The
day started auspiciously with breakfast at a harbour side restaurant.
Then I found something I'd been searching for for over a year –
the perfect replacement handbag; waterproof fabric with pickpocket
unfriendly zip and of a size large enough to hold a tablet, the
electronic kind not a curative.
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| Knysna harbour |
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| the entrance to Knysna |
Of
course we had to drive out to the heads. The entrance is narrow,
rocks on either side and a 4m bar outside and a second 4m shallow on
the inside. If the swell is high, or conditions not perfect it can
be dangerous. There was only a light breeze this morning, but there
were still a good swell and waves breaking on the rocks. We watched
a local fishing boat enter by powering and weaving it's way through
the waves. Once you are inside it is calm, protected and shallow,
but the channel is well marked.
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| Cango caves |
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| Cango caves |
From
Knynsa we retraced our path towards Mossel, seeing the Garden Route
from the reverse angle, until we reached George where we turned
inland to Oudsthoorn. Turning from the coast the hills rise, the
scenery changes dramatically and the temperature rises. We were
entering the Klein Karoo, a semi arid desert and famous for it's
ostrich farms.
We
continued through ostrich town Oudsthoorn and up in to the next
mountains where the Cango caves are found. Filled with ancient
stalactites and stalagmites the caves extend for several miles
through the mountains. However, the tours only show you a fraction of
this. Still what you do see is impressive and the walkways paved and
lights plentiful. My only disappointment was that our clearly spoken
and knowledgeable guide was in a this afternoon and our one hour
tour lasted only forty minutes.
When
we came out there was a thunder storm building. Driving down the
mountain we had to pull over when the heavy rain turned to hail,
chunks of ice so large we took shelter under a tree to avoid possible
damage to the (hire) car.
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| PR girl |
There
was an upside to our shorter tour time – time to visit Cango
ostrich farm. It's only ostriches, you pay for the tour, but it was
worth it. We're now semi experts on breeding, rearing, farming and
handling these big birds. Did you know ostrich leather is the second
strongest commercially produced leather? Only crocodile is
stronger. And one ostrich egg is equal in size to 24 hen eggs?
Ostrich farming started in the late 1800s when their feathers were in demand for fashion. That has now declined and it is meat and leather that drives the industry.
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| African massage |
There
was a short presentation about farming the birds, then a visit to see
the eggs in the incubator before visiting their PR hen who takes food
from your hand. The final treat was a neck massage from the
birds..take a bowl of feed in your hands and hold it at chest height,
back towards the birds and they reach around for the food, rubbing
their necks on yours and covering you and your hair in half chewed
alfalfa pellets!
We
returned to Oudsthoorn where we discovered our B&B was the
rectory of the main church. A fine late nineteenth century house
filled with antiques and home of the Reverend and his wife who runs
the business side. I would recommend the guest house to anyone who
is following our path except the guest house might close when the
present reverend retires later this year.
Our
Valentine dinner was at Cello Biba around the corner – a gem of a
local restaurant with great service and delicious food. Having met
the ostriches earlier we chose ostrich fillet for dinner. It has the
taste and texture of best cow fillet but without any fat or
cholesterol. Well worth trying.
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| Vicarage B&B |
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