This fellow caused some consternation because Christopher was sitting on the outside of the trailer and he was in fear of being pecked. Fortunately his father, who was in the middle, changed places with him.
Our guide warned us not to try to outrun an ostrich. Were we really going to be in that position? Anyway I listened to his advice. If an ostrich in running at you, you lie face down on the ground and cover your head with your hands. This is particularly important if you are blonde or bald, as ostriches are attracted to bright things and would peck your head. The ostrich will then either stand on you or sit on you (nearly as bad as pecking I was thinking!). And you stay there until the ostrich has forgotten what it was doing there and wanders off. They are very stupid birds with a very tiny brain! But they are good to eat!
This female has lost some of her feathers and you can see the stippled texture of her skin. This is a particular feature of ostrich leather. Ostrich leather is horrendously expensive because of the complexities of tanning it.
These are rather cute!
Jim standing on some ostrich eggs. I didn't try, not because of my weight but because I can barely stand on the ground!
Oh but she is ugly! The feeling was mutual!!
Spoon feeding!
She looks a bit crazy!
Charlotte looks quite happy, if a bit constipated! The ostrich doesn't seem bothered.
Christopher's mum is happy too!
Not too sure about Vaughan though!
And the journey continued! This time we went through Huisrivier Pass. This is scenically a really impressive pass. It goes to Ladismith - a farming town (not Ladysmith which is in Kwazulu Natal and not Ladysmith Black Mambazo the vocal group).
We stopped in the Barrydale Valley for lunch at the Country Pumpkin.
I'm sure it was the barrel of Guinness Jim was focused on!
Jim not too happy about this!
It wouldn't make any difference!
We were ready then for another pass. This time it was the Tradouw Pass. It means "Old woman's pass". Again the scenery was rugged and beautiful. This brought us to Swellendam, the 3rd oldest town in South Africa.It is built among the foothills of the Langeberg Mountains . Today the town calls itself the Republic of Swellendam, harking back to 1795 when the locals expelled the Dutvh East India Company Magistrate and called themselves a republic. Their status as a "free" republic ended three months later when they accepted British rule.
There's a lovely stone supporting wall on this section.
We could see the Breede River, the Western Cape's largest navigable river.
This is called "Die Drupkelder" (The Dripping Cellar0 where water drips constantly down the rock face over a partial cave overhang and the steady feed of water keeps this old willow tree alive. You get some idea too of the wind in this area.
The next pass was the Houwhoek Pass which is a dual carriageway and from which you can see the remains of the old Houwhoek Pass which is in a state of obvious neglect. After that is Sir Lowry's Pass from where, on a clear day, Table Mountain can be seen.
There's a lovely stone supporting wall on this section.
We could see the Breede River, the Western Cape's largest navigable river.
This is called "Die Drupkelder" (The Dripping Cellar0 where water drips constantly down the rock face over a partial cave overhang and the steady feed of water keeps this old willow tree alive. You get some idea too of the wind in this area.
The next pass was the Houwhoek Pass which is a dual carriageway and from which you can see the remains of the old Houwhoek Pass which is in a state of obvious neglect. After that is Sir Lowry's Pass from where, on a clear day, Table Mountain can be seen.
From here we came to Somerset West in the Helderberg Basin surrounded by an amphitheatre of mountains.
At this stage we are just over 40 km from Capetown. We then pass a large township (Soweto, the largest township of South Africa has over 1.1 million). This one is the oldest township of Cape Town.
You can see the "relocated" electricity wires.This overloading is really dangerous and, of course, illegal but nobody is doing anything about it.
Tracey told us the story of one township resident who got a large flatscreen TV and connected it up. All the neighbours were invited to admire it but it kept going off and on. Every time it went on there was a chorus of "Ai Ai Ai" . The owner brought it back to the shop and complained that it wasn't working. The shopkeeper checked it out and the resident tried again but it continued to go on and off so he brought it back again. This time the shopkeeper came out to the shack and traced the wire providing the electricity to discover it was connected to the robot (the traffic lights)!
Our accommodation for our final 4 days in South Africa was the Radisson Blu Le Vendome at Sea Point, Capetown. The hotel had a shuttle in to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, one of the main attractions of Cape Town so we could go there to eat. This first evening we were a bit tired so we had a look for somewhere in the area to eat and found a really good Italian restaurant - "Ristorante Posticino".
Tracey told us that one New Year's Day she was going to work at 6 am and she saw that a fire had started in the township. 2,500 people lost their homes, possessions and money (which they kept in mattresses)in the disaster. There is some attempt in recent years to provide proper housing for the people of townships but, even when they are given free housing, some people rent out the house for valuable income and continue living in appalling conditions in their shacks. This, of course, is also illegal.
This is an example of the free housing provided.
Our accommodation for the next 5 days in Cape Town was the Radisson Blu Le Vendome at Sea Point. It has a restaurant but there are many in the locality and the hotel has a shuttle bus in to Cape Town's Victoria and Alfred Water Front where there are lots of restaurants. Because we were a bit tired we decided to leave the V & A to another evening and went in search of somewhere local. We opted for Ristorante Posticino based on the antics of one of the owners. I can't remember what exactly he did but it gave us quite a laugh. Jim had a beer.
All 3 of us had a lovely meal and we brought extra business to the restaurant by recommending it to the rest of the group.
At this stage we are just over 40 km from Capetown. We then pass a large township (Soweto, the largest township of South Africa has over 1.1 million). This one is the oldest township of Cape Town.
You can see the "relocated" electricity wires.This overloading is really dangerous and, of course, illegal but nobody is doing anything about it.
Tracey told us the story of one township resident who got a large flatscreen TV and connected it up. All the neighbours were invited to admire it but it kept going off and on. Every time it went on there was a chorus of "Ai Ai Ai" . The owner brought it back to the shop and complained that it wasn't working. The shopkeeper checked it out and the resident tried again but it continued to go on and off so he brought it back again. This time the shopkeeper came out to the shack and traced the wire providing the electricity to discover it was connected to the robot (the traffic lights)!
Our accommodation for our final 4 days in South Africa was the Radisson Blu Le Vendome at Sea Point, Capetown. The hotel had a shuttle in to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, one of the main attractions of Cape Town so we could go there to eat. This first evening we were a bit tired so we had a look for somewhere in the area to eat and found a really good Italian restaurant - "Ristorante Posticino".
Tracey told us that one New Year's Day she was going to work at 6 am and she saw that a fire had started in the township. 2,500 people lost their homes, possessions and money (which they kept in mattresses)in the disaster. There is some attempt in recent years to provide proper housing for the people of townships but, even when they are given free housing, some people rent out the house for valuable income and continue living in appalling conditions in their shacks. This, of course, is also illegal.
This is an example of the free housing provided.
Our accommodation for the next 5 days in Cape Town was the Radisson Blu Le Vendome at Sea Point. It has a restaurant but there are many in the locality and the hotel has a shuttle bus in to Cape Town's Victoria and Alfred Water Front where there are lots of restaurants. Because we were a bit tired we decided to leave the V & A to another evening and went in search of somewhere local. We opted for Ristorante Posticino based on the antics of one of the owners. I can't remember what exactly he did but it gave us quite a laugh. Jim had a beer.
All 3 of us had a lovely meal and we brought extra business to the restaurant by recommending it to the rest of the group.
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