December 2nd

Up and about; readied and to breakfast by 0900. This B&B had the works for breakfast. There was yogart, muesli, a loaf of bread with whole black olives in it, orange juice, and four or five kinds of jams/preserves available. Then they had a hot menu of two eggs (served scrambled, fried, or omelet) with sides of bacon, tomatoes, and/or mushrooms (cheese also if you want). A real English type breakfast!

After breakfast we talked a bit with Cheryl, the hostess. Then we gathered our stuff and left. We went back the two, or so, kms to the Southernmost Tip of Africa, and on into the Agulhas National Park. to do a 5 km (3.1 miles) hike. It was a loop that encompassed along the shore and up about 350 feet along a ridge line the parallels the shore. The hike was very nice. The morning was cool with a rare drop or two of rain. We saw quite a few skittering geckos or lizards, butterflies and/or moths, and alpine-like plants with tiny flowers of all colors. The views were nice, cloud-covered, out over the meeting of the two oceans. It was a nice, easier hike. We also could see, from the ridge, the tide pools that the fisherman build to catch fish – a fishtrap. They placed stones in a stacked row. As the tide comes in – high tide; fish can enter the pool. But at low tide they are trapped in the man-made pool, and able to be caught by the fishermen. This has been going on for 20,000 years – so says the sign on the stone beach, that the national park put up.

Next we went back to the Southernmost Point Plaque and did the photo-thing. Also the art installation of a map of the continent of Africa, which you can walk on and go from Cairo – in the north, to the southern tip in a few seconds!! Ha-Ha!!!  🙂  The map is really cool and topographical – I climbed Kilimanjaro! – ON THIS MAP. I had so much fun with this. 

Then we went to the lighthouse – it was actually open and we were able to go up to the top. Yeah!! It involved climbing LADDERS, inside. When we arrived at the top; we had to go outside. It was  pretty windy, and involved “see-through steps” and a “see-through landing”! These are metal grates, but VERY unnerving to me, someone afrrraaiiddd of heights. I briefly looked at the fresnel lens up close – it is about 8-9 feet tall. Jeff and I like these and we have seen a few of them, but they still impress us. It required quite a lot of engineering to make these. Anyway, I could not stay out there long admiring. Now, to go down all the same LADDERS. The first one inside is an actually wood ladder, the other ones are like boat ladders. All were best to go down facing the ladder, which helped me some, but I was just relieved to be on flat ground at the end. I did it though!! I felt so accomplished!!!

Next we went to the harbor area of L'Agulhas. There is six or so stingrays that have adopted the harbor as their home. They were huge. We saw three of them, but they kept their distance from people so we didn't get in. Alan, the host at the B&B said they will come up to you and you can touch them. This did not happen. We tried for a picture of them, but with the murky water and their distance… it did not happen.  

Anyway, it was a good morning to early afternoon. We finally left this town, having enjoyed ourselves here. Now we have to put on some miles! Our next accommodation is 370 kms or 230 miles away, at Knysna.  We pass through a bunch, and I mean a bunch, more farmland. Most of the grains have been harvested already, but we did see one area being harvested, with some birds flocking the area – after mice being stirred up?? Oh, we did also see Secretary Birds – these are large birds, not as big as Ostriches, but way bigger than our Bald Eagle! These birds can fly but prefer to walk – up to 20-30 kms (12 to 20 miles) per day, getting their food. We also saw lots of guinea/partridge-type birds. So again this farmland is big rolling hills with mountains and to one side the ocean. Still hard for this Kansas girl to wrap my head around.

Midway, we arrived on the drive that is known as the Garden Route. It is more vegetation: less farmland, and more forested. Finally, around six pm we arrive in Knysna and find our lodging – Phoenix Lodging. We checked in and showered. We walked to the Muse Fusion Restaurant, and ordered two wood fired pizzas (Godzilla and Moksha   ) to go (plus a brownie). We enjoyed them both – the first was with BBQ sauce with gorgonzola, bacon, mushrooms, and tomatoes; second was gorgonzola, preserved figs, caramelized onions, rocket lettuce, and walnuts (being sweet and savory, we each had only one piece and opted to save it for breakfast tomorrow). We had a bottle of Malbec with it. Sunset was not noticeable at all due to total cloud cover. But what a good day!