Eita everybody!
A very big, a warm, South African handshake for everybody. For those of you who don’t know what a South African handshake is, check it out. For those of you who do know, check out the link too – quite cool, thanks so much ubuntu bridge for the video!
So, the last bit of silence (sorry about that) has seen me doing some pretty amazing travelling around South Africa. Not all of it has been for recreation, but the last bit I did was solely filled with fun, SA countryside viewing, people meeting, entertainment. I road tripped (on a budget) for about 5 days from the mother city to East London. Along the way, I stopped at a whole bunch of rad places.
Next stop – Calitzdorp spa. A very down to earth place, deep in the heart of the ‘klein karoo’, where people can swim in the natural HOT spring water. I got in, stuck it out for as long as I could, about 4 and a half minutes, jumped out and ran back to the cottage steaming. They were definitely not lying about the ‘hot’ part.
The following day – Oudtshorn and beyond. I landed up at the Cango Caves. This part of the journey was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. At the caves, there are two options: the guided walk or the adventure walk. In the latter, there are some very tight gaps to squeeze through. Not having the smallest frame, I went with the guided walk. I am so glad I did as our guide, Eric, turned off all of the lights in the second cave and sang the South African National anthem. His baritone voice echoed its way through all of the cracks and crevices of that cave, bounced off the stalactites and stalagmites and washed over me! I would be lying if I said I did not get emotional at this stage. Thank goodness the lights were off and when they came back on, I could blame the dust.
Onwards to George – it blows my mind how driving for an hour can make the scenery change from hot and dry to pretty much stepping into a scene from the Lord of the Rings. The scenery from George onward is, in my opinion, out of this world – especially crossing over into the Eastern Cape.
For the last night of my trip, I stayed over at Tsitsikamma backpackers, swung in a hammock and read my book for some quality R&R before the last leg of the journey.
What an amazing trip it turned out to be, and just getting in a car and going is something I would definitely recommend to people. There are things to do and places to stay, no matter what your budget. Just make sure you take a camera, good company, a map book/gps and some CD’s.
Happy road tripping everybody, I look forward to the pictures and the stories!
Shap shap!
Dave
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