Part two of my fall recess was just as exciting as part one! We were picked up in a bg van on Wednesday morning by Hendrik and Chrissie of Earthstompers Adventures. They were the nicest couple ever. They met when Chrissie came on one of Hendrik’s tours and she moved from the States to South Africa to marry him and help him manage the tour company. They were both a lot of fun to chat with! We started out our Wednesday morning with a hike in the Tsitsikamma forest. We hiked to a suspension bridge and hung out there for a bit before returning for a picnic lunch. The scenery along the Garden Route is stunningly beautiful and dramatic. Huge mountains full of plants and trees rise right along the ocean with rock studded coasts. South Africa has many dramatic sights and the Garden Route is definitely one of my favorites so far!
The suspension bridge in Tsitsikamma
The beautiful scenery along the Garden route
After Tsitsikamma we got into the van where it promptly started to pour! We had some great rain timing throughout this trip! After a couple of hours we arrived at our cabins for the night. They were located along a river with kayaks and a paddle board. A couple of us decided to go swimming in the river. It was rather cold at first but eventually we got used to it! After we got out it started to pour and continued to pour for the rest of the night. After dinner we all headed to bed. I was asleep by 9, probably the earliest I’ve gone to bed since I came to South Africa!
Hanging out in the river
When we woke up it was still raining but we continued onward to Addo Elephant Park. Addo was originally created to help preserve the eleven remaining elephants in the area and now has over 450 wild elephants and many other animals. The first hour of our safari was incredibly slow. We did not really see any animals. It was raining so many of the animals were trying to take cover from the rain and the park is huge so it can be hard to spot them. But then luck turned in our favor and we saw two lions chilling in the rain. They were brothers and they looked miserable but it was incredibly exciting to see them just chilling. After that we started to see more animals. We saw quite a few elephants including some babies with their moms. We saw several antelope type animals and even a dung beetle. The most exciting sighting though was another three lions, 2 males and a female. They were hanging out super close to the road and it was mating season so we even got to see lions mating first hand. Lion King wasn’t too far off with its circle of life song. After we had our fill of animals we headed off to Jeffrey’s Bay to our next hostel!
This picture reminds me of Lion King
Elephants at Addo!
The lions being miserable in the rain
Jeffrey’s Bay is a famous surf town along the coast. They have the World Surfing Championships there and it is quite the popular surfing destination. My balance is off on land and being in the water wouldn’t make it any better so I decided to shop instead of trying my hand at surfing! We stayed at Island Vibes hostel which was also pretty cool. They have a hopping bar there that we spent the rest of the night at! Friday morning we woke up to try and watch the sunrise but yet once again it was raining. We all packed back into the van for a long drive to our final stop at Up the Creek camp on the Breede River. It was a pretty rustic camp with A-frame two bed cabins. I was in heaven being so close to the outdoors without actually having to sleep on the ground but that sentiment was not as widely shared! We had a great dinner and another roaring campfire. On Saturday morning we woke up and got an orientation before we started our rafting. We were in two person blow up rafts that were almost like kayaks. We kayaked for a bit down the river, including some smaller rapids. We beached, had lunch and then continued down the river to do some more rapids and paddling. It wasn’t exactly what I was picturing but I still really enjoyed it. We had yet another amazing dinner and fire and headed to bed for our last night before our return to Stellies.
AIFS takes over J-Bay!
Frolicking in Jeffrey’s Bay (photo credit Juliana)
Up the River Camp
The river we rafted!
On Sunday we packed up and started the scenic route back to Stellenbosch. We stopped by Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa and also the geographical location where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet each other. It was super windy and we snapped some pictures and got in the van to head to Hermanus. Hermanus is known for its whale watching during the winter months. We were lucky enough to spot a whale after we gabbed lunch hanging out in the harbor! It doesn’t look that big because you can only see one part of the whale at a time, like it’s blowhole or its tail, but they are massive! After lunch we headed back to Stellenbosch, home sweet home for right now. I only have 2 months left and I plan on taking advantage of everything possible in South Africa! I can’t wait to see where my next adventures will take me!
Red Raider pride on the tip of Africa!
With love from South Africa, Colleen
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