South Africa Part Four

We continued our trek towards Blomfontein and Johannesburg, stopping for the night in Mosselbay. This night is fondly known among our group as the night of 1,000 shivers. We stayed in a really charming hotel accommodation called the Santos Express. It is an old fashioned train parked permanently on tracks right on the beach with beautiful ocean views. However, this is a stay best booked in the summer months. There was no heat in the train car and minimal insulation, not enough bedding, over all a bit more rustic than any of us had bargained for. I like to think I have a pretty high tolerance for cold as a Michigander, but this was a new level for me. At some stage I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and realized I could use the bath towel in the bathroom as an extra layer for warmth. Mosselbay was beautiful, but none of us were sad to get in the VW van and blast the heat en route to pick up Trent from the airport so he could finally join us for our final week of the trip. We stopped in Harold's Bay after we picked up Trent, from what he described as, a harrowing flight into a tiny airport on a completely unbranded airplane. Harold's Bay was so charming, we collected seashells and explored the shore during low tide. We stayed the night in Knysna, Trent built us a huge fire in the fire place and we all agreed we wished we could stay more than one night enjoying the AMAZING views from our Airbnb. 

South Africa Part Three

After we left Cape Town we started our road trip back toward Johannesburg. Our first stop was in Barrydale at the Karoo Art Hotel. Barrydale was so charming, and the Karoo Art Hotel had art all over the walls, all of which was for sale. Our drive into the Karoo was stunning. The Karoo Art Hotel had fantastic food and wonderful staff, lovely chef Wendy suggested we head across the street for a nightcap and we had a fantastic night talking with other locals and folks traveling through. While in the Karoo we visited the local Hot Springs, which was a treat considering how chilly it was and we lost count of how many rainbows we saw that day. We made a pit stop at the only bar for miles of desert road called Ronnie's Sex Shop. The owner named it that so people would be sure to stop. We also went to the Cango Caves, a little worse for wear from our shenanigans the night before, we opted not to do the "adventure tour" which involved crawling and ducking and squeezing through claustrophobic sections of the cave. The Karoo is Ostrich country in South Africa, and there were many different tourist attractions and farms that allow you to get up close and personal with one of the strangest creatures on earth. We got a tip from a local that Chandelier Ostrich Farm was the best place to go, and we loved every minute of it. They squeezed us in for a short tour since we got there late in the day and we learned so many things about these truly bizarre birds. For example, their eye balls are larger than their brains. They eat almost anything, and as a result they need to eat rocks in order to help them digest their questionable diets, and they eat rocks according to the size of their giant claw toenail. Their knee joint is most similar to our ankle joint, so if you can't out-climb an ostrich, lie flat on the ground because the worst they can do to you at that point is sit on you. Chandelier is also home to Sheila the giraffe, who was only willing to saunter over to us when we held out branches with the leaves she preferred to munch on.