Hiking in South Africa

We have just spent three days in Plettenberg Bay, which is a beach resort town located along the Indian Ocean.    On our first day, we decided to go on a hike given that we hadn’t really been doing anything but eating, driving, and drinking wine.

There is a nature reserve, Robberg Nature Park that jets out into the ocean.  Guests at our guest house recommended that we go on the hike and it was strongly seconded by the owners. So, after breakfast, Rob and I headed out for a morning hike.  We had been told by the couple at the guest house that the hike took 3.5 hours and the owner said she estimated 2 hours.   We assumed they were talking about the largest of three hikes that loops around the peninsula.  The longest hike was 9.2 km and 3.5 hours sounded reasonable. 

Our first indication that hikes in South Africa are not quite like others was the trail map.  In two locations it was marked with skull and crossbones.   There were various warnings about high-tide and strong winds.  It was a very nice day so we set off on our way. 

Shortly into the hike, we caught a glimps of several of these little guys...they are called daissies.   They are very similar to rabbits but have very small ears.

Since the park is situated on the Indian Ocean there are hundreds of seals who play in one particular part of the trail.  There are so many that you can smell them from the trail.  Here’s a picture of some of them playing and laying in the sun. 

After we had passed the seals, the trail became sandy.  One portion of the area called Whitsand supplies the sand for the miles and miles of beach making up Plettenberg Bay.    As we were hiking through this portion of the trail, we came across a snake in the middle of the path.   When we hike, Katie always goes first so she can see the trail (not possible with a six foot door in front).   Katie almost stepped on the snake and recoiled quickly when she saw it.   We both starred at it and pondered whether it was alive and if so, whether it was poisonous.   Rob “bravely” threw a rock in its direction to see if it would move.  It lazily slithered half-way under the brush along the trail.   So, it was alive but we still didn’t know if it was poisonous.   We waited a few minutes and then finally decided to jump on a rock and around the snake.  Here are some pictures of it.

Once we returned to our guest house, we asked the patron if they knew what kind of snake it was.  They certainly did – it was puff adder.   They are a very common, deadly snake but they are also very lazy.   Apparently you practically have to step on it for them to attack.  Lucky us.

When we arrived at one of the portions of the trail that was marked with skull and crossbones, we completely understood why.  You can’t really tell from the picture below but the waves from the ocean had been high enough to make the rock ledge wet and the trail was very slippery.  

The hike was wonderful and when we got back and told the guest house owners that we had done the entire trail and that it took us 4 hours, they were flabbergasted.  They said that “no one” does the entire thing and that they had only meant that we do the half trail.   Oh well – we loved it and had a great time.

Now, we are off to the game reserves.

Encountering Endangered Species...and Enjoying a Little WIne

What an amazing day.  We started off with a wonderful breakfast at our accommodations, River Manor.  The rooms and grounds are absolutely lovely.

We then walked around the town and then headed out to the wineries for lunch and some tastings.   We had lunch at the second oldest vineyard in the region, Spier.   It has become rather commercial but we were able to take in the best parts of it.   The winery has invested in sound environmental practices to help preserve water, which is extremely important in South Africa.  They have also donated sections of their land to animal conservation efforts.  There is a Chita program on-site as well as bird sanctuary.  We took both tours and were quite happy that we took the time.  

We learned quite a bit about Chitas and were told that Chitas are actually in danger of becoming extinct.  There are now approximately only 15,000 Chitas in Africa, with 1,000 in South Africa and 3,000 in Namibia.   They are often hunted because they threaten various livestock and are therefore killed to protect farmers’ living.   They currently have approximately 10 Chitas in the sanctuary because these animals have either been injured or could not survive in the wild.  The group now provides specific guard dogs for the herds to various farmers.   The group raises the dogs, donates the dog and food to feed them for a year to the farmers to protect their flocks, and if the farmer is pleased with the results they accept full responsibility for the dog.  In addition, the farmer must sign a document saying they will not kill chitas or the dogs that protect their flocks.   

Next, we moved on to the bird sanctuary.  There were two options, one to walk around and view the various birds and a second to participate in an interactive experience with the birds.  Given that it the second was about to start, we chose to go with the interactive option – and we are really glad we did. 

We were able to meet an eagle, a snow old, a spotted owl, an American vulture and two African vultures.  We learned about their habitat, the reasons why they endangered (many injured or poisoned due to lack of education in the population or simply dying off due to lack of food).   Here are some pictures of Rob and I feeding the birds.  They were amazing up close and because they were tame and used to humans, very gentle.

Finally, we met these two amazing vultures.  We were not able to feed them because they are so large (check out their wingspan) but they were amazing to watch. 

 Finally, we walked around and met a number of the other birds.   Katie was very impressed with this eagle.  He is so majestic that he looks unreal.

After our exciting adventure, we thought we should actually venture out and visit some vineyards.  Our host at the Manor Inn suggested we visit two wineries, the first Rust De Verde that only produces red wines and Waterford that is one of the other oldest estates in the areas.  

Rust De Verde as amazing for so many reasons.  It was based in a quaint setting.  And, the wine was fantastic.  We ended up buying two bottles of their Shiraz. 

We also visited the Waterford Estate.  This was also based in a beautiful yet very different setting.   However, they offered something different.  They paired their wine tasting with a chocolate tasting.  We had a few tastings of their white (one that Katie liked, Rob didn’t really like any), and then had two reds.  The first, a Shiraz, was paired with a dark chocolate and the second, Cabernet Savignon, with a salty dark chocolate.  The third was a very sweet desert wine paired with milk chocolate – needless to say, neither Rob nor I finished it.

We ended the day at dinner at Umami, a fantastic restaurant that offers wine pairings taster menus or a la carte.

The next day, we headed to the semi-desert area where Ostrich farms helped the town make its fortune.

Your Not in Kansas Anymore

We are currently in the wine region in a town called Stellenbosch.  We made reservations at a very famous restaurant called La Petite Ferme that is located in a nearby wine farming town called Franschhoek.  Lunch was lovely with Ostrich Capaccio followed by Smoked Trout for Katie, while Rob had Porchini Mushroom Soup and Slow Roasted Lamb.  We had a glass of wine to go with our meal but wondered if the wine had something special added as we drove home.

The patron of our lovely accomodations, Justin, suggested that we take the Pass back to Stellenbosch if we had the time as the views of the mountain ranges are stunning.   We did have the time so we chose to follow his suggestion. 




As we climbed the mountain range we were quite suprised to come across this fellow:

We stopped to take a few pictures and he turned to get a better look at us too.



We were so suprised to see a baboon on the side of the road that we hadn't looked around.   When we turned back to the road, we saw a whole village of baboons through our windshield.

How many baboons can you count?  We saw at least 30.   Babies on their Mom's backs.  Three little ones wrestling at the side of the road.  But, the biggest suprise to us was when we saw a young one try to climb on its Mom\s back and it was turned away.   When we got backo our hotel and looked at the photographs, we realized why.   If you look closely, Mom is nursing a baby and that was obvioulsy her focus. 

Wow!  We are in the wine region.  We haven't even gone to see the animals yet.  We can't wait.

We'll write again soon.

Mandela....Mandela

On Sunday morning, with a grey sky and threatening rain, we boarded the ferry to Robben Island.

The Island is 10 km off the shores of Cape Town and is where both political prisoners and criminals were imprisoned during apartheid.   The island had been used as various prisons by the colonial Dutch and English rulers, a leopard colony, a strong-hold during the second world war, and finally as a political prison starting in the 1960s.  Mandela was imprisoned in 1962 and spent 27 years on the island. 

The tour was given in two stages.  The first was a bus tour explaining the history and various structures on the island including the town, where 200 people currently live, relics from the second world war, and various prison buildings.   The second part of the tour was given by an ex-political prisoner and as our first tour guide pointed out, it must be very difficult for these men to come back to the island where they had been so injustly imprisoned and walk through those same hallways so that people can understand what happened.

During the first part of the tour we stopped in the village.  The Robben Island museum workers have a choice of either living on the island or of commuting back & forth each day.   Since people live there, they have a school house for grades one through seven and it currently has 18 students.   There is also a church so that residents can worship.  The Church is open to the public one day per year, on Valentines day so that people can get married.   Last year they had 23 marriages on Valentine's day and our guide said he attended and the minister was on the mark when he stated, "Given that marriage is a life sentence, it's very appropriate to be married on Robben Island."

The highlight of the first part of the tour was when one of the other visitors asked the following question to the tour guide: "Do you think the English and Dutch Colonialists were the first terrorists?"   The bus went quiet and the tour guide attempted to answer.  Once he was fiinished, an older gentleman with dreadlocks asked if he could answer the question.   He responded by saying that being a terrorist is in the eye of the beholder and that he had been considered a terrorist.  He went on to say that it wasn't correct to be upset with what had happened because the actions were done in ignorance.   His words were much more eloquent than my paraphrasing and it really stood out.  

We were able to catch up with this gentleman later during the tour and spoke with him briefly.  We expressed our appreciate for what he said and the sentiment within which he spoke.  He told us that he works for the government on the mainland and is in "reconciliation and conflict resolution".   He went on to say that you need to understand where people are coming from and how their experience shapes their viewpoint.  One of his parting comments what that, "it doesn't really matter how you got into the water, but it's how you get out that counts."

The second part of tour was guided by the gentleman in the picture below.  I cannot pronounce his name, let alone spell it, so we'll just call him Mr. K.    Mr. K was imprisoned for five years on the island from 1986-1991.  He had been given a 17 year sentence and as he said, he was not affected by the five years because he had set his mind to 17.   He explained that he had been part of the African National Congress (ANC), which was the underground movement fitting against apartheid.  He was imprisoned for being in the ANC, for working as military and moving various weapons and arms through the underground.   He mentioned a number of countries that he had either been imprisoned by our deported from before finally landing on Robben Island.   They included Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique, Russia and others.

He showed us the cell where they lived, including Mandela's cell below, the common area and the washrooms.  He also showed us a number of items outlining how segregated the various prisoners were.  First, prisoners were classified by skin colour, with Blacks receiving the worst treatment, and Coloured (defined as mixed race or anyone non-white) receiving slightly better.  On the card below, it shows the food that was allocated to Blacks and Coloured and you see a marked difference.   Whites were not imprisoned on the island. 

Mr. K. also showed us where the guards had found Mandela's working copy of The Long Walk to Freedom, hidden under these grapevine trees.  For writing the book, he was given 4 years of something (we didn't understand exactly what). 

One of the surprising facts is that the prisoners were able to apply for education rights.  Meaning, they could study during the evening hours after they had performed 8-10 hours of hard labour in the quarry.   Mandela and the other prisoners coined this as "their university".   We learned that the current President of South Africa was imprisoned on the island at a very early age and received most of his education this way -- pretty remarkable.

It was a wonderfully enlightening morning and we really enjoyed learning more about the history.  

We also saw some african penguins, which are indigenous to the island.

Our First African Adventure...sort of

We arrived in Cape Town at 2 pm on Saturday and were greeted by a wonderful gentleman at the airport.  He delivered us to our accommodations and on the way explained the many sites we passed.   This included several townships, the first housing built by Mandela for the blacks following his election to office, and the hospital where the first heart transplant in the world had been performed.   He also pointed out Table Mountain, not that you could miss it, and the various other peaks surrounding the mountain. 

    

He suggested that we make the trek to Table Mountain on Saturday because it was such a nice day.  He explained that very strong winds can pick up rather quickly and force the operators to stop the cable cars so it's best to take advantage when you can.

So, we checked into the hotel (into our upgraded suite thanks to Rob's super-travel status, which included a complementary bottle of wine) got changed, and headed out.  We were told that the last cable car went up at 5 pm and given that it was 4:30, and we certainly didn't have the energy to hike it, we grabbed the first cab we saw.   We arrived just in time and took the 2nd last cable car up the mountain.

The views are amazing, providing a view of the entire Cape Town bowl as well as views to False Bay and almost to the Indian Ocean. 

There are several planned walks and given that there was one for 15 minutes, one for 30, and one for 45, we chose the 45 to get the best view from the mountain and still be back for the sunset.  

As we made out way through the trails -- some well marked, and some not -- a fellow hiker explained that we should go to McLean's point, approximately a 20 minute walk.   We were game and so we followed his suggestion.  Katie likes to half walk, half run through trails and it took us at least 30 minutes to get to the point so we're not sure if he owned a watch.   We were rewarded with great views but also with the realization that we had to make our way back to the cable car rather quickly or we would not only miss our sunset but be stuck on the mountain with no flashlight or understanding of the trails down.  

Three other people had come out to the point after us and were stuck in the same situation so we all quickly made our way back the 3-4 km, the sun dropping with each step.   We made it back with less than 5 minutes to spare but in time for Rob to get some fantastic pictures of the sunset.

We were on the last cable car down from the mountain and to our surprise there were no taxis to be found.   The taxi stand was empty and the top of the mountain cleared out pretty quickly.  Rob and I walked down to where private cars were parked and realized that it was much too dark to walk down on our own.  So, here we were at the base of Table Mountain on our first day in Africa with no way to get down.   We decided to call the hotel and ask that they send a taxi up to the drop off point for us.   While we waited, we had some magnificent views of the city.

Rob's super-travel status to the rescue -- less than 10 minutes later a Mercedes with "Westin 1"  plates arrived to pick us up.   So, a few minutes of panic....but all great in the end.   And, a free ride home.

We ended our evening with a dinner on Alfred & Victoria waterfront and then had some very well earned sleep -- Katie slept until noon!  

On Saturday, we jumped on Cape Town's hop-on hop-off bus and learned more about the city. 

Gateway to South Africa

We landed in Johannesburg this morning at about 9 am.   We were both excited to realize that we were actually here after so much planning and a few long days of travel.

Our flight from Toronto to Frankfurt was mostly uneventful with enough turbulence to keep us both up most of the night in spite of the lay flat beds we had.   After landing, we took the train into the main train station and met Rob's friend, Ingo, for the day.  

Ingo had taken a train in from Baden-Baden to meet us.   Even though Rob had lived there for a year, none of us really knew very much about the city.  So, we did what all good tourists with little time do -- we jumped on a hop-on hop-off bus tour.   The tour gave Ingo and I a great background on the city, its history, and the cultural scene that has developed over the years.   Unfortunately, Rob missed out on a lot of the narative as his translation head-phones weren't working very well.  

We followed our tour with a traditional German lunch of sausage, sauekraut, and potatoes.  It was quite good but I wouldn't want to eat it everday.  And then, as most Germans do when they have an afternoon off, we had a few pints of Heffeweiss.

We caught our flight to Johannesberg at 10:45 pm -- on the biggest plane in the world right now, an Airbus 380.  Our seats were on the second story about 10 windows back.  We preceded to have dinner and got to sleep at about 2 am.  We both slept much better on this flight and are in suprising good spirits given that we've had 7-8 hours of sleep over the past two days.    But, we are now on South African time and looking forward to arriving in Cape Town.

We Haven't Left Yet

For those of you visiting for the first time, we haven't left yet.  We did do a "mock pack" on Monday to make sure we had everything we needed and to see if we could fit everything in our carry-ons.   

Yes, everything fits but we did realize we still need to pack a few items.  I guess that was the point.

We have one weekend left to run all of our errands and then we're off on our adventure.

Come back soon (once we've actually left) and we will have much more exciting activities to read about.