This Egyptian Goose is going the wrong way!
The water in the Keurbooms river is very clean. It has lots of fish that go to the ocean. It also has lots of sea horses which is evidence of pure water. It has no crocodiles, sharks or hippos so is ideal for swimming.
This is a chestnut tree with beautiful pink flowers.
Afromontane forest.
One bank of the river is all set up for camping. It's the end of the school year and final year pupils come here to celebrate. It struck me that it might be dangerous - alcohol and water!
The national tree of South Africa is the Yellow Wood. The national fish is the galjeon.
A white breasted cormorant. At least that was what the captain said.
Reed cormorant.
Can you see the outline of a face?
The Egyptian Goose is still there!
I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise as the scenery was beautiful and the vegetation very lush. However others in the group were not impressed.
Back on the coach and we headed for Knysna passing a township en route with lots of relocated electricity.
Can you imagine having to live like this!
When we arrived in Knysna it occurred to Martin and Triona that they had not witnessed their luggage being loaded when we were leaving Hunter's. Our system was that you had to be there when your luggage was loaded - it was not sufficient to leave it in the lobby or beside the coach. Martin and Triona were the last to get on the coach in the morning and had not been there when Ashley was loading up. Ashley checked the baggage trailer and their luggage wasn't there. As the Keurbooms River was not far from Hunter's and Knysna not much further on we had to spend a bit longer than anticipated in Knysna. That was not a problem as it was a nice spot.
Charlotte and Fionnuala set off with determination following Vaughan and Marilyn.
Luggage loaded and on the road again. we traveled through the lake district. Nearly all the water is brackish except the forst we saw which is pure fresh water as it is cut off from the ocean. There are no boats allowed on this lake only rowing boats and canoes.
Houses of the wealthy.
Outeniqua Mountains - very beautiful! Outeniqua means "man laden with honey".
We passed through a town called Sedgefield which started out as a woodcutters' village. It is now a holiday destination. Paragliding is very popular there.
We also passed through Wilderness. Tracey told us how Wilderness got its name. A boy and girl grew up together in the same area and were childhood sweethearts. He wanted her to marry him but she said she would only marry him in Wilderness. They went their separate ways and he became wealthy. He came back to the area and bought some land and called it Wilderness. Then he went in search of her and they married in Wilderness.
From Wilderness we went through Kaiman's River Pass on to George. George started as a timber outpost. It now has a lot of light industry and is very fast growing. The Kaiman's River Pass is short but the curves are very sharp and the gradient is steep - the sort of place Jim and I love and a bit like where we lost the car in the Cevennes!
Then we went through the Outeniqua Pass to The Little Karoo. The Outeniqua Pass is quite modern and was built as an alternative to the Montagu Pass which is the oldest unaltered pass still in use in South Africa. The Montagu Pass was built to replace the highly dangerous and extremely difficult Craddock Pass which still exists today as a tough hiking trail. The Montagu Pass was built over 3 years by around 250 convicts. Along The Outeniqua Pass it is possible to see parts of both older passes.
Oudtshoorn is the largest town in the Little Karoo and established itself during two ostrich feather booms. As a result there are some very grand houses - Feather Palaces. Oudtshoorn depends on ostrich farming and tourism for its economy. (Interestingly, during the course of Tracey's commentary, she referred to a roundabout as a traffic circle and traffic lights as a robot - it's good to get the lingo!)
Our lunch stop was Buffel's Drift. It is an "African style" a la carte restaurant in a beautiful setting with the Swartberg mountains as a backdrop and its deck overlooking a lovely waterhole.
Weaver bird nests.
During lunch (karoo lamb burgers - delicious!) we watched hippos on the far side - too far away to take a photo. Then we watched as three elephants made their way down for a dip.
More Egyptian Geese.
We reluctantly left after lunch and made our way through another mountain pass - the Schoeman's Pass. Again the scenery was lovely! In places the landscape was desert-like.
We then had a stop at The Cango Caves located in Precambrian limestones at the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains. As my balance is an issue I had decided not to go into the caves but would spend my time in the cafe. Derek (claustrophic) and Eileen (bad knee) joined me. I was treated to about an hour and a half of Derek's life story and a little of Eileen's!
The jacaranda trees en route were really beautiful but Jim didn't get a good photo of one.
Finally, after a really long day, we got checked into our overnight accommodation - De Opstal Country Lodge. This was very different to Hunter's but very beautiful. It was originally a tobacco farm but when that collapsed they turned to tourism turning the share-croppers houses into 4 star guest accommodation. All the original farm buildings have been restored to provide comfort and luxury. Each cottage is reached by paths through the beautifully landscaped gardens.
It seemed a shame to me to disturb the toilet roll so I had decided to admire this one and use one that was lower down. Of course Jim spoiled the plan!
Each cottage had a half door. And we even had a piano in the porch.
Time for an aperitif!
Jim was seated directly opposite Marilyn and, at the top of his voice he said, "I have a great view of that old wagon from where I'm sitting!"
I nearly died as I hadn't noticed the wagon.
After dinner and drinks Jim and I had an interesting time finding our cottage after our good deed of leaving Charlotte home!
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