Of Cats and Elephant Snot

The drive from George to our next stop, Storms River Village, was a short one so we took advantage of this to stop off at a couple of animal sanctuaries along the way - the first being Tenikwa, a (small) cat reserve and rehabilitation centre. Now I'm no cat person, but when you mention cats in South Africa, it's not Persian's and Tabby's that come to mind, but the ones that have to work for a living out in the wild. The largest cat at Tenikwa was the Leopard but our tour started with one of the smallest, the Carical, a cute(ish) (remember I'm not a cat person) animal with pointed ears that is often confused with the north american Lynx. Other cats at the park included the Sable... And the African Wild Cat. Call me cynical but I reckon they ran out of exhibits and grabbed a stray from the nearby township for this one as it looked just like your average, garden variety ginger cat!! Our guide did assured us however that this was a pure breed and in fact its origins could be traced back to the time of the Egyptians and this breed was in fact the origin of all domesticated cats we see today (if only I had a time machine!!). 

The highlight (there's that word again) of the park were the Cheetas. We got right up close to them in their enclosure and our guide allowed us to spend quite a bit of time with them. Unlike the Leopard which was being typically cat like and selfish by hiding in the bush so we couldn't see it (I mentioned I didn't like cats didn't I), the  Cheetas were quite content, lying in the open under the trees, allowing us to have a good look at them (maybe they have some dog in them). 

An interesting fact I learnt about the name Cheeta is that it is derived from the Indian word "chit", the name given to the spot that Indian women display on their foreheads signifying they are married. We finished up by seeing a family of Lea's most favourite African animal (NOT) the meerkat, but it was simples, they just didn't compare (I also don't think they are felines either - fraudsters)!!

Our encounter with the elephants at The Crags - Plettenberg Bay Elephant Sanctuary will be something that we as a family will never forget. The sanctuary was set up to rescue elephants from around Africa. They have a family of 5 at the moment, 3 from Botswana and 2 from the Kruger National Park. 

We were taken into the park were the elephants roamed, and even from a distance they looked big, up close, they were immense. After a brief safety talk (which boiled down to if the elephants stampede your stuffed so don't upset them!) our guide introduced us to three of these magnificent creatures. We each took turns walking the elephants however it was more a case of let them rest their trunks in your hand and walk fast enough that they don't step on you (fair advice I thought). The feeling of elephant  breath and snot on your hand is something truly unique!

 After a short walk into the forest, we were given a demonstration of natural behaviours and then an up close and personal touch and feel. Their skin of an elephant is up to 2cm thick, the hair of their eyelashes and tail is like wire, but the skin on the backs of their gigantic ears is soft as velvet. It was such a wonderful experience being up close to the elephants and the afternoon was topped off with the kids each having a ride around the lake.

A Touch of Belgium (Not Congo)

George (not to be confused with my niece's toy penguin) is on the edge of the Western Cape's farm belt, nestled between the Outeniqua Ranges and the Wilderness Tsitsikamma National Park. As we later found out, George is the golfing and retirement capitol of South Africa with gated retirement villages all over the place and although we didn't see them ourselves, there are apparently some of the best golf courses to be found in SA here. Needless to say this is not why we came here! Our mission here was to explore some of the region's famous natural attractions.

Our diggs for the few days we were here was the Ibis Place Country Cottages, run by Belgian ex-pats Ronny and Fara van Camp. It was a "beautiful" (Ronny's favourite superlative) farm stay and the we all loved it, especially Sean. Feeding Silver the donkey, rounding up the chickens, not getting too close to the pigs and the sheep, swimming in the pool and playing with the owners kids all made for good fun for our lot after a day's sightseeing. 

One group of animals that was not quite so welcome but were fun to see anyway were the Vervet monkeys. These cheeky little critters live in the woodland behind the cottages and, we were warned, would come down into the houses looking for food (or anything else that they fancied). Of course one afternoon Lea and I went for a walk with the boys around the dam and when we were on the other side looking back, what could we see but three or four of the little blighters making their way to the door we left open! We were expecting to hear a scream seconds later from Ash who had stayed behind, but the trooper that she is, shooed them out and closed the door. My brave girl!!

I digress as the reason we were here, as I said before, was to see some of the sites of the region. North (yes I halve my bearings right [as in correct] now) over the Outeniqua Ranges is Ostrich country where we visited an Ostrich farm which was quite fun. These birds are huge and fully grown, can get upwards of 150kg and 2m in height! The owners must have known us Aussies were visiting as they even had a pair of emu's there. Now I thought emu's were big but they look positively tiny when compared to an ostrich!! The highlight was the boys each getting a ride on an ostrich. Sean had a grin from ear to ear and I'm not sure if the look on Tim's face was terror or excitement!! Ash piked out - not so brave anymore!!

Out near the ostrich farm are the famous Cango Caves. We had an option when visiting these caves, the standard tour or the adventure tour. Now I'm up for an adventure now and again (we're in South Africa after all) however the adventure this place was offering was didn't strike a chord with me, nor the rest of the family. It involved going deeper into the cave system through numerous crawl throughs getting down to 27cm wide for up to 6 meters (this one affectionately known as the letterbox). With that said, it was the standard tour for us!! I've only ever been to Jenolan caves once, was many years ago when I was a kid and  I can't really remember what they were like (sorry mum and dad!) but these caves were aw inspiring! The photos I took do not do them justice so you'll have to take my work for it (or see them for yourselves)! Our guide (who's name I can neither remember nor pronounce even if I could) demonstrated the terrific acoustics of the cave by singing the South African national anthem and Qongqothwane or the traditional Clicking Song, which was popularised internationally by Miriam Makeba in the early 70's. It was a treat to hear and I'm sure he did it to receive extra tips at the end of the tour to which we gladly obliged. 

From the desert to the coast, the next day we hired canoes and paddled up the Touw River in the Wilderness Tsitsikamma National Park followed by a walk through the forest and a swim at the waterfall. We were planning on having a picnic lunch at the falls but that only works if you remember to bring the food!!! After a swim and a bit of a rest, we headed back to where we left the canoes only to find  that our two were no longer there! Thinking some other paddlers had taken the wrong ones by mistake, we had no choice but to take two others. At about the halfway mark of our return journey, we saw some kids playing about in our two boats!! They probably came from the nearby campsite and pinched them however when i asked them where they got them from, they assured me that they had hired them. Yea sure - the kids were 8!!  There was nothing we could do about it but in hindsight, I do hope the kids were decent enough to take them back to where they took them from after their illicit rampage or else there would have been some unhappy people behind us wondering how to get back!!! In all it was a pleasant enough trip however I left feeling that the river and the falls were not as spectacular as they were made out to be in everything that I had read about them (maybe I was just hungry??).

Love the Serenity

After the hustle and bustle of Cape Town, the quite seaside town of L'Agulhas was a place to relax, recharge the batteries and enjoy more of this coast line's natural beauty. We came here for no other reason than to say we've been to the southernmost tip of Africa!! It might sound lame but hey - not many people I know can say they've done it!!

I'm glad all the work I did looking for accommodation before we left was still paying off. Our base for the next few days was a lovely house called the Summer Place B&B, run by Kathy Drake, an ex Cape Townian who also came here for the peace and tranquility.  Just across the road from the beach, and a short walk to the lighthouse and local eating spots, it was just perfect. 

The town itself was extremely quiet, almost too quite and it reminded me a little of a scene from Future World (the movie where Yule Brenner plays a robotic cowboy) and I was just waiting for him to come around the corner with his sharp shooting finger firing away! In fact we were told that many of the houses were owned by farmers in the district and were still closed up from the winter. Apparently in the summer, the quiet sleepy town of L'Agulhas becomes a holiday maker's Mecca and the population swells to such a point that traffic jams are not an uncommon occurrence. I think my idyllic view of this beautiful village would become somewhat tainted if I was caught up if all of that.

In saying that however, the beach front and board walk past the lighthouse down to the southmost point was still a beautiful and spectacular walk. The only problem was that the lighthouse and its shipwreck museum were closed for renovations!!

As well as the sites of L'Agulhas, we took a short drive to the nearby town of Arniston, so named because of the ship that ran aground in the region in 1815. Here we came to see Waenhuiskrans Grotto, a large cave in the cliffs which is only accessible at low tide. We were running a bit late, and by the time we arrived, we just managed to get to the cave's enterance as the tide started to turn. Needless to say we didn't hang around long!! It was here that we saw a couple of wild seals playing in the surf. Tim affectionately named them Bubbles and Mr Wilson, and it was a treat to watch them darting about after fish and obviously enjoying themselves. 

(North) then South and East

Normally I am pretty good with directions. Our plan for leaving Cape Town was to head south to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope via a scenic stretch of road called Chapman's Peak before venturing  east to the southern most tip of Africa and our next stop, the seaside town of L'Agulhas. Being pretty close to the heart to the city, I thought I would program our destination into the GPS I'd hired with the car. Cape Point appeared on the list of favourites so: select -> calculating route -> and off we went - heading north??  OK, loop road round the city or something, I'll go with that. Still heading north?? Don't think this is right. Still still heading north, definitely not right! Either there is another Cape Point a similar distance north of Cape Town as to the one we wanted to go to south or I fell the victim to a GPS destination bomb prank!!  Anyway, 40 minutes later and were back on track. 

The drive down to the Cape of Good hope, originally named Cape of Storms by Potutguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 is spectacular, some of the most picturesque scenery I had ever driven along. The cliffs are rugged and steep, plunging into the turquoise clear water of the Atlantic. I had no idea of the sheer beauty of this part of the world and am so glad we were able to get here. 

For many centuries, it was erroneously thought that this peninsular was the southernmost point of Africa and the waters off the coast have claimed to many hundreds of shipwrecks as they attempted to round this perilous headland. The original lighthouse, bulit in 1859 turned out to be too high and too far set back from the actual point to be of any practical use so asecond, more useful lighthouse was built lower down to serve modern navigational needs.

We saw our first baboons (other than the two we are travelling with) on the steep slopes of the tacks leading around the peninsular. There are signs everywhere warning people not to feed them or touch them. On our walk back to the car, a poor unsuspecting family had left their child stroller at the bottom of some steps. This temptation proved too much for a troop (I had to look that up) of baboons who decided to claim it as their own, rifling through the bags, eating the baby food and drinking from the bottles!! In the car park we also saw an opportunistic baboon trying to open car doors!!! We were warned. 

We also saw our first Dassies, cute balls of fur that scurry over the rocks. At first we thought they were rodents but it turns out that they are more related to elephants than rats!! 

As we were playing a bit of time catch up, it was unfortunate that we could not spend as much time exploring the Cape as we originally planned and we were soon back in the car heading east (yes I was sure we were heading in the right direction this time) through the Naval town of Simon's Town and on to yet more spectucular coast line of the Cape Overberg coast.

The Mother City

I like this place!! So many people, jokingly or otherwise, expressed some form of concern, shock or dismay regarding the safety of me, Leanne and the kids when they heard we had decided to go on a holiday to South Africa. OK, we've only been in Cape Town four days but so far the most life threatening issue we've had to contend with is trying to work out whether the little man that changes from red to green on the pedestrian crossing does in fact give us any semblance of right of way when crossing the road!! Yes there is razor wire on the perimeter fence of the primary school next to our apartment and many properties have electric fences and warning signs advertising that armed security response is on hand and granted, we have only ventured out during the day but that's about the extent of any overt security issues here. Whilst we are still very vigilant, I think that the perception of how bad crime and safety is in general is giving this place a bad wrap!!

Our Internet access has been a bit of a hit and miss affair so I apologise to my avid readers if you have been waiting with baited breath for my next installment!

The last few days have kept us very busy. The adjenda for Monday changed slightly as Lea woke up feeling unwell which meant we had to postpone our bus tour of the city and visit to Robben Island. Instead, we leaft Lea back at the apartment and the kids and I went back to the V&A to soak up more of the atmosphere of the place and visit the Two Oceans aquarium. This place was pretty cool, I've never seen an aquarium with living box jelly fish as an exhibit nor tanks so deep as to be able to grow kelp forrests which are a common occurrence around the shores of Cape Town. They also had a clown fish tank with two of the largest clowns I've ever seen inside!!

After early bed times and a good night's sleep for all of us, Tuesday morning brought recharged batteries and the promise of more splendid weather. We took the famous red double decker City Siteseeing bus on a tour of the city, taking in the sites of the CBD, Green Square markets and the infamous District 6 area, a former inner-city residential area where over 60,000 of its black inhabitants were forcedly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime. Many of the building were bulldozed at the time and much of the area is still unused wasteland today. The tour also ventured over to Camps Bay, "where you go to see scantily clad bronzed babes" as the tour guide tells us. it is the playground of Cape Town's rich and famous and if we were lucky (as we were told) we might see a famous personality. If I knew any rich and/or famous Cape Townians I might have been more impressed but since I don't, I settled for the scantily clad bronzed babes instead!!

Being a hop-on hop-off affair, one of the bus tour stops was the Table Mountain Cableway Terminal. If I had to list a highlight of highlights of our stay in Cape Town, Table Mountain has to be it. As I've said before the mountain dominates the city from below and when you get the 1,085m summit, it dominated from above too. The views are spectacular and I am sure no photo or written word comes anywhere close to being able to describe the breathtaking beauty and power this mountain exerts on its environment.

For those of you who don't know, South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup. last night I thought Cape Town was hosting it again. For about an hour in the early evening, the roads outside our apartment (which leads to the soccar stadium built especially for the World Cup), became a mad house (or street). I thought the driving standards of South African's was questionable at the best of times. Fill up several thousand cars with mad vuvuzela blaring fans, give them free rein of the car horn and the optional extra of actually being inside the car/van/bus/whatever when driving along and you end up with an out of this world spectial and a cacophony of sound that was unbelievable!!. I'm assuming the home side lost because we didn't hear same said vuvuzela blaring fans later in the evening on the way home!!

This morning (Wednesday) heralded the start of our final full day in Cape Town. Our plans changed again for two reasons. The first being the spectacular weather we had been experiencing up until now took a turn for the worst bringing low cload and rain and secondly, the hire car we picked up turned out to be too small to fit all 5 of us and our luggage! Foreseeing this exact problem back home, I had gone to great pains with the car hire company during the lead up to our trip to ensure that this was not going to be an issue. Turns out the "or similar" vehicle they chose to give us allowed either 5 people OR 5 bags, not AND!! This could have been a game breaker, or else another slug to the hip pocket to go to much bigger car - actually an 8 seater van (something I really wanted to avoid as we were having the car for so long). Anyway, short story long, we managed to get a replacement car just in time before we had to head off on our postponed trip to Robben Island. 

I did mention it was raining didn't I? Well, in Cape Town, when the weather turns bad, the wind picks up. And when it gets windy, they stop the boats to the island (there's a idea for you Tony Abbott) so that was the end of that. We can't complain though. We all agreed that it would have been much worse if we missed out on Table Mountain as that was closed too due to the fact that you could not see the top from the bottom, so I'm assuming if you were at the top, you would not be able to see the bottom!!

One thing I did forget to mention which was really cool (at least us boys thought so) was the spot of fossicking we did this morning whilst waiting for our replacement car. I'd heard about a beach just outside of Cape Town where fossilised sharks teeth can be found. Since I'd promised the boys we would go, we all braved the wind and the rain and headed out to Milnerton beach to give it a go. I wasn't expecting much but the boys were really excited. With the full brunt of what seemed like a force 9 gale blowing in off the Atlantic into our faces, we ventured off. Lea and Ash lasted about 5 seconds before retreating back to the shelter of the car. For reasons beyond me we were the only three on the beach but the wind and the rain did eventually subside which must have been a lucky omen for the boys as they came up trumps with two very impressive, very big teeth!!

Our time in Cape Town has come to an end. We leave the opulence of our rockstar apartment (and hopefully this crappy weather) and hit the coast road east to L'Agulhas via the Cape of Good Hope and Hermanus, where we have been told there are many whales basking in the bay. Our next stop will be for a few days on the southernmost tip of the African continent. It's quite remote and I doubt I'll be able to post another blog there so until next time...(I really need to learn some Afrikaans!!!)

Ahhhh.....

The epic day of travel just 24 hours before seems but a distant memory after our first day in Cape Town. We certainly have hit the jackpot with our accommodation. Far enough from the glitz and glamour of the V&A (Victoria and Alfred) Waterfront to not attract a ridiculous price tag but still within walking distance puts the Harbour Edge Apartments on my newly created highly recommended list of places to stay in Cape Town. There is also a supermarket and bottle shop just up the road too. What more do you want? 

After an understandably slow start to the day, we headed down to the V & A (Cape Town's equivalent to Sydney's Darling Harbour) to check out the sights - plenty of shops, restaurants, street buskers and tourists all set in and around a working harbour. During our meanderings, we stumbled upon the historic Jetty 1 site. This small, unassuming building and jetty was the point from which thousands of prisoners departed the South African mainland for notorious Robben Island - where it's most famous political prisoner Nelson Mandela was gaoled for nearly 30 years. It was obviously under renovation but there were some interesting displays including a room which had its walls covered in copies of letters from family and friends of prisoners, pleading with Authorities to have their applications for visitor permits approved. We are taking the ferry to Robben Island tomorrow so we'll find out more about the history of the place but this free  little museum certainly gave us a taste of the extreme hardship the prisoners and their families were subjected to under the apartheid regime.

Our day's wanderings around V & A finished with a late lunch at Hildebrand Italian and Seafood restaurant. 5 seafood meals, drinks and a bottle of wine, all for only ZAR750 (about $85) plus tip is pretty good in my books. We have since warned the kids though that we have started on a high and the quality of accommodation and meals will only be all down hill after Cape Town (barring the wedding of course)!!

What can't be ignored is the presence of Cape Town's most famous landmark, Table Mountain. It literally dominates the backdrop of everything in the city. Table Mountain strikes an imposing statement across the city and I am reminded much of how I felt when I first saw Uluru, such is the magnificence of its scale that no picture or photo can prepare you for. The cable car trip to the top is on our list if things to do here over the next few days. 

And the Journey Begins...

Well where do I start? Probably with the 5:25am wake up, but that was fine. The excitement of the occasion meant we were up before our alarms (well most of us). It took wild horses and the threat of sending her brothers in to wake Ashleigh. Breakfast and final bag checks followed. Passports, tickets, credit cards, money, teeth brushed, doors and windows locked, no scissors or sharps in the carry on luggage. All part of the surgically precise plan we had well prepared for the morning - NOT!!

I won't mention the final errands I had to run before the shuttle bus came to pick us up but suffice to say, we still had plenty of time until... a simple reach for the medicine cabinet in the pantry ended up with a bottle of red wine smashing on the floor, wine and glass everywhere, just as a knock at the front door signified the arrival of our ride.  

Bedlam strikes!

I'll not name names to protect the innocent (or the guilty actually) but I'll concede in saying that there were no raised voices, contingency plans were put into place and we still managed to get away on time.

Check in at the airport was a very simple affair, the Qantas lady at the check-in counter was very friendly despite how early it was on a Saturday morning. Quite the same cannot be said for our border protection officers (who I think must check their sense of humour in at the main gate when they clock on). The kids were all very excited to see the contents of their bags on the x-ray machine monitors and the excitement stepped to a new level when they saw the scissors in Mum's bag!!! I vaguely remember saying something about this before but perhaps I only imagined it. Anyway, the fine officers of our border protection services now have a shiny new pair of scissor to add to their stationary cabinet. I reckon this is how the Federal Government cuts costs!!

Entering the surreal wonderland that is Airside of an international terminal, Kmart, BigW and Best and Less are replaced by Dolce and Gabbana, Louis Vuitton and Moët & Chandon (who drinks champagne at 8 o'clock in the morning???). Anyway, the boys had fun at the Apple Store taking weird and whacky Photo Booth photos on the MacBooks and Lea and Ash pretended to have money and browsed above mentioned shops. 

After watching our bags and the catering get loaded, we boarded our plane with all the excitement and anticipation this trip was sure to bring. 

Two hours later and we are still sitting on the tarmac. The first 50 minutes was kindly taken up by a passenger who must have been on Queensland time and decided that 10:35 didn't suit them and felt that 11:15 fitted in much better with their plans. It is now 12:40, over two hours after we were due to depart. Apparently a technical problem with the plane is preventing us from leaving so here we sit. Luckily we have a two and a half hour layover in Johannesburg that our travel agent assured us was more than enough time to collect our bags, pass through customs and catch our connecting domestic flight to Cape Town (you do the maths).