Cape Town to Jo'burg

On March 19th my friend Sat and I embarked upon a South African adventure of our very own. No more getting up an hour and a half before departure time, no more setting up/taking down tents, no more pot wash and no more of the awful flapping dishes!!! We rented a car and took off along the Garden Route for Knysna...unfortunately we dawdled too much and ended up making it only to Mossel Bay. Mossel Bay is for bikers…Harleys mostly and since I was driving a Toyota Corolla I just didn’t fit in, so off early the next day to reach Knysna! This is where I had my very first oyster experience…thanks Sat!! Yummy!!! Now how does it go again…bread, wine, oyster, wine, bread?? In any order it’s fabulous! From the deck of the Knysna Oyster Co. Restaurant I took pictures of the lagoon and the two sandstone cliffs, known as the Heads that lead out to the Indian Ocean. Post oyster consumption we drove to an overlook point and the view was breathtaking! The sun shining on the water making it glimmer and sparkle like a gold souk in Dubai! After soaking in the view we headed off to Southern Comfort…no my AA friends not drinking, but a farm-house lodge. Sat and I got up early to head out for a horse-back riding adventure. Yes Abby, more trotting and cantering!! The views were spectacular, the air refreshing and the ride relaxing. After riding we went for a hike in the Knysna Forest. We were given information that the path is circular and a trail leads to the ocean and it takes about a half day, so without a map or registering with the parks office we set off. (Yes yes I already know most of you are shaking your heads and saying, “Fools! You should always take a map and register!”) Well…we ended up getting lost…we made it to the ocean, but it took us about 3 hours to get there and we hiked in a few circles before actually arriving to the viewpoint…by the way was an amazing viewpoint. A rocky beach without a soul in sight for miles!! It was beautiful! I enjoyed it only briefly as I was worried whether we would make it out before sunset. So in my head I was thinking WWBGD (what would Bear Grylls do)? Lucky for me I had a bottle of water, a box of matches, a pack of pistachios and my Swiss Army knife! So long story short, we ended up calling a man by the name of Benit and he directed us to a path and fetched us from the end of that trail! Embarrassed but happy and safe we thanked Benit and headed back to the Knysna Oyster Co. to celebrate our stupidity with more oysters!

Next destination: Cintsa, Actual stop: Grahamstown…SCARY!!!!! A very quick stop over for the night we stayed at Old Gaol Backpackers. This place was a former jail, so now I can say I spent a night in jail! When the employee opened up the door to the cell it made an eerie creaking noise and then she asked me how it appeared to me. I said, it looks cozy, reminds me of home and then laughed and regretted wanting to spend the night in jail. The showers were actually very nice…nothing like Shawshank!

Cintsa and Hogsback
We made it to Cintsa (East and West) in the late morning to lay our eyes upon two completely opposite beaches. Cintsa east flat, white sand with soft waves that brush over your toes ever so gently. Cintsa west large rocky paths that lead a quarter of a mile out into the ocean with harsh waves crashing ashore to heights of 5-10 feet! Both beautiful in the own unique ways. A short time spent at both beaches and then off to heaven…I mean Hogsback! ;)
Hogsback is located at an elevation of 1300m in the Amathole Mountains, about 10km off the main road, up a very windy and narrow road. Our lodge even further about 5km from the center of town on a dirt road full of potholes (slaggate! In Afrikaans). The Edge is a beautiful lodge with great cabins that overlook the valley and city. It was a place anyone could truly relax and get completely lost in their thoughts. The cabin we stayed in had a fireplace, a claw-foot tub and an amazing view! We liked it so much we spent two nights there! And of course I took advantage of having the tub and took a long soak!! Okay besides the cabin, Hogsback had a great place to hike and this time we didn’t get lost!

Next Stop: Malealea, Lesotho!
I know I go on and on about how breathtaking the views I’ve seen are, but it’s the truth and if I could create words that expressed “breathtaking to the infinite degree” then I would use them, but my pictures and words will have to suffice. As we followed the turnoff to Malealea Lodge, I glanced in the side-view mirror and was completely stunned by the sun setting over the ridge of the Thaba Putsoa Mountains. The entire ridge was lit with soft pink as the bright orange fireball slowly descended for the evening! Yes I pulled over and got a few pics! ;)
The next morning Sat and I signed up for a pony trek to see San paintings. My pony’s name was Brown Sugar…I’m not kidding it really was!!! We had a leisurely ride through the farmlands and finally reaching the gorge that housed the Makhaleng River, Echo Cave and Sans paintings. Again a sight so beautiful pictures and words can’t even come close to capturing its beauty! The incredible colors that surrounded us were: canary yellow stones, rusty orange rock formations, hues of green of the farmlands and a perfect blue sky! A must visit place and lodge! That evening I relaxed by the campfire and roasted/toasted mallows and sipped hot chocolate until the generator stopped and then off to bed…

Destination: Sani Pass
An 8km rugged pass from the border post of South Africa to the border post of Lesotho that leads to an elevation of 9400ft via the Drakensburg Mountains. Sat convinced me to hike this pass, with hesitation I said yes and we embarked upon our journey. Many 4x4’s passed by offering to give us a lift to the top and begrudgingly I said no and pushed on. Yes I know I summited Kili, but I just wasn’t in the mood to do another climb. In the end I was ecstatic to have hiked this rocky path and celebrated with a view, brew and food at the highest pub in Africa!

Final Destination: Jo’burg
Not much to say about Jo’burg itself, but I did manage to fit in four movies (Marley & Me, The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, Gran Torino and Paul Blart: Mall Cop) in two days and a tour of Soweto!
So if you’ve read my blog on my experience with the Kigali Memorial in Rwanda, then you’ll find the following filled with the same emotion…sadness. I visited the original home of Nelson Mandela now a brand new museum that just opened on March 19th 2009, took a driving tour of the three sections of classes (upper, middle and the poor) living in Soweto and saw the current residences of Winnie Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. On June 16th 1976 a group of students marched in the streets to protest having to learn in Afrikaans. These students felt that this language was the language of the oppressor and refused to learn it. They organized a peaceful demonstration, but it turned deadly as the police shot ~200 students dead. Among the students who had died was Hector Pieterson, a 13y/o boy who is now regaled as a hero. I visited the Hector Pieterson Museum which houses the history of the Soweto uprising. I couldn’t complete touring the entire museum because I was too overcome with grief and sadness. My reason to continue to revisit, read and learn more.

Sat, thanks for a great trip! See you again soon!