November 5, 2008 - Wednesday - Port Elizabeth to Knysna

As we drive along the Garden Coast, we encounter many pretty spots. Jeffrey's Bay offers world class surfing, as does many of South Africa's beaches. Tsitsikamma National Park is our lunch stop. The shoreline is beautiful here as well, with sand and rock, and whales to see offshore. As the Brits in our group tell me, it could be the English south coast (or our shoreline off Victoria in Canada for that matter). Next stop is Face Adrenalin, the world's highest bungee jump off Africa's highest bridge (Bloukrans River Bridge). We watch as a woman jumps. It is a very long way down (216 metres), and she dangles there for quite awhile until they come down on a second line to pull her up. Next stop is Plettenberg Bay, which is an upscale town and residential area with a lovely long sandy beach, but it has a shanty town close-by west of town. Knysna town is also upscale, with nice shops and quaint malls just like home! We are staying in the Knysna Hollow Country Estate for the next two nights. It is quite deluxe, offering cottage style accommodation for everyone.

November 6, 2008 - Thursday - Oudtshoorn

Our day trip today takes us inland to George, the main town in this Klein Karoo region. Our first stop is the Cango Caves, where we take the Standard Tour which only covers a fraction of what can be seen in the caves. The caves have dried out over the last few years because of lack of rain on the surface, however they are spectacular nonetheless. Next stop is Ostrich Show Farm near Oudtshoorn. A few of the lighter members of our group get to ride the ostriches.

We stop in a mall in Oudtshoorn for a lunch break, and are entertained by the barking buggy boy in the parking lot.  Yes, he barks like a dog...and seems to get a great thrill out of entertaining us while we wait for everyone to return to the bus from their various lunchtime activities.  Scary? no  Funny? certainly!

November 7, 2008 - Friday - Knysna to Cape Town

There is a torrential rain storm and strong winds all last night and this morning. The noise awoke me several times last night, since my cottage has a metal roof. First stop is the Bartolomeu Dias Museum in Mossel Bay, which is a maritime museum where the Portuguese explorers Vasco de Gama and Bartolomeu Dias are profiled. There is a full sized replica of Dias' caravel ship in the museum, which was sailed from Portugal to South Africa in 1988 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of exploration in this area by the Portuguese. After we have lunch in the farming and grape growing community of Swellendam, we drive through some beautiful Lowveld farming areas before driving through the 4km long Huguenot Tunnel on our way to Cape Town.  After exiting the tunnel, we are suddenly in the grape growing district of Paarl, which is well-known for their wines.

Next >>> Cape Town

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