We stayed just one night in Joberg having flown in from Maun - the drop in temperature was remarkable, from 40 degrees to 22 - Joberg seemed quite cool. The next day we hopped onto a sleeper train that took us all the way to Port Elizabeth (PE) . We had our own 2 berth compartment and there was an attached dining car - not quite the Orient Express but funtional and very good value. As we rollled across the country we passed so much good farm land: lots of grain and maize or cattle farms. We rollled into PE at 9am and were picked up by the owne rof teh backpackers we had booked. The next 3 days were quiet - walks along the waterfront (PE has great beaches) or doing some shopping to get a guidebook or other stuff we needed for our time in S.A. The staff at Kings Beach Backpackers were great - relaxed, friendly and helpful. With there help we got a good deal on a hire car - so we now have our own wheels - it makes a real differemce to how you travel. One thing we did do to get into the local culture was go to a pub to watch the Curry Cup final (the domestic rugby competition). The game, as many finals are was a tight, defensive affair, but that was only 1/2 the entertainment as teh bar had a bbq going and supporters from the 2 teams yelled there teams on.
When we left PE we first went to Jeffrys Bay - home of the "Perfect surfing Wave". It had nice beches but was over developed. We motored on to Cape St Francis. Next morning we went for a walk along the Cape St Francis coastline - rugged with small sandy bays. The spring flowers were out and there were lots of birds to look at and identify. We stopped ofr an early lunch and whilst casually scanning teh sea with binoculars picked up a group of whales. Now we had been told that this was a good coast to see Southern Right Whales but were auprised to see something. They were wither Brides whales or Humpbacks - Rhonda and I cannot agree! Then we saw another group further out to sea and a seal surfing the waves right in front of us! Cool. So our short walk took most of the day.
We then drove to Storms River Mouth in the Tsitsikamma National Park. The campsite was right on the shoreline - very spectacular. We did a good walk through teh forst and along teh beach there and saw so much wildlife (I thought we had left Safaris behind!?). There were Dassies or Rock Hyrax, Duiker which are small antelope, another group of whales (humpbacks), dolphins and various birds including the beautiful Knysa Turaco (see picture - not taken in the forest I add but in a bird sanctuary we visited).
The weather here is good - cool but sunny mostly. We arrived in Pltenberg bay last night and head off this morning on a boat trip, maybe we will see some whales close up? Thanks for all the comments, and keep well.
Murray & Rhonda
