I am not sure how far I would get if I drove 800 kilometres From home I am pretty sure I might think twice before even setting out. It turned out thats what we signed up for and so that's what we had to do. Day 1 we covered 400 k approx and that took us 6 hours and day 2 we drove 600 k which also took 6 hours - no idea how it worked out like that but it did. On the whole the roads are empty and so straight we wondered if the Romans ever came here. We opted to folow the route Google maps felt was the shortest both in length and time.
It was a long drive and tiring but , this is an anormous BUT and a terrificWOW factor , Avis had supplied us with this hire care that I suspect has ruined me for life. We had asked for a four wheel drive so that everyone would be able to see out. To be honest we expected that on the day we would be given something else completely different like a saloon car or hatchback, that is what tends to happen in Europe. We could not believe our eyes when we were presented with a white ,three litre Toyota landcruiser! WOA ! only 6000 k on the clock. It took me a bit of practice not to look like a complete midget getting in and out until I discovered I could grab a strategically placed handle just on the interior of the door frame and lift myself in, I now look like I have been doing this all my life.
So , driving all that way in total comfort , without traffic, in a country side that is so enormous it was easy to imagine a similarity to rich fertile craters on the moon. I allowed my mind to fantasise as to who I was and what I was doing. Sorry, you are not going to find any of that out but it was fun. Merril Streep and Robert Redford were definitely in there somewhere.
Oudtshoorn was the overnight stop. The "things to visit" there were the ostrich farm and some caves. We drove into the ostrich farm bought tickets, sat around to wait for the tour, decided we really did not want to do the tourist bit, Franco offered to go back to the ticket office to get a refund on the tickets which he did successfully , sighting Elaine feeling ill, we headed for the car , supporting Elaine as she carried off her Oscar winning role as "sick tourist" and drove of down the road to where there were dozens of ostriches in a field, took our "ostrich" photos and checked into our overnight stay.
Next morning we were off by 9.30 for the big drive. It was smooth and easy and completely uneventful, Franco and I shared the driving. We arrived at Kariega game reserves just below Grahamstown , Eastern Cape ,at around 3.30 . We were met by our Game driver who let us know we would be out on a game drive at 4.30.
And that is exactly what happened. We forgot the long drive we had done, the state of our backs and bones and off we went. Safari jeeps are total bone shakers and there was a pretty crisp wind once we were out in the reserve. The vegetation was much greener than I had imagined.
We were completely overcome to see a rhino mum and her 4 week old baby. She is a very special mum called Tandi who, along with another rhino was targeted by poachers a couple of years ago. They shot her and then hacked off her tusk , incredibly she survived, the second rhino did not make it and died there and then.
Tandi however was operated on and the vets did a skin graft on the wound , this was all featured in a documentary shown on UK TV, she and her totally scrumptious little baby daughter are doing well. We watched her play and skip and get annoyed by termite stings. One of "those" moments when you are completely overawed by nature.(I have just read in the Sunday Times, there were 7 rhinos killed by poachers in Kruger National game reserve over the last 10 days)
There were quiet a few of those moments in Kariega, not least of which was the rain. It came down in full force, for once we decided to act like grown ups and opted to miss the game drive for that particular afternoon. We retreated to our cabin, light an open fire and watched the remake of the Lady Killers, the power failed five minutes before the end so we will never know.....this was an alternative type of experience, though not one we had put on our "to do" list when we planned the trip. The groups that did go out returned absolutely sodden and frozen.
Over the next few days we sat amoungst elephants, watched lions and got blasé about how many giraffe moments we had seen , including two giraffe fighting ,whacking their necks together and then posturing , slipping their hind legs between their opponents. I wonder if I can explain this manoeuvre? One giraffe lifted its front leg, caught the middle neck zone of his opponent, slid the leg downwards the horns so the weight of his leg brought his opponents head down to ground level. 1 - 0 to the giraffe on my left.
The elephants were wonderful. The noise they make as the amble through the thickets gives away their whereabouts, as does large dollops of poo. The amazing thing is they completely ignore you. They visualise us + jeep as a big oblong chunk, which is why it is crutial that no one stands up and breaks the outline of that shape. If they recognised a human form we would have been pancakes.
One young one about five feet in front of the jeep obliged us with a Blue Peter moment , I have it on video, the grand children will love it. Complete with 5 decibel fart. Our driver's eyes were watering.
We loved it all. Now we are in Plettenburg, weather not so hot, which although was not the plan it is still nice enough to sit on the verandah and read or blog.
So, that's what we have done / are doing right now.
It was a long drive and tiring but , this is an anormous BUT and a terrificWOW factor , Avis had supplied us with this hire care that I suspect has ruined me for life. We had asked for a four wheel drive so that everyone would be able to see out. To be honest we expected that on the day we would be given something else completely different like a saloon car or hatchback, that is what tends to happen in Europe. We could not believe our eyes when we were presented with a white ,three litre Toyota landcruiser! WOA ! only 6000 k on the clock. It took me a bit of practice not to look like a complete midget getting in and out until I discovered I could grab a strategically placed handle just on the interior of the door frame and lift myself in, I now look like I have been doing this all my life.
So , driving all that way in total comfort , without traffic, in a country side that is so enormous it was easy to imagine a similarity to rich fertile craters on the moon. I allowed my mind to fantasise as to who I was and what I was doing. Sorry, you are not going to find any of that out but it was fun. Merril Streep and Robert Redford were definitely in there somewhere.
Oudtshoorn was the overnight stop. The "things to visit" there were the ostrich farm and some caves. We drove into the ostrich farm bought tickets, sat around to wait for the tour, decided we really did not want to do the tourist bit, Franco offered to go back to the ticket office to get a refund on the tickets which he did successfully , sighting Elaine feeling ill, we headed for the car , supporting Elaine as she carried off her Oscar winning role as "sick tourist" and drove of down the road to where there were dozens of ostriches in a field, took our "ostrich" photos and checked into our overnight stay.
Next morning we were off by 9.30 for the big drive. It was smooth and easy and completely uneventful, Franco and I shared the driving. We arrived at Kariega game reserves just below Grahamstown , Eastern Cape ,at around 3.30 . We were met by our Game driver who let us know we would be out on a game drive at 4.30.
And that is exactly what happened. We forgot the long drive we had done, the state of our backs and bones and off we went. Safari jeeps are total bone shakers and there was a pretty crisp wind once we were out in the reserve. The vegetation was much greener than I had imagined.
We were completely overcome to see a rhino mum and her 4 week old baby. She is a very special mum called Tandi who, along with another rhino was targeted by poachers a couple of years ago. They shot her and then hacked off her tusk , incredibly she survived, the second rhino did not make it and died there and then.
Tandi however was operated on and the vets did a skin graft on the wound , this was all featured in a documentary shown on UK TV, she and her totally scrumptious little baby daughter are doing well. We watched her play and skip and get annoyed by termite stings. One of "those" moments when you are completely overawed by nature.(I have just read in the Sunday Times, there were 7 rhinos killed by poachers in Kruger National game reserve over the last 10 days)
There were quiet a few of those moments in Kariega, not least of which was the rain. It came down in full force, for once we decided to act like grown ups and opted to miss the game drive for that particular afternoon. We retreated to our cabin, light an open fire and watched the remake of the Lady Killers, the power failed five minutes before the end so we will never know.....this was an alternative type of experience, though not one we had put on our "to do" list when we planned the trip. The groups that did go out returned absolutely sodden and frozen.
Over the next few days we sat amoungst elephants, watched lions and got blasé about how many giraffe moments we had seen , including two giraffe fighting ,whacking their necks together and then posturing , slipping their hind legs between their opponents. I wonder if I can explain this manoeuvre? One giraffe lifted its front leg, caught the middle neck zone of his opponent, slid the leg downwards the horns so the weight of his leg brought his opponents head down to ground level. 1 - 0 to the giraffe on my left.
The elephants were wonderful. The noise they make as the amble through the thickets gives away their whereabouts, as does large dollops of poo. The amazing thing is they completely ignore you. They visualise us + jeep as a big oblong chunk, which is why it is crutial that no one stands up and breaks the outline of that shape. If they recognised a human form we would have been pancakes.
One young one about five feet in front of the jeep obliged us with a Blue Peter moment , I have it on video, the grand children will love it. Complete with 5 decibel fart. Our driver's eyes were watering.
We loved it all. Now we are in Plettenburg, weather not so hot, which although was not the plan it is still nice enough to sit on the verandah and read or blog.
So, that's what we have done / are doing right now.
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