Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Garden Route – The Road to Cape Town

“It’s one of the most beautiful and scenic stretches of highway in the world” we were told.  The 740 kilometers from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town on the N2 highway, was a “must do”.  We mapped our route and decided to spend a week or so to take it all in.

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Named for the verdant and ecologically diverse vegetation and the numerous lagoons and lakes; we wanted to see if the Garden Route along South Africa’s south western coast lived up to the hype.  We are usually skeptical with any region that is heavily promoted as a tourist destination.  Sometimes it is much ado about nothing except relieving gullible visitors of their money.  (Ever been to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, CA?)  Anyway, the Garden Route was highly recommended by our new South African friends that we had previously met in a little town in, of all the places, the Peruvian Andes Mountains. 

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We trusted them and altered our itinerary so that we could include many of the towns along the Garden Route.  Diverse is an understatement for the region.  Even though the little towns along the route are past their heyday, the scenic coasts, the lush forests, the dry Karoo, the penguins, meerkats, birds and the brandy did not disappoint.   Here is a sampling of our road trip through Western Cape, South Africa.

Tsitsikamma Forest and Storms River Region

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The tallest bungy jump in the world - 216 meters or 709 feet – Too crazy for us.  Great White Sharks, yes, falling 709 feet, absolutely not.

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DSC04944Oudtshoorn area in the Karoo (high desert)

DSC04976 DSC04985  DSC05000 DSC05005 In the 18th century, the Karoo region was the location of South Africa’s first commercial venture – the export of large flamboyant black and white ostrich feathers to the world’s weathly.   Although there is very little demand for the feathers these days, the area is still home to the planet’s largest number of Ostrich farms.  Today, we consume these birds for their meat and leather.   DSC05049 DSC05051We read that one of the fun things to do in the Karoo is to go on a meerkat safari.  A meerkat safari?  Get up before the crack of dawn to see wild meerkats in their natural habitat?  Of course we would go.  Cousins of the mongoose; they are highly social and have extended family groups.  They greet each new day by standing in the dawn sunlight to warm themselves.  Even they think it’s early (see the big yawn?).  

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Betty’s Bay is the home of penguins that used to be called Jack Ass Peguins.  They (whoever they are) have renamed them to boring ole African Penguins, but they still bray like donkeys.  Hee haw, hee haw.  It’s hilarious and another must see and hear if you’re nearby.

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DSC05345  DSC05367     Stellenbosch – The Winelands!

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And Brandy.  South Africa has been a premium brandy maker for eons.  When paired with chocolate and coffee it’s an unbelievable taste bud sensation. DSC05563 DSC05566 The marketing of any province, state or territory is very interesting.  As you can probably imagine, over the course of our travels, we’ve seen lots of attempts at creative advertising to entice people to an area.  Most regions have created campaigns, routes and attractions so that local and foreign tourists visit and spend money.  Think of the commercials in which California celebrities tell you why you should come to their fun and beautiful state.  Or the development of the wine country in Oregon.  It‘s all about tourism and money.  The small towns of the Western Cape needed a boost.  So, the region turned it’s sights to tourism and established and touted the Garden Route.

It was a smart decision, for us, to slow down the pace and not beeline it to Cape Town.  Our year of travel was coming to end and we wanted to savor the countryside and take in some of the less popular destinations in South Africa.  With it’s array of animals, plants, scenery and adventure; we were very wise to stop and smell (and taste and see) the Garden Route.DSC05580

Friday, April 1, 2011

A Birthday Wish for a Really Big Fish

There are only a few things that are assured while spending a year on the road:  The holidays will be a lonely time, US taxes still need to be paid, and another birthday will arrive.  Instead of denying that she was adding another year to her age, Amy decided to celebrate like never before.  She slipped on the tightest fitting little black number she could find, donned the latest in head wear and jumped feet first into a shark cage!!  IMG_2497IMG_2573
After seeing the movie Jaws, she was traumatized and afraid of the open water for years.  Even though those fears are long ago and far away, Steve was shocked when she exclaimed that she’d like to revel in her birthday with a Great White Shark dive. 
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This was the first birthday Amy has commemorated in the summer.  In February.  For anyone that has a winter birthday in the Northern hemisphere, she highly recommends getting south of the equator to enjoy it in the summertime.  Given that we were in South Africa in late February we welcomed the warm,  humid weather on this special day. 
DSC05169 We headed to Gansbaai (pronounced Hans Bay); home of Shark Alley.  There are many Great White tour operators who take out the fearless into the cold waters for a close and personal encounter with these apex predators.  We did our research and interviewed several tour operators -- How do they attract the sharks, their destination, the likelihood of seeing the sharks, how they protect them, etc…  As always, we wanted to insure that our presence has minimal interference with their natural behavior and contributes to their preservation versus their demise.  Satisfied that our tour operator does not “feed” the sharks, but rather attracts them with a tuna oil slick, we signed our life away with the standard….”You will not hold us responsible if you get chowed by this HUGE flesh eating fish!!!!!!!!”.
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  DSC05293 DSC05296 We chose a company that is actively involved with preservation efforts of these endangered animals.  We headed out on an early cloudy morning to the notorious Shark Alley, an area in the Indian Ocean between two islands that is home to a large colony of fur seals…..the tasty snack of choice for our shark friends.  Half an hour later, we drop anchor and the cage is lowered into the chilly dark waters.  A few minutes after the tuna oil is ladled onto the water someone yelled “Did you see what I just saw?!?”  Before any of us were in the cage, a few of the stealthy creatures from the deep showed up.  These are VERY LARGE fish.  Bigger then the pictures suggest.
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Shark cage diving is a bit of a misnomer.  It is actually cage bobbing.  No scuba equipment is required, not even a snorkel.  Six people get into the cage at a time and take a deep breaths and duck under the water at the direction of the shark spotter.  He tells us to look left, right, or downward as appropriate as the sharks swim by.  The gray carnivores are chasing a tuna head on a rope that is pulled through the water.  It is not allowed to let them eat the bait, but rather just play a game of keep away.  On our special day the water visibility was somewhat poor.  Even so, we were prepared with a rented digital underwater camera.   
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The first six brave souls enter the cage.  We watch from the boat as these agile beings repeatedly attack the tuna temptation.  We even see a few breach the water with their classic attack from below.  It is a show of amazing strength.
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Our turn.  We slide into the cage and feel our wetsuits fill up with freezing cold water.  Before we have a chance to think about how cold we are, we hear…“Look to the right”.  We take a deep breath, duck underwater, and watch as a 10 foot plus creature of the dark swims by the cage.  Holy moly…..we could have reached out and touched it.  Thankfully, all of our extremities were safely tucked inside the cage.  “Look below!”  As we duck for the second time we see one gliding underneath us.  The adrenalin kicked in, the excitement is crescendoing and the freezing water temperature is long forgotten.  We are totally focused on seeing every detail.IMG_2567
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We watch 7 or 8 magnificent great whites, brimming with confidence and grace, and seemingly uninterested in the human meals in the cage.  They glance at us a few times but have their black eyes on the ‘chicken of the sea’ enticement.
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It was time to share the fun with our shipmates, so we watch and cheer as the next set of bobbers enjoy their experience.  A bit later, we eagerly accept a second chance to enter the cage and again observe in amazement at these supple pelagic beasts.  Amy may have been the oldest woman on the boat but her shrieks of joy are the giddiest and loudest.  It was an unforgettable ‘summer in February’ birthday! 
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