Beaches for Dayyyys

I awoke as our tent began to heat up with the early morning sun. Camping is bearable since it cools off at night in South Africa; if the temperatures were the same at night as they are during the day, we’d melt! After eating breakfast and solving some car troubles (we had a finicky tire) we ventured out to reattempt to reach the coastal part of De Hoop. This time we made it – and what a stunning beach it was!! We frolicked in the waves for a while before climbing into the car and heading off.

We drove southwest to Arniston, a small fisherman’s village with breathtaking beaches and seashore. Small white houses are perched on the coast, contrasting the intensely turquoise waters lapping the sand. We attempted to reach the cave that Arniston is famous for, but the tide was too high so instead we beach hopped in the area and spent hours enjoying the sun and warm water.

Exhausted and sun-zapped, we drove to Cape Agulhas where we ate a feast at an Irish pub. We set up camp at a site on the coastline and collapsed into our tent, sleeping soundly to the waves crashing nearby.

Bridge To Nowhere

I awoke early on Monday morning to the squawking of African birds and the rustling of my uncomfortable tent mates (I was the only one in possession of a thermarest, resulting in enviously superior sleeps at night). We ate breakfast at a delightful little café in Knysna called Le Petit Pain, checked out a few of the shops along the waterfront, then continued driving west. We passed through the Knysna townships – some of the most incredible in the country, where some shanties are built on stilts on precarious inclines.

By noon we had officially reached the middle of nowhere – we stopped at a liquor store surrounded by barren fields, where Alex purchased a few dusty bottles of mysterious honey liquor. We continued driving until we reached a manual ferry that would take us across the Breerivier to Malagas, and closer to our destination for the night, the De Hoop Nature Reserve.

We stood around for about 10 minutes at the water’s edge, staring at the ferry on the other side – a rickety wooden creation that we were unsure could support a vehicle packed full of gear. Finally two men ambled down the riverbank and began laboriously pulling the ferry across the river towards us. We loaded the car on, and immediately offered to help them with the return trip – so we were outfitted with the rudimental arm straps and chains that hooked us in and allowed us to tug ourselves across the ferry. We all found it extremely entertaining!

Safely across on dry land, we drove further westward to De Hoop. When we reached the park, we found it was a large, barren, tundra-like area. We drove towards the coast and spent a few hours on an exhausting dune walk, climbing peak after peak trying to reach the shore before eventually giving up and just playing around in the magnificent white sand until the sun began to set.

Later that night after enjoying a braai, Chida and I headed off to shower. We were extremely impressed by De Hoop’s seemingly high class shower facilities when all of a sudden I heard Chida scream – a swallow had swooped down dangerously close to her head, and we looked up to see a massive nest on the ceiling. We smiled – we were still in South Africa after all!

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

Over the last two weeks I feel like I read an entire chapter. I just returned from an amazing trip in the Western Cape, and I will be attempting to record all of my recent adventures in my next few blogs.

Alex, Blair, Chida and I departed from St Francis on January 20^th. We started our belated Christmas holiday in Tsistsikamma National Park, only an hour or so away. We saw a very large and old tree (that beat the one Chida and I had seen in Hogsback), and then did a lovely coastal hike to a massive waterfall. We enjoyed a chilly and iron-rich swim beneath the waterfall before heading back. Unfortunately, we were directed to follow a different path by a persistent Afrikaans man. This alternative route led us up a steep ascending trail consisting of about 1000 stairs and spat us out at the park entrance. FIVE KILOMETERS FROM WHERE WE WERE PARKED. After our painful pavement promenade back to our vehicle, we vowed never again to listen to the advice of obnoxious hikers.  

BIG TREE

Coastal hike - amazing views!

This is how we felt after realizing we were 5kms from the car.

That night, we feasted at a delicious Italian restaurant in Knysna, Café Mano. A few hours later we collapsed exhausted in our tent. Our adventure had begun!!

Knysna (pronounced nye-snah) waterfront

Post-Christmas Cheer & A New Year

Well, things have finally slowed down after the holiday rush. All of the tourists and holidaymakers from Joburg have headed home, and St Francis is back to its sleepy, deserted state. As honourary locals, we’re pleased about this, since we once again have parking spaces at the grocery store which finally has bread in stock (although the avocados still have not returned, to our dismay). There were a few too many weeks of empty shelves!

The Christmas season was very busy at the centre – there was a constant flow of families, so there were tours to be given, activities to be run, and boat rides to be guided. There wasn’t much time for relaxing, but I’ve been up to a few fun things since the last time I blogged …

OX BRAAI. A massive outdoor dance party and camp out. Thousands of people flock to a farmer’s fields in Bathurst, where they consume vast amounts of alcohol and deliciously spit-roasted ox.

ANYTHING THAT FLOATS. A hysterical race that occurs every year on New Year’s Eve on the canals. People craft “boats” out of whatever they can find (barrels, floating toys, etc). We decided to try and send an environmental message with our Recyclo-Craft, but hilariously enough it was extraordinarily slow and we came dead last.

NEW YEAR’S EVE. Probably the best New Year’s Eve party of my life (considering the only other contestants are the cabin and Kingston, it wasn't a tough race). We had a relaxing evening with just the four of us, then at about 11:30pm met up with our friends at a bar in Cape St Francis. One of the BEST things about Africa is how chill everything is – we walked into the bar carrying about 4 bottles of champagne, and NO QUESTIONS WERE ASKED. We were not stopped. When the clock struck midnight, a champagne shower erupted as bottles popped all over the bar. We spent the rest of the night dancing (South African guys actually know how to dance – SO MUCH FUN), then headed to the beach to watch the sun rise.

Pre-midnight, Blair attempts a somersault with some dire consequences. 

QUADRATHLON ROUND 2. January 2^nd. Let’s just say we hadn’t quite recovered enough to beat the athletic holidaymakers … but we still had fun!

PIRATE SHIP. Our friend and neighbour Ian has been working on restoring an old sail boat (aka pirate ship). It is a beautiful vessel, and last week we were fortunate enough to enjoy an evening cruise aboard.

Merry Christmas

With all the fun in the sun I’ve been having, it definitely hasn’t felt much like Christmastime. For myself and all of the other Canadians it’s our first Christmas abroad, and none of us really knew what it would be like – how would we mash all of our traditions together? Turns out we just had to make some of our own (like unconventional couch stockings) and just go with the flow. What none of us expected was that we’d spend Christmas Day fighting a fire.

"SAMSA Stockings"

Christmas brekkie

We woke up early on Christmas morning, had a big breakfast feast, and then went to help feed the penguins (merry Christmas little guys!), not before having to jump start our sketchy old car. After the penguins, we came home and were in the middle of opening gifts when Alex got a phone call that there was a house on fire in the village. Alex and Blair volunteer with NSRI, the marine safety & rescue operation in the area, which is why he got the call. In a few moments we were out the door, speeding in the car towards the fire. It was unbelievable to see. Alex and Blair quickly set to work with the other NSRI volunteers, dousing the flames and soaking nearby thatch roof houses to prevent the fire from spreading.  Everyone was terrified that the fire would spread like the last one did, which ended up decimating 76 homes. Luckily, the fire was kept under control and only one house was destroyed.

While our burly roommates were out being fire-fighting heroes, Chida and I spent over three hours standing in the sun diverting traffic from the area. Sounds easy, but trying to prevent people from entering an area where they want to be is a tough task.  There were people who wanted to see it purely for entertainment, and then there were those hoping to save valuables from nearby homes – but in the last fire, a buildup of traffic prevented emergency vehicles from reaching burning homes, and this time it was clear that only extremely necessary vehicles could be let in. Not everyone could understand that though – I was screamed at by many belligerent people demanding to be let into the area. They questioned my authority (but obviously had no concern for their personal safety), cursed at me, and even DARED to call me American. THE NERVE!

After the excitement was over, we returned back to our apartment exhausted. It certainly didn’t feel like Christmas anymore, and we postponed our Christmas braai until Boxing Day, when we were able to get back into the Christmas spirit.

I hope everyone back home had a safe and happy Christmas, and I wish everyone all the happiness and hope in the world for 2013!