Eastbound and Down

In a bold moment, the tripod (Kathryn, Jonathan, and myself) decided to road trip along the coast of the bottom of Africa in our little Spark after the wedding.  With minimal planning and quite the mileage to cover (about 1500ish), we set out along the Garden Route for a week of sing alongs, story telling, “would-you-rather” questions, and petrol station snacks.  There were hilarious moments, a few stressful moments, and most nights ending with the sentiment, “I think we deserve a bottle of wine tonight”.  It was awesome.

Stellenbosch: No trip back to South Africa would have been complete without a nostalgic visit to the university town I studied abroad in over 10 years ago.  My two goals were to take the tripod to my favorite winery and for pizza at my favorite dive bar, Bohemia.  It was hotter than hell, but Waterford Winery still does an epic chocolate and wine pairing (Shiraz with chai dark chocolate and desert chardonnay with lavender rose milk chocolate – yep) and Bohemia still rocks the bacon, avocado, and banana pizza combo.  Sounds weird I know, but it is delicious!

The Garden Route is a stretch of well-traveled road in South Africa filled with absolute beauty, quiet little towns, untamed countryside, wild exotic animals, and stunning panoramas around every turn.  It really is the ultimate road trip.

 

Boulders Beach and Cape of Good Hope:

After a morning cappuccino stop in Simonstown, a cute fishing village along the coast that begs you to stop for a walk along its docks, we headed to Boulders Beach.  Why this beach?  Two words: AFRICAN PENGUINS!  I had been before and remember watching these little guys for hours – excited to return was beyond an understatement.  Jonathan, Kathryn, and I stood on the dock watching them glide gracefully in the water and clumsily waddle the sandy beach as we voiced their interactions and tried to guess who was in charge and who was courting who.

With hearts full of penguin love, we happily headed for an afternoon hike along the Cape of Good Hope.  Though not the southernmost tip of Africa (a common misconception), this picturesque National Park gave us plenty to explore.  The scenery ranges from rocky mountain tops to beaches to the open sea and is home to over 250 species of birds and 1100 types of plants.  The Cape sits at the collision of two of the earth’s most contrasting water masses giving it an eerie history of shipwrecks… and plenty of pirate ghosts.

Oudtshoorn: Kathryn and I were roommates nearly a decade ago.  One of the most memorable moments for her during that time was watching me reenact riding an ostrich (after a glass or two of wine) in our living room one night.  Since then, it has been a goal for her to get on one of these birds.  Mission accomplished.  We visited an ostrich farm where we met the babies and tried our luck in the ostrich rodeo.  I think we decided Jonathan won, but I was laughing too hard to really know what happened.  Click here to see a hilarious video of Jonathan’s winning ride: https://vimeo.com/157837738#t=9s

Knysna:  Along the drive, Jonathan spotted a small sign with words he had been anxiously awaiting since leaving Colorado: “Craft Brewery”.  We stopped at this roadside wooden shack where a tanned Afrikaan retiree and his two buddies were bottling his beer on this rainy day.  We chatted away with them as we tried a couple of his brews and attempted to figure out a place to stay for the night.  He sent us to Knysna, a town about 30km down the road with ideas for restaurants, overlooks, and more breweries.  We dutifully followed his advice and had ourselves a great time!

Knysna is set in a gorgeous location protected from the rough water of the Indian Ocean by “The Heads”, two sandstone cliffs that form a treacherous entry into the Knysna Lagoon.

Surrounding the town is some of the best hiking along the Garden Route and it didn’t take the tripod long to choose an afternoon adventure of secluded beaches, sand dunes, and cape fur seals.  Sitting in the sand, looking around at this scenery while drying in the sun after being convinced to dive into freezing water by two of your favorite people is just… one of those moments.

REALITY CHECK:  Though these are the highlights, it probably should not be forgotten that we spent hours… so many hours… in our go-kart sized car.  Anyone who has done a roadtrip with friends knows how things go after the first few hundred miles.  Buttons get pushed, alternative endings to a certain Star Wars movie get created, and teamwork prevails.

The Drakensbergs: Veering off from the coast, we headed North to the Drakensberg Mountains or as the native Zulu people refer to them, uKhahlamba (meaning Barrier of Spears).

This is South Africa’s highest mountain range and the tripod used our time there to hike through green hills from waterfall to waterfall, watch the baboons, and enjoy a few restful, though stormy, nights of home-cooked meals, fresh bread, and board games.

Johannesburg: Our roadtip ended with a few days in JoBurg, South Africa’s largest city and business capital, where we were welcomed with open arms by Kathryn’s old friend, Varun.  Not only was Varun absolutely hilarious and full of ideas for our time with him, but he spoiled us with all night laughs during the most epic game of Cards Against Humanity ever played, a fantastic hollendaise sauce he created for brunch one morning, and tours to some of the area’s best attractions.

 

We ventured to the Cradle of Humankind where we toured limestone caves that contain fossillised remains of hominids from nearly 3 million years ago and had a blast in their newly constructed museum that though presumably was for children, gave us a solid few hours of entertainment.

Varun also gave us our first introduction to the South African safari!  Animal pictures are to come very soon!  Spoiler: a baby rhino might be involved!

With big hugs and a full camera, we said goodbye to Kathryn and Varun and headed North to Zambia for a few days of kayaking and camping on the Zambezi!