Alpha Excelsior guest farm

 Monday 29/11/21

We been having a busy time, visiting family and catching up with old friends, but  now we are on our way again, to Kruger Park.  As usual, we're trying to find routes we haven't travelled before and, as usual, we are amazed at what this country has to offer.

We stopped in Hermanus to have some lunch on the rocks and were treated to
some fantastic whale-watching

While we were watching the whales, he was watching our lunch...

For some reason, watching the whales has a very relaxing effect on one.

The Voëlklip area of Hermanus, nestled between the sea and mountain

The lovely Kempsrivier farm where we were lucky enough to spend the night

We stumbled upon a guest farm near Clanwilliam as we were intrigued by the retro caravan accommodation they have on offer. It turns out they have a winery too, so we had a taste of their wines and olive oil (and bought more than we had planned) and are also a premier spot for bouldering - climbing over huge boulders without ropes, etc.  

We took a walk to the nearby waterfall and the scenery is absolutely breath-taking, we can certainly understand why people come and stay here for months at a time for the climbing.

We like the décor but won't be changing Bokkie any time soon

'Mongoose' - our room for the night.

The scenery in the area is absolutely stunning!

A huge thank-you to all the friends and family who have fed and housed us over the past few weeks, it has been lovely to reconnect and hopefully we won't be away for so long this time.  With Covid flaring up again, we might never be able to leave, who knows?

Haus Victoria, Oudtshoorn

Wednesday 17/11/21

Apart from out of control facial hair on my part, we're no worse for wear from our camping trip.

We're finishing this section of our travels with two nights in self-catering accommodation in Oudtshoorn, before heading back to Stilbaai.  

Those of you who don't understand English probably wouldn't
grasp the concept.

We stopped at the lovely Oppi-Vlak farm stall near Willowvale.  Highly recommended!

After tenting for seven nights (was it only seven nights??) we are really enjoying the luxury of not sleeping on the ground and having running water and a toilet under the same roof (and not having to share the ablution facilities...).

We've been doing a bit of the tourist thing which is unusual for us but we've really enjoyed some of the places we've visited and had some fantastic food.

Another farm stall in Oudtshoorn, more of a tourist trap but the coffee was nice.

The décor theme seemed a bit hit and miss...

Tomorrow we're heading back to Stilbaai for a few days before making our way back to the Cape to plan our journey up North.

We had one of our best ever restaurant meals in the aptly named 'Nostalgie'
restaurant, Ostrich shank for Toni and Malay curry lamb shank stew for me.

 

Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation

 Monday 15/11/21

Seven years of drought have taken a toll - this lovely
wild olive, reduced to a skeleton

Although a bit closer to the main road and the locations of Graaff-Reinet than we would have liked, the campsite at Camdeboo is well laid out with large, very private plots.  We found there was only one that had any shade so we pulled straight in and erected our tent.  It was just as well this spot was free, we would have suffered in the full sun for two days as the heat was unbelievable.

I wonder if it was looking at our reflection?

On the Monday we took a drive through the park but didn't linger too long because we wanted to explore the Valley of Desolation before it was too hot, though we still managed to get a bit sunburned while exploring the fantastic site.  

Where we often complain the scenes are too beautiful for the camera to capture, here even our eyes needed more time to fully take in what we were seeing.  We had the entire place to ourselves and wandered around taking in the spectacle. Looking out over the rocks, listening to the birds singing in the valley below, watching them soaring on the wind funnelled through the rock walls was an absolute delight - we could have stayed all day.

The Karoo, stretching into infinity

We then stopped at the nearby toposcope looking out over the town of Graaff-Reinet where you get a stark image of how the small country villages (and cities) have been swallowed up by townships created to house the new inhabitants in search of better futures.  How the towns are going to cope with so many people only time will tell.  

We went into the town to get something to eat; part of the historic beauty remains but one can see that services are being overwhelmed and the town, like so many others, is struggling to cope.

The old town in the centre, flanked by the newer townships, filling the available space.

Graaff-Reinet town centre, with a beautifully maintained church

The flowering Jakarandas were fantastic!

The area, however, is stunning and we really enjoyed our time at Camdeboo.  We spent the extremely hot afternoon in the camp, spraying ourselves with water, trying to keep cool.  

In the evening we went for a stroll around the camps and came across what we thought was a toy snake, comically inflated to cartoon proportions, as fat as my calf and more than a metre long.  It was only when it moved it's head that our brains realised what we were looking at, the biggest puff-adder I have ever seen.  Unfortunately we only got a few photos as it retreated into the bush so you don't really get the full effect of it's size. 

Nothing get the heart racing like a really big snake.

Later, one of the park ranger was given a similar fight by another, only slightly smaller adder, also drawn out by the heat.  We walked very carefully to the ablution blocks that night!

Leaving Mountain Zebra

 Sunday 14/11/21

Stoutgatte!

In spite of the title, we actually left Mountain Zebra this morning and are currently in nearby Camdeboo National Park.  I found it very difficult to process photos while camping in the tent so am struggling to keep up with the blog.  I'll try to keep posting when I can.

We were quite apprehensive when we arrived in MZ as we had loved Addo so much and this didn't seem to measure up in some respects.  However, after spending some time here we extended our stay by a day and could easily have spent another week.  

We saw two mongeese, two mongooses We saw a mongoose and then saw another

We saw a few very young Hartebees

Definitely the best facial hair in the park- Black Wildebeest

Male ostrich - a quintessential part of the Karoo landscape

Some of the Springbok looked a bit scruffy but this one was in good condition.

We saw three Rock Monitor Lizards, this one gave the best poses.

We thoroughly enjoyed doing the Black Eagle hike early in the mornings and also drove all three of the 4x4 routes in the park.  Each one was different and although the game was quite sparse, we saw something new every time. We thoroughly enjoyed the tracks and loved the fact that we would be completely on our own for a couple of hours each time.

Perfect place for a coffee break, we checked for lions first!

The natural beauty of this area is simply stunning and photo's don't really do it justice so we hope to be back some time.  It has been gradually getting warmer and warmer and we had a lovely swim yesterday at MZ. We're going to miss the pool tomorrow, it is schedule to get up to 37C.

We'll do a separate blog with more of the bird pics once we've finished sorting them

Camping at Mountain Zebra

 Wednesday 10/11/21

The sentry on our early morning hike

Yesterday, with the promise of better weather, we vacated our cosy chalet with it's fireplace and headed to the campsite.  After much deliberation, we picked what we hoped was the best spot and pitched out tent.  Now that we have had some practice, we managed to get it erected with the minimum of fuss, in fact I think we pitched it in less time than we took to pick the site!

We took a drive around the Kranskop loop and, although there was very little game on view, the spectacular scenery more than made up for it.  The road winds along the valley before rising steeply up the mountainside, offering the most incredible vistas along the way. Unfortunately the camera doesn't do it justice, in reality it takes the breath away.

It was rather chilly overnight and the tent was covered with dew this morning - luckily it all stayed outside.  To warm up, we went for a hike along the Black Eagle trail which starts at the camp swimming pool and rises quickly onto the steep rock cliffs above the camp. We interrupted a troop of baboons' early morning grooming session but they seemed more intent on warming up in the sun so weren't really bothered with us walking close to them.

Early morning grooming session to welcome the new day

Stunning Pale Chanting Goshawk

Ground squirrel warming up his significant 'package'

It was fascinating to watch this bat-eared fox zoning in on it's prey with it's enormous ears, then
pouncing, digging and eating some hidden treasure. 

A lovely drive later in the day yielded some special sightings of ground squirrels and two bat-eared foxes going about their daily hunt which was fun to watch. By the time we got back to the camp the expected heat had arrived and we spent the afternoon relaxing in the shade watching camp life.

Bonus pic:

Nature calls, even in nature...