As we drove out of Cape Town our first experience was driving past this troupe of baboons that were resting along side the road and propped up against a traffic sign. They were rather large and were sitting there eating some sort of fruit. It was one of those things that quickly carries you out of your daydream as you realize what you are driving past, and it was not the last of our baboon encounters.
Not as exciting as baboons but definitely an experience, was traveling through the Huguenot tunnel, which measures 3.9 kilometers long. It felt as if we were having some Charlie and the Chocolate Factory experience. Several hours later we ventured off the main road and went through the Swartberg Pass, which is this AMAZING windy dirt road that takes you up and over a beautiful mountain. If you have time, you should google “Swartberg Pass, Africa” and look at some pictures because it is really unreal. After a long drive we ended up in Oudtshoorn at Paradise Backpackers. This backpackers was the nicest one we stayed at and had many rooms, outdoor gardens, two TV viewing rooms and a proper bar. If our trip were longer I could see us staying there a couple of nights and enjoying the city at a slower pace, but we were on a time schedule we had to stick to.
The next morning we woke up bright and early, ate our breakfast that they prepared (scrambled ostrich egg and meat, among other things) and started off with our day. Our first stop was at the Cango Caves, which is this long, natural underground tunnel system. Lindsey and Ben chose the adventure tour, which took them through the smallest of the tunnels, making them squeeze up, over and through the narrow spaces. Being not so adventurous, I chose to opt out and instead went bird watching.
Our next stop was the Cango Ostrich Farm where we had the opportunity to briefly ride an ostrich and feed them. I must first mention that Oudtshoorn is the ostrich capital of the world, so there were many places in which we could have chose to view the animals, however, I am glad that we chose Cango because they have one of the only ostriches in the world that is naturally affectionate to humans. Unlike most animals, ostriches cannot be taught or reared to be gentle because they are so naturally aggressive. You could actually walk right into her cage and she would not feel threatened, and because of this she cannot be kept with other ostriches because they would probably end up charging her.
Dad, you should be jealous- at the next place we visited called the Cango Wildlife Ranch I was able to walk into the cheetah cage and pet and play with full-grown cheetahs! You could tell at that point that we were definitely not in the United States because they opened the door to the cheetah cage and told us to walk up and pet them, without any real guidelines. I hesitated for a moment and said “Are you serious?” and so one of the trainers walked with me and approached the big cat. I will admit. It was an extra R135 ($18USD) for me to do this, but at that price who wouldn’t! I will gladly work to pay Mom back for that when I get back to the states.
The rest of our tour took us around to see many animals unique to Africa on a zoo like expedition. (Although African zoos don’t even compare to those in the States because the animals have so much more room to roam here- it makes me feel so sad for monkeys in the US, which I will get to a little later). Some of the other animals that we saw were lions, white lions, white tigers, four-month-old baby white tigers, vultures, crocodiles, hippos and several smaller creatures. This bird though... has a rough life.
At the end of this eventful day we decided to wind down by taking another pass called the Meiringspoort Pass. On this drive we ran into several troupes of Baboons (seriously, almost ran into them) and hiked up this little trail to a long, flowing waterfall. We then departed for a night at the Island Vibe Backpackers in Knysna, where is rained and stormed all night long. The weather continued well through the next day and night, so we did not do too much besides some driving.
After waking up and staring in awe at the blue sky outside our window at Tube N’Axe Backpacker in Stormsriver Village, we quickly set off to get our day started the right way with a nice bungee jump. This jump is performed on the Bloukrans bridge and is qualified by the Guiness Book of World Records as the highest bungee jump in the world measuring in at a total of 216m. Lindsey and Ben participated in the jumping part of this, while I watched at a nice distance. (Hey, if I am going to spend my money I would rather spend it on skydiving- right Ginger!)
Our next adventure was Monkeyland, which is enclosed by a long, large fence and is almost entirely free roaming. Here we got to experience walking through a natural monkey habitat, where a wide variety of monkeys would walk past us on the trail as they search for food, and where one actually stole my drink and ran off with it. I must explain that most of the monkeys in this habitat were actually at one point either trained thieves or performance monkeys, so they are sadly quite used to people.
To continue on with our one-on-one animal experience, our next stop was at the Knysna Elephant Park. Here we took a short ride to where the elephants were (they are allowed to free-roam in the park, so we had to locate where they were at) and once we found them we were able to hand fee them, pet them and take pictures. Ben and Lindsey opted for an additional tour and set off for their half-hour long elephant ride around the premises. Another experience that would not have happened, for legal reasons, if inside the States. We were able to roam with the elephants, free from cages, harnesses or anything. One kept on walking closer to me and with each step it took, I took three more. It was actually pretty sad that I was scared and I think it was just because of the mere fact that we are taught to be afraid of such animals. That our only contact with them should be from behind cages, and that if allowed to view them in open quarters we should be prepared to be trampled. The reality is that they are curious, social, and pretty passive creatures. Beautiful to see up close, amazing to experience.
On our last day of our garden route exploration we drove to the southernmost tip of Africa where we took typical tourist pictures, and then continued up the coastal route back to Cape Town. And now I am back at work: posting this new addition to the blog, and wondering what is going on back in Eugene. Nothing too exciting, I am sure!
1 comment:
Wow Mindy! The picture with the cheetah is amazing! I would LOVE to pet a cheetah (and an elephant!). Very cool! How long are you in South Africa?
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