The difference a day makes. The drive from Jeffreys Bay to Knysna
was a totally different experience without the rain. The day before, the rain was so intense and there was so much spray coming up from the road surface that we did not even see the bridge over
the Storms River, looking at the bridge and the river today, that hardly
seemed possible.
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| Storms River Bridge...didn't see it due to the rain! |
We had set off early from Jefferys Bay and stopped at the bridge to watch the Bungee
Jumping, and then went on to the Tsitsikamma National Park.
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| The Van Stadens George and its Storms River Bridge |
In the Tsitsikamma National Park, the rest camp run is by the South African Parks Board. The walk from the car park at the storms river Rest Camp was spectacular, the huts that you can stay
in can be booked direct with the Parks Board and have one of the best views in the world.
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| Tsitsikamma National Park |
We had lunch at the restaurant, the service was slow but the food was
good. the only problem was it was so windy the food got cold very quickly. Then we walked along to the river mouth admiring the wild seas, rocky coast and forested cliffs all along the route.
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| Wild Seas at Tsitsikamma National Park |
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| Tsitsikamma National Park |
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| Tsitsikamma National Park at the mouth of the Storms River |
In the afternoon we drove on to the town of Knysna.
When we lived near to Durban, people would go on holiday to Knysna, and come back with tales of a glorious lagoon, spectacular scenery, oysters and a steam locomotive that ran from the town of George to Knysna. so I had high hopes for this place.
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| Knysna |
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| Laguna Grove, Knysna |
We had booked in at Laguna Grove. this was a three bedded apartment that slept 6. It had parking and the apartment was located on the lagoon and was really well equipped. It was a perfect place to stay as you could walk to the train station and the waterfront development, the Knysna Quays where a lot of the restaurants were located.
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| Knysna |
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| Knysna |
As we had arrived in good time we took a trip across the lagoon to the Featherbed Nature Reserve. from here you had great views of the Knysna Heads; two high sandstone cliffs providing and entrance to the lagoon. The tour company took you up to the top in a tractor pulling a wagon, you then walked back down to the bar / eating area. then got the small ferry back across the lagoon. It was a good trip.
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| Knysna |
Knysna |
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The train station looked overgrown and in disrepair, it was. this was due to the rail infrastructure suffering from flood damage in 2006. The train has not run since.
The next day we set of early heading up to the self styled Ostrich Capital of the World, the town of Oudtshoorn. It was a dull rainy day when we left Knysna. heading towards the town of George on the N2 highway. Soon we climbed up from the coastal lowlands and into the sun. We were in the Little Karoo and saw farms with Ostriches in the fields, and Zebra. The landscape was yellow, dry, and African and I loved it.
Oudtshoorn was a small village that when the late Victorian fascination for large feathers turned into high fashion, turned from a sleepy village into the feather capital of the world. The farmers became rich feather barons and built elaborate mansions, known as Ostrich Palaces. Large Victorian styled houses. Many of the mansions have been restored and now, the boom days long gone the farms supply feathers, meat, Ostrich leather and eggs to all parts of the world.
The first port of call was past the town of Oudtshoorn, the Cango Caves. The caves are one of South Africas top attractions. The caves have been used as a home for Man since prehistoric times. the entrance to the caves is in the foothills of the Swartberg mountains, it was very hot. the entrance its self is a 1970 style tourist complex, this is a large concrete building. A guide takes you down into the caves where you admire the Stalagmites and Stalactites lit with lights, all with names such as 'the hanging shawl', 'Cango candle' and 'Angels Wing'. I found it a bit boaring, but I have been in caves before and there are only so many formations of rock you can turn into art.
Driving back towards Oudtshoorn we saw the entrance to the Cango Wildlife Ranch, and called in
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| Cango Wildlife Ranch |
here a guide escorted us around the ranch ( a Zoo really) and gave the option to be photographed with the white tigers, cheetahs and other creatures, many of the rescued, housed by the ranch. You could even cage dive with a crocodile if you wanted to. It was a bit of fun.
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| Cango Wildlife Ranch |
Next we stopped at one of the many Ostrich farms. we were late for lunch but the kind ladies extended the lunch hours and served us. We were on the last tour of the farm of the day and started with the Eggs.
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| Ostrich farm |
then the Ostrich chicks, amazing birds that looked like the eggs on legs.
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| Ostrich chicks |
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| Ostrich chicks |
Finally the tour ended in the shop selling all thing Ostrich, I got some amazing feather dusters. they are the best I have ever used. also a change to feed the male birds.
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| Ostrich |
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| Ostrich |
It had been a really windy day and there had been no Ostrich racing, I was really disappointed as I wanted to see the jockeys racing the birds. But the wind dropped as we finished the farm tour and our guide decided that the birds could race 😊. We crossed the road and walked to the pen with the ostrich in, the jockeys said it was to hot for the birds to race, I did agree it was hot. but the jockeys said we could ride the birds....I wasn't expecting that! so we did, took it in turns and tried to cling on.
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| Ostrich in the racing pen |
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| Riding an Ostrich |
Some of us did better than others, I fell off straight away, but as I had been instructed to keep a firm grip I did, and pulled out loads of feathers as the jockeys tried to get me to the ground safety, there was also a lot of underwear on display...my daughters were mortified! revenge at last!
I had debated and questioned the need to drive out to what I had imagined to be a dusty little a town in the Little Karoo, but I absolutely loved the town of Oudtshoorn, with its Victorian architecture, odd activity list and feathers, I highly recommend a trip to this town even if like me its just a day out. for me and my family this was one of our highlights on the much fabled Garden Route.
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