily increasing since the whaling moratorium began in the mid 1980s meaning sightings like this are becoming more common… a great example of what can be achieved when all countries (except Japan!) work together to protect earth’s natural wonders.
We dropped down very briefly to L’Algulas where the oceans meet at the seriously windy southern most point of Africa.
Retracing our journey…
Then it was on to the Garden Route for a few days of chilling at Knysna. The highlight for me was a couple of days mountain biking with our AirBNB host, Denzel. Sadly, like many places in the world at the moment, the place is recovering from major forest fires that devastated the area and threatened the town several years back, coming within metres of the place we were staying.
Next stop was yet another new favourite camp site. This time it was at Stormriver mouth.
Our campsite was surrounded by dozens of tsitsikamma. We found their permanent scowl face somehow endearing.
It is a beautiful area! The hike to the coastal waterfall was also one of our favourites.
One of the highlights was seeing dozens of dolphins playing in the surf
Then it was on to the Addo Elephant sanctuary. We felt we’d already had more than our fill of Safaris but it was on the way and the campground looked good. It had it’s own distinct feel from all of the other parks – it was green!
Surprisingly, we hadn’t come across any meerkats until now
Poor Liam has been developing two phobias on this world trip after some shaky experiences in India; one of riding horses and the other of being chased by dogs. We thought what better way to help him overcome his phobias than staying at the Terra Khaya Eco backpackers in Hogsback with seven dogs and do an overnight horse trek.
…the shock therapy was only partially successful. One of our guides, Janice (above), had a very unlucky fall when her horse lost its footing and ended up on top of her after galloping around a bend on a gravel road. She was OK, but it was the last thing Liam needed to see just as he was beginning to gain confidence. Liam and I decided not to ride back the second day…
However, after spending three days with seven friendly dogs and many more in the township where we stayed, Liam has pretty much lost his fear of dogs. If we were to choose one for him to overcome, that is definitely the one!
In the evening some local kids from the township came to perform a ‘gumboot dance’ which was traditionally practiced by miners. Liam says they were pros and Iris and I really sucked when we joined in. Probably true…
A convenience store in the township had some very comprehensive security arrangements.
The horses are trained using a natural horsemanship technique meaning they mostly range freely and no harsh methods are used to ‘break them in.’ In fact, the horses are not ‘broken in’, they don’t wear mouth bits and training is based on having a friendlier rapport with the horses. They were the loveliest horses we have ever been around!
Sofia with the latest addition to the family: the little one came as a bit of a surprise to the owner who thought that the 32 year old mum was way past child bearing age and just getting a bit fat …
The dogs certainly had the run of the place too!
Then it was north for a brief overnight jaunt to Malealea lodge in Lesotho. The place certainly felt like being warped back in time thirty years and had a much more relaxed feel than the South African townships. These kids had their poses down pat!
And after we went further north for a brief stopover in peaceful Clarens…
And then on to the Golden Gate National Park for a brief walk to the ‘echo chamber’
Water restrictions in the Phuthaditjaba township did not bode well on our way to the Drakensberg Mountains for our next little adventure up the Sentinel trail to the Tulega falls.
The backdrop to our hike was beautiful
Hmmm… if a sign is discarded on the ground does that mean you take heed of it or not?
Perhaps I wouldn’t need to battle my fear of heights, developed at Angel’s landing six years earlier, after all…
Turns out the seventeen metre near vertical ladders were operational . I was delighted.
Of course, the kids breezed up!
When flowing, the Tulega falls are the second highest waterfall in the world, but not on that day!
Still, at 1km more or less straight down to the valley below, and the challenges of getting there, the little five hour adventure felt a little bit epic.
Back in Johannesburg, we somewhat amazingly managed to return our vehicle back to Bush Trackers after 11,000 kilometres with nothing more than a bent roof tent courtesy of an elephant, and two patched up tyres. Apparently we were the first people to return a vehicle this year with all of the original tyres!
Johannesburg was in stunning form! Despite everything we had heard about rampant crime in the city, it has some great things going for it; Most surprisingly it is a city with one of the greatest densities of trees in the world, and we were lucky enough to be treated to the glory of the jacarandas in full bloom. Chats in our Uber rides were an unexpected highlight due to the fantastic humour of our drivers.
We used our day there to explore the excellent apartheid museum
It was fantastic to once more spend time with Lou, Cornell, Hendrick and Cara, including at a local Halloween event. Halloween works a little differently in Johannesburg. Trick or treating is a little difficult due to the five metre electrified fences and gates around every property. Children dressed as bandits or mobsters are particularly problematic.
Instead, families gather in the evening for a community get together at a park and the children go trick or treating from family to family as they picnic. We loved the concept of turning the occasion into a real community event.
And with that, we closed the loop on our African travels. With the long distances, epic landscapes, and a few hairy moments, it has felt like a real adventure – just what we came here for!
Wicked !!!