Eastern Cape - Part 2
From Grahmstown we rallied over to Addo National Park. Addo
was founded as an elephant reserve after professional hunters exterminated
elephants in the area on the behalf of farmers. One culler killed 112 elephants
in two years. Since the 1930s the park has been expanded to include mountains
and ocean front sections. We drove around the part accessible by 2 wheel drive
and saw about 100 hundred elephants in several different groups. Elephants rip
the hell out of trees and shrubs. The most interesting sighting was from a
“hide”, basically a wooden fence with slots cut into it at eye level, where
basically nothing was happening at a water hole until a big tusker arrived and
sucked up a bunch of water. Impressive standing 40 feet away from him, his slow
motion motions, the scale, the sounds and smells.
From Addo we bopped west to Orange Elephant Backpackers where we considered camping but it was too frigid for that. We took a room in an unheated masonry building. Orange Elephant is basically a citrus farm with many buildings situated near a township (slum for black people). We wanted to BBQ some fat T-bones we had specially cut but they had rented out the braai pit for an employee party for the people who work at Addo. Instead we broiled our dinner in the cold kitchen of an old house. We talked to a student who was on vacation from a nearby university, and some German women who took some shots of Jagermeister and then cracked a bottle of merlot (a dangerous combo). Our breakfast lounge, internet area and bar were abit cold and dogs were laying all over the furniture so everything smelled like dog. We checked the web for conditions at Jefferys Bay, our next stop, 20 mph wind and 16 foot swell. I guess swimming was out.
We rolled down to the coast and
stopped in at Jefferys Bay. It was raining on and off with a fresh wind. The
swell was rolling in and the tops were being blown off creating a wonderfully
massive spray. We talked to a friendly barista who created a fine latte for
Curtis in a café that had a warm fire burning. From the beach we stopped by a
nice restaurant overlooking the storm and had some seafood and a bottle of
South African white wine. The rain passed and we headed down to Super Tubes
beach for some beach combing and to check out the surfers. Our friend Bob loves
this place. From a point there is a long continuous right hand break. The waves
were full of surfers; the beach full of surfer watchers. Also the beach was
loaded with interesting shells.
 |
| Male Elephant from a hide. |
 |
| Kudu in Addo Park |
 |
| Elephants at sunset |
 |
| Momma elephant and a calf |
From Addo we bopped west to Orange Elephant Backpackers where we considered camping but it was too frigid for that. We took a room in an unheated masonry building. Orange Elephant is basically a citrus farm with many buildings situated near a township (slum for black people). We wanted to BBQ some fat T-bones we had specially cut but they had rented out the braai pit for an employee party for the people who work at Addo. Instead we broiled our dinner in the cold kitchen of an old house. We talked to a student who was on vacation from a nearby university, and some German women who took some shots of Jagermeister and then cracked a bottle of merlot (a dangerous combo). Our breakfast lounge, internet area and bar were abit cold and dogs were laying all over the furniture so everything smelled like dog. We checked the web for conditions at Jefferys Bay, our next stop, 20 mph wind and 16 foot swell. I guess swimming was out.
 |
| Sheri and Caterine from Germany |
 |
| Jefferys Bay |
 |
| Jefferys Bay |
We drove west and arrived at Tsitsikamma National Park and
rented a nice hut on the coast at the mouth of Storms River. The facilities and
setting were top notch. The storm swell rolled in and exploded on to the rocks
all along the coast. The weather cleared up and we hiked to the top of a lookout
for a nice view and whale spotting. We saw a few whales which we assumed were Southern
Right whales. Interestingly, a fact noted by our friend Mitch, is that the
testis of a Right whale can weigh up to 1000 pounds each. And they’re named
Right whale from whale hunters who preferred killing them since they had a good
yield of flesh and oil and they don’t sink when they’re dead.
 |
| Cabin at Storms River |
 |
| Sheri at cabin at Storms River |
 |
| Bridge at Mouth of Storms River |
 |
| Mouth of Storms River |
 |
| Bridge over Storms River |
 |
| Surf At Storms River |
 |
| Upper Canyon of Storms River |
From Storms River we cruised west to upscale Plattenberg
where Sheri did some shopping in a really nice African jewelry store. And
afterwards we had some delicious baked goods and lattes at a French bakery.
Continuing west we stopped off at the town of Kynsa for their annual oyster
festival. We went to the main festival grounds where they were setting up for
bicycle races and had a dog show but for the life of them we could not get an
oyster. We bailed out and headed for the waterfront where at a restaurant
called 34 South Curtis was able to get round of oysters on the half shell and a
beer at a special price. Yeah.
 |
| Mountain Bike Racers at Kynsa Oyster festival |
 |
| Curtis and his oysters |
No comments:
Post a Comment