Thursday 7th February
This morning was different again. This time, there was no sound of crashing waves on the beach but we did have a magnificent morning chorus, a cacophony of sound as the birds of the Africa bush greeted the dawn and each other. It wasn't long before the household were all up and we were rearing to start a new day of adventure.
Today was all about culture.
We drove from Mansfield towards Port Alfred then turned onto the south coast road before heading inland towards Grahamstown by way of the 'poor man's game drive'. Mike and Heather had found this road by accident, a number of years ago. The dirt road runs parallel to the coast road but some miles inland. Either side of the road are two very well stocked and upmarket private game reserves that charge exorbitant visitor rates. The locals gave the nickname to the road because one can freely see a wide variety of animals, and we were not disappointed.
Some time and many photos later we continued on to Grahamstown.
The university city of Grahamstown started as a military outpost in 1812 during the turbulent Frontier Wars and was named after its founder, Colonel John Graham. As the town declined in military importance, it grew into a thriving town supporting businessmen, traders and explorers and was once the second largest city in South Africa. At the time only Cape Town was larger.
In 1820 British settlers started to arrive. They had been lured by the offer of land by Lord Charles Somerset. The idea was that the settlers would act as a buffer zone between the warlike African tribes -except they had not been given those small details. Manly settlers, unable to sustain themselves on their allotments moved into Grahamstown to ply their trade. As a result , many of the schools and churches still in use today were built.
On our return from Grahamstown, we whet our whistles at the Pig and Whistle, the oldest pub in South Africa and can be found in Bathurst. Dale and Tracy may well remember a time nearly ten years ago when we did likewise.
We rounded the day off with a meal while we watched jet ski activity, followed by a stroll at the Kowie river mouth, before returning to the lodge on the Mansfield Reserve.
Friday 8th February
On the road again...
We packed the car and headed along the coastal road towards the sleepy holiday village of Colchester which is situated on the bank of the Sundays river, just upriver of the river mouth and approximately 50km from Port Elizabeth within Algoa Bay. Here the coastline follows more of a westerly direction rather than a south westerly.
Before leaving we had to say our goodbye to the beautiful peacock, the not so beautiful peahen and her 4 chicks (Ian nicknamed them the little peas or petit pois). They had been wondering around the grounds and the peacock had frequently made himself comfortable on the patio lounger when he thought no one was looking.
Our new accommodation and stay over was the Sundays River Mouth Guesthouse, and from there, we drove into the Addo Elephant National Park. What a fantastic experience. Besides the abundant amount of game, we also saw over 60 elephant.
Our most memorable experience was at a hide beside a waterhole. As we sat there 38 elephants came and went. One family comprised a baby (probably only 2 weeks old), an older sister, mother, grandmother. We watched them as they came towards the waterhole and the mother and older sister coaxed the baby into the water. Once in, baby obviously enjoyed every minute. After a while, the sister and mother gently ushered the baby out of the waterhole and, along with the matriarch, surrounded the baby, sheltering it while it suckled. I have seen many a documentary but to witness the family behaviour first hand was awesome.
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| 2 week old baby with sister and mother |
Saturday 9th February
Another excellent day in Addo Elephant Park and boy did it live up to its name. With Mike expertly driving to the right locations and Heather looking out with eagle eyes we saw a tremendous amount of animals. At one single waterhole that we stopped at, we watched a herd of some 70 elephants of all ages between a week or so old, to the old matriarch and even a number of old bulls. All in all we saw in excess of 178 elephants today but I couldn't be sure that we didn't count the odd one twice since I left my spray paint can behind so therefore couldn't mark their rump!
It was hilarious to watch the adolescent elephants chasing the warthog family as they tried to get near to the waterhole and it was amazing to see the black backed jackal skirting the edge trying to find a way in.
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| Black Backed Jackal |
Some statistics (compliments of Heather's meticulous note taking). Over the two days we saw;
37 kudu, 184 warthog, 28 ostrich, 374 zebra, 113 hartebeest, 4 jackal, 239 elephant, 13 buffalo, 3 tortoise, 7 eagles, 3 mongoose, 2 eland, 2 secretary birds, 6 goshawks, and bushbuck. It was a veritable feast of game viewing. Sadly we didn't see the elusive lion and rhino this time but it wasn't for lack of trying.
We had a magical evening - and here, I selfishly speak for myself. As the sun went down the wind came up, the lightning flashed the thunder crashed and then the torrential rain came down in huge warm droplets. It was a real African thunderstorm and I loved it. We sat in the lounge with the huge patio doors open as wide as we dare and chatted while we (Ian and I) sipped our whiskey. Mike was on medication so he unfortunately couldn't partake in a tipple and Heather nursed her hot drink. Predictably, as the whiskey went down I became more and more vocal while we all put the world to right. It was a time when (to use the words on the mug Rianna gave me) 'everyone was entitled to my opinion'! Poor Heather and Mike endured it very politely.
Sunday 10th February.
On the road again, our destination the Tsitsikamma forest and Storms River. On the way to the Tsitsikamma we stopped at the Seaview lion park just west of Port Elizabeth. This was Heather and Mike's backup plan for when we missed the lions in Addo. The lions were in beautiful condition but they were in fenced runs which is not what had been expected. Nevertheless if was a lovely backup.
We watched a white lion and a white tiger cub romping in a pen while we waited for our coffee. It was very humid after the rain of the night before and the tea room was stifling. I was thankful for the air conditioning once we were back in the car.
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| Storms River Bridge |
Next stop was the Storms river bridge which is a spectacular feat of engineering. We stopped for just long enough to take the short walk to the bridge viewing point and take some photos before heading off to see the Big Tree. This magnificent 1000 year old yellowwood tree soared 37 metres high to spread its canopy above the rest of the forest.
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| Over 1000 years old |
Heather and Mike had booked us into a chalet at the Storms River Mouth Rest Camp, a coastal and forest national park. This is also the start point of the world famous Otter Trail, a five day, 42km trail named after the Cape clawless Otter which hikers may see along the way. This beautiful nature trail is certainly not for the feint hearted.
Our chalet (oceanette) overlooked the rugged coast line and is situated just a stones throw from the edge of the breakers. It is a very different stretch of coastline from anything else we had experienced so far on our holiday.
It started to rain as we were unpacking the car but that didn't stop us from taking a walk along coastline towards the 77meter long suspension bridge that spanned stormsriver. Ian was once again not to be deterred as Heather and I coerced him into joining us on the suspension bridge.
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| Storms River Mouth Suspension Bridge |
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| Heather after a long climb to the bridge |
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| Ian - hanging on for dear life. |
Monday 11th February
We said goodbye to Stormes River Mouth rest camp for the last leg of our garden route adventure. Our first stop of the day was at Birds of Eden which is reported to be the largest single free-flight aviary in the world. It incorporates an indigenous forest with elevated walkways and waterfalls. The bird life with the aviary was spectacular and certainly not to be missed. I have never seen so many species of birds all in one place and it was difficult to know what to photograph first. I had to rely on Heather for most of the bird pictures as the battery on my camera decided that it had had enough after the first few.
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| Purple Starling |
After the aviary, we stopped at Mitchell's brewery in Knysna. This was started in 1983 brewing only Forester's Lager and Bosun's Bitter for distribution in Knysna alone. Since then 5 more beers have been added and distribution is now country wide.
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| At the Oyster Bar in Knysna |
Since we were in the Knysna area we couldn't pass by without stopping at the waterfront for oysters. Tanya and David will remember the Oyster Bar from a number of years back. We sat at the same table and supped on a dozen oysters. Delicious!
