The Glorious South Africa Road Trip 2006/2007

From start to finish: 3500 km

I have been promising for quite a few days that I will post photos from our road trip through South Africa. After much wrangling with blogger and organizing of files, here is a summed up version of all the fun Ricardo and I had on vacation. Enjoy!

The trip started off bright and early with a flight from Maputo to Joburg. It's only a 50 minute flight, but ridiculously expensive even on LAM, Mozambique's national carrier. Each ticket starts at US $350 round trip because of the SADC protectionist measures in place to save this country's national airline. The only other carrier that flies this route is South African Airways, and they are even more expensive. If the route were to be opened up to South Africa's numerous budget carriers, it would have a whopping positive effect on tourism in Mozambique (hello, beach holiday for overworked Joburg residents) and, although it would also likely result in LAM going out of business, the resulting revenues and new jobs in the tourist sector here would certainly justify the loss of the national carrier, at least in purely economic terms.

So, back to our trip. We were up at 4:30am and I was in a terrible mood after a night of severe allergies. Rico was super patient, as always, and we made it to the airport and then to Joburg without much else to report. Upon arriving, we picked up our rental car - a small, tomato red Kia Picanto - and heaved a collective sigh of relief that we'd packed incredibly light for the trip. The trunk of the Picanto was so unbelivably small it barely fit my duffel bag and Rico's backpack. Seriously, I don't know what those car designers were thinking.

First stop on our itinerary was to meet my blogging friend Marcia, who is a life coach and could easily be crowned Southern Africa's organizing queen. We drove to their house just a few minutes from the airport and were greeted with homemade muffins, tea and coffee, thoughtful Christmas gifts, and loads of interesting conversation. Together we represented 4 different countries and had a great time talking about our views on and experiences in Africa and beyond.

Another happy blog-girl reunion.

After our breakfast at Marcia's, Rico and I hit the road and promptly got lost on the complex freeway ring that surrounds Joburg. Thankfully our time on the wrong highway only took us about 20 minutes out of our way. Once we finally got oriented, we headed south for some 400 km to Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State.

For reasons I don't fully understand, (although not to say I don't agree from what we experienced), Bloemfontein has the reputation as the worst city in South Africa. Think of it as that country's Flint, Michigan or perhaps some forgotten city in the deep South (US, that is).

The view of a nuclear plant from our hotel room was a nice touch.

Bear in mind that it was Christmas Eve when we rolled up in Bloem. Everything was closed and we were literally the only car on the road, drawing lots of attention to ourselves amongst the few people out on the streets who, by the looks of things, didn't have many options for a holiday dinner with family. Our hotel was in the middle of downtown, and area that wasn't exactly the most spruced up or tourist oriented.

Rico and I got settled for the evening and immediately called Mr. Delivery to try and find some appropriate food for a Christmas meal. The only restaurant open was Spur, "The Official Restaurant of the South African Family", a steak house that is an Applebee's-type offering only with an American Indian theme. Each Spur restaurant has its own special name like Montana Spur or Running Bull Spur or, as in the case of the only Spur in Mozambique, Utah Spur. Go figure. Anyhow, it was our only option for a meal so we ordered 2 takeaway steaks with onion rings and chips. We forgot to take a picture, but I can say it was the first and likely the last time I'll ever have Christmas dinner out of a box with plastic cutlery while sitting on a hotel bed in a city not my own.

After Bloemfontein, we set out for a long day of driving to enter and cross a large part of the Karoo, a semi-arid expanse of sandstone and basalt that covers much of the middle of South Africa. In some parts, the Karoo is pretty barren and flat; all you see for miles around are flocks of sheep and the occasional windmill powering a lone pump. Then there are truly spectacular areas full of mesas and heavy cumulus clouds that fill the horizon and manage to give New Mexico a run for its money.

It was in one of the more hilly areas that we came to Beaufort West, a small artsy town that is the gateway to the Klein Karoo (meaning Small Karoo - there is also a Great Karoo in South Africa). There we stayed at the Beaufort Manor, a posh guesthouse with what is possibly the world's saltiest saltwater pool. After a mid-day dip in the water, Rico joked that he now knew what I'd look like as an old lady - my hair was completely white, encrusted with a layer of opaque salt crystals.

Our White Christmas ended up being from salt, not snow.

Aside from a little problem we had with Christmas Day dinner - the hotel restaurant had alreayd been fully booked and they'd neglected to leave enough space to accomodate guests...we ended up being "accomodated" after the receptionist told us to go look around the town to see if anything was open and, when nothing was, they let us have our paid spot at dinner after all the other patrons had eaten - it was a pleasant stay. Not much to report given that it was a holiday and everything from restaurants to tourist attractions was closed.

We hit the road and drove through some incredible mountains on our way to Knysna on the coast. The rocks were buckled and folded as if God had pulled out a long piece of taffy and molded it until just right. It made for some pretty amazing driving.

Our little Kia seemed even smaller on this road.

The geological geek in me did some research about these mountains and I found out some pretty amazing facts. The coastal mountains of South Africa are some of the oldest formations on earth, lifted up by the shifting plates of Gondwanaland millions of years ago. At the time these mountains were formed, the would have been trumped in height only by the Himalayas and the highest peaks of the Andes. Since the South African mountains are so much older than any of the others on earth, they've had a jump start on erosion. Today, after countless millenia of wind and rain, they barely register on the list of the world's tallest mountains.

After a day's driving through the mountains and an exciting descent on a fog-laden road, we arrived in Knysna (n-EYE-zna). Knysna is on the coast and is one of the preferred destinations for vacationers from Gauteng (the most wealthy Province in SA; contains gold mines, Johannesburg and an insane amount of 4x4s). In an attempt to escape the hordes of holiday makers with boats and campers, we took a drive down the coast to see the sights.

Key attractions included Monkey Land, a sanctuary where primates from all over the world are rescued from unmentionable conditions in zoos and people's homes where they are no longer wanted as pets. We took a hike through the sanctuary and got to see all sorts of cool monkeys and lemurs.

This bespectacled guy came from a zoo in Israel, while his South American monkey friends used to be somebody's pet.

We continued down the road and decided to take a scenic detour through a Fynbos reserve and a virgin coastal forest.

You know how they say couples begin to resemble each other? I think Rico and I are venturing down that path.

After this lookout point we continued into the Eastern Cape Province to visit the world's largest arch span bridge that doubles as the world's highest commercial bungee jump point. Rico and I weren't remotely interested in taking the plunge, but we did sit and have a beer while watching all of the other fools flinging themselves into the gorge.

It doesn't matter how many meters down...I'd never have the courage to bungee jump.

On our way back towards Knysna we discovered yet another scenic route that was parallel to the canyon with the bridge. We drove through the forest and found the river that carved out the gorge.

Many of the trees in this forest are endemic to coastal South Africa, including rare cycads.

We checked out the amber colored water of the river, then decided to follow the road signs to a place called Nature's Valley. It was the first proper beach we visited in South Africa and the cloudy skies cleared up just in time for us to explore the estuary, complete with sand dunes along the banks where the river pours into the ocean.

Just a little more wind and I'd be rocking a full-on side ponytail with wave bangs.

As you can see from my sweet 1984-inspired hairdo, it was extremely windy at Nature's Valley. Actually all of South Africa was really windy, but the beaches were beautiful despite the flying sand and chill that many times we had to brave.

The only thing missing for Rico was a sailboat...

The beaches were also chock-full of beached jellyfish of all sizes. I was fascinated by these creatures and, in the absence of seashells to collect (my usual beach pastime), I went from jellyfish to jellyfish checking out the tentacles, body color and size, occasionally giving one or another a prod with my Havaiana-protected foot.

These jellies turn reddish purple with sun exposure and were everywhere on the beach. A lifeguard told us it was the first time they'd ever appeared in this part of South Africa, surely an effect of global warming.

Some of the jellyfish were easily the size of a person's head, while others were so small and fragile the only way you could see them was if the sun's angle was just right.

My sandal, but not my handprint. Although beached jellies don't sting, I wasn't brave enough to risk it.

Once we'd had enough sand and sun at Nature's Valley, we drove back to Knysna and headed to a beach on the other side of the town called Breton-on-Sea. It was a posh little community full of nicely kept summer homes, with a nice beach where para-gliders and kite surfers took good advantage of all the wind.

A wind sports paradise.

An interesting feature of Breton-on-Sea is that you can easily see evidence of a previous sea level from thousands of years ago. Now the water level is much lower and there are some amazing rock formations exposed.

Tide pools and crashing waves on an ancient seabed now exposed.

The next morning it was time for us to leave Knysna. The weather was beautiful and we decided to visit Wilderness beach before heading up the mountains again to a town called Oudtshoorn.

It was about 11am and the sun was out full-force. We'd run out of sunscreen so I asked Rico to buy a bottle when we stopped for gas along the highway. He came out of the convenience store and said there was only one type of sunscreen in the little shop, that it looked a little vagabundo. Surely, I told him, some cheap-o sunscreen was better than getting terribly burned on the beach.

We found a spot to park the car and made our way down to a gorgeous expanse of sand. Rico asked me to put some sunscreen on his back and passed me the bright orange bottle of TropiFun. I squeezed out a big dollop of cream into my palm, took one look, and immediately broke into hysterical giggles. The sunscreen was glimmering gold and full of sparkles.

"What's so funny?" Rico asked, his back to me and unable to see the glittery contents of my hand. I could barely speak between belly-laughs.

"Look," I managed to sputter, and showed Rico my hands which at this point looked as if they'd been dipped in gold leaf.

"Que merda!" Rico grabbed the orange bottle and examined it. "So that's what 'shimmer' means. I knew this stuff was worthless. Puta que pariu!"

I made a move to put the glittery cream on Rico's back. "Oh no you don't," he said twisting his torso away from me.

"Rico, it's better than getting burned and it's much better than getting cancer. A little shimmer won't kill you. Besides, we don't know these people and we'll never see them again in our lives."

Poor Rico heaved a sigh and consented. "Do it. Fine." He grimaced as if I were rubbing acid into his back and I couldn't help myself and burst out laughing again. From his shoulders to the elastic band of his swim trunks, Rico was a vision in gold.

Then came time for the big question. "Amor, can I blog about this?"

And thus the word "shimmer" made its way into Rico's English vocabulary.

After a long pause, knowing an affirmative answer would earn him some serious points, Rico nodded yes. "Thank God none of my friends back in Rio read this," he muttered. "I'd never hear the end of it."

The beach was great, but we had to leave only after about an hour to get on the highway again. We traveled up the mountains along an narrow and twisting road, enjoying the views of the beach we'd just been at hundreds of meters below. After crossing the mountains, the scenery changed radically and looked remarkably like parts of Northern New Mexico, in particular the Jemez Valley where my Dad and I love to go camping.

Taken from a car window, but you get the idea - red dirt, dotted green vegetation, nice valley.

This was the countryside just before Outdshoorn, a small town known for its ostrich farms (and whose name we were unable to correctly pronounce for most of the trip). In Outdshoorn we stayed at an unbelievable guest house, Foster's Manor. It was built in 1902 during the height of the ostrich feather boom for the Foster family, who apparently were doing quite well for themselves. At that time, a handful of plumes from a male ostrich could easily fetch 1,000 pounds on the international feather market! The guesthouse was amazing, in particular our suite. When the manager opened the door to the room we could hardly believe our eyes.

And all this for less than US $100 per night!

The suite was easily over 80 square meters, with 2 huge beds, a sitting area, a bathroom with a funky claw-footed tub and not 1 but 2 verandas.

The other bed and a fireplace - total luxury.

Entryway of Foster's Manor, decorated in period antiques.

Beautiful painted tiles on Foster's Manor porch.

We had the best meal in Outdshoorn at a fancy Russian-owned restaurant called Kalinka. Rico had a grilled ostrich fillet (it is actually red meat and tastes a bit like beef) and I had roast duck with cherry and sage sauce. Rico and I shared a rocket salad (a.k.a. arugula - my favorite green) and some local Karoo red wine. Let me say that this was one of the most fabulous meals of my entire life. And do you know how much the whole thing cost? US $30. Unbelievable.

One of the main attractions in this part of South Africa is to go to an ostrich farm. These road signs are everywhere to help tourists. Rico and I thought they were hilarious, definitely not your run of the mill road icon.

Yes, the sign shows a person riding an ostrich. More on that later.

Ostriches are such weird animals. They are the only 2-toed birds in the world, and they can literally rip your guts out with said toes (they more resemble dinosaur claws) if they feel threatened.

What? Huh? Did someone say there was food over here?

Ostriches are also greedy little things. One of the activities on our farm tour was to have a neck massage from the birds. Basically you'd back up to a fence with a bucket of ostrich feed and the birds would come peck up the pellets over your shoulders.

Looks like fun, no?

I didn't try this activity because apparently ostriches fancy shiny objects like earrings, and I had all 6 holes in my ears filled with silver. I didn't feel like risking it, so I watched as the family of German tourists in our group experienced the avian neck massage.

Another cool thing about ostriches is that their eggs are not only huge - the equivalent of 24 chicken eggs - they are also super strong. Each individual egg can handle 90kg of direct pressure, a necessary quality to survive mama sitting on her eggs to incubate them.

We had a warning from our guide that these eggs were well past their prime, so please tread lightly.

Then there was the ostrich riding in itself, confirming that the road signs outside the farm had not been misleading advertisements. Initially Rico and I had been all excited about the prospect of riding an ostrich ourselves. However, once we saw what the entire process entailed we were quickly turned off the idea. You know how ostriches stick their heads in the sand when they think they're in danger? Well, the farm hands used the same principle to subdue the ostriches so that adventurous tourists could climb up on their fluffy backs for a photo, covering the poor birds' heads with a burlap sack so that they were semi-tricked out of their stress. The sight of an animal so freaked out that it needed a burlap sack, just so a person could get a thrill and a good photo op (albeit without the bird's big eyes and beaky head), was sort of sickening.

Usually the tourists are allowed to ride the birds, not just sit on them while 2 men hold their long, knobby legs and desperately try to keep them in one place. But on the day we visited it was too hot and there was concern the ostriches would overheat if ridden. Instead, we watched a demonstration of how it's done, courtesy of the farm hands.

Anything goes for a buck these days...

They say it's just like riding a horse. Push the neck to the left, the bird turns left. Push to the right, it turns right. And to stop the ostrich? You grab its neck and pull it all the way back, so that the bird's head is almost resting upside-down on it's feathered back. I happened to take a terribly disturbing picture of the farm hand making the ostrich stop running and decided not to post because I hate looking at it.

So enough ostriches, time for some wine! Cape Town was our next stop, and we decided to take Route 62 which is a famous wine route, specializing actually in port and brandy. We stopped at several cellars for (free!) tastings and ended up buying several bottles of wine, including some of the premium reserve vintages for a whopping US $10. Seriously, wine in South Africa is incredibly delicious and even more incredibly priced. Our favorite was a tawny port from the BoPlaas cellar in Calitzdorp.

3 of our favorites, including a sparkling pinot noir that we had on New Year's.

One cool thing about South Africa is that it has more floral diversity than any other place in the world. In a 15km radius of Calitzdorp, there are more species of plants and flowers than in the whole of Europe! Can you belive that?

After a lovely afternoon drive, we finally arrived in Cape Town.

View from Chapman's Peak Drive, just minutes from the house we stayed in.

We stayed at the house of a woman Rico met on a plane from São Paulo to Joburg in 2005. We had the place all to ourselves because Rico's friend was on a 6-week holiday in Cuba. The house was in a place called Noordhoek, described as the only remaining rural beach in the city. The beach was huge - I've never seen so much sand in my life - and full of people on horseback and doing kite surfing practice.

On this particular day, although you can't really tell from the photo, I was dressed in watermelon colors. I was inspired by Rico's choice of clothing the day before. Nothing like mis-matching clothes while on vacation.

It was so nice to be in a home for a few days, despite all the great hotels we stayed in on the trip. Rico and I went to the organic market and bought tuna and fresh pasta for dinner, and a selection of greek yogurt with honey for breakfast every day. We also washed a load of laundry in a actual washing machine - a big luxury since our machine in Maputo has been on the fritz for over 6 months and we've been living with hand washed clothes.

One of the must-see spots on our itinerary was the Cape of Good Hope since Rico is a sailor and of Portuguese descent.

Over 500 years ago, the Portuguese navigators had this view for the first time.

There are some serious waves in this place, as it is where 2 main ocean currents collide. Contrary to what many people think, it is not, in fact, the Southernmost tip of the African Continent. That geographical point is several kilometers to the East at a point called Cape Agulhas.

There is a large colony of Chacma Baboons at the Cape Point. They are unique amongst primates because they venture onto the seashore to hunt for molluscs to eat.

Rico and I agreed that the Portuguese sailors like Diaz and da Gama were absolutely insane to take ships out in these rough seas in an age of no GPS, no radio communication, no accurate maps, and not even any predecessors to give information about the destination.

These waves are not for beginners.

At the Cape of Good Hope we climbed up a hill to get a view of the entire Cape Point area. Once again it was incredibly windy and cold despite the full sun.

Nice flyaway hair, Ali.

Rock hyraxes, or "dassies" inhabit the cliffs along the Cape. Many of their behaviors reminded us of our cats, although I doubt they are related species.

View of Cape Point. Somewhere back there is an essential lighthouse.

Serious sea foam as the waves crash into the rock cliff.

After many sights and adventures, it was time to say goodbye to 2006 and ring in the New Year. Our chosen place of celebration was a predictable but reliable tourist institution: the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

The Waterfront by day, with Table Mountain rising in the background.

We joined thousands of party-goers from South Africa and all around the world to have some drinks, dance to 80's and 90's flashback hits, watch some fireworks, and try to stay warm despite the brisk wind that evening.

A wool shawl in the middle of summer? Only in CPT.

On New Year's Day we decided to do one last tourist-y thing while in Cape Town and headed up Table Mountain to go on the cableway. When we arrived, the line for tickets stretched halfway around the building and then snaked a significant way down the long access road. Rico and I took one look at each other and decided there was no way we'd waste the day standing in a 3-hour plus line for a ride on a cable car. The view from the ticket station was nearly as good, without any of the associated frustration or cost.

I wish this vacation would last forever!

Happy 2007, everyone, although seriously belated wishes on our part. If you've made it to this point in the post, congratulations, you have the patience of a saint. If you just looked at the pictures, I don't blame you. :) Hope you enjoyed our trip - we certainly did!