Weathering Out The Storm

The Garden Route is the famous stretch of scenic coastline in South Africa that runs from west of Jeffrey's Bay to Mossel Bay. We spent a good week there, and got hit with one of the worst storms this area has seen in years. It rained for a good four days straight, one of those days it was a torrential downpour the whole day. We spent most of that storm at Tsitsikamma National Park, which is a fabulous park set right on the coast. We camped the first night,then after learning about the half-off all accommodation in the Garden Route national parks for the month of August we quickly moved to a chalet. (OK, the loads of rain falling on our wimpy tarp also helped in moving us to the chalet, but we were thrilled at the half-off deal!) We spent a good three days in that chalet. The first day we had some decent weather, the second day it never stopped raining, so we hung out inside mostly except for one very wet walk, and the third day there were a few hours of no rain, so we did a short walk along a coastal trail. We were happy to have been at the coast for this storm as we thoroughly enjoyed watching the waves, which were massive.

A look at the main camping area of Tsitsikamma National Park. Beautiful, eh? Even on a cloudy day.


This sort of gives you an idea of how the waves were for the storm. The winds were kickin' this day but the heavy rains were still one day away.


After our rainy day walk. Like our ponchos?


The storm kicked up copius amounts of this sea foam. On the short hike we did, for a short stretch we were literally up to our hips in the stuff. It stinks and is quite dirty, but it was good fun anyway. Sadly, no photos of us running from the waves of the stuff or wading through it as we left the camera back at the ranch.


Next stop on the way to the Wilderness National Park was our long-feared stop at the Bloukrans River Bridge. I believe the bridge is touted as the highest in Africa and someone decided that it would be a good place to jump off from! Bungy Jump that is. Emily and I had read about the Highest Bungy Jump in the World in several of our trusty guide books as far back as Tanzania. We never really thought about what it would be like to stand on the platform when we got there.

Deciding whether to jump or not was easy. For Em and I, you can’t fly to Africa and not do it. Actually jumping was a bit harder. It is a good thing that the people running it basically push you off if you don’t go on their countdown from 5 … 4….3 ….2 …. 1…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. It is an amazing experience and adrenaline rush. And just so ya know, we both jumped on our own, no push needed, thanks.

The whole experience, including everything such as gear, procedures, etc, was first class and they are very proud of their safety record. It would be a bit hard on their advertising to if they had to say. ”Well there was this one guy, we forgot to…”
Em told me as she after she finished that she “….ran out of scream”. Mouth was open and the desire to scream was there, but no scream! Emily’s scream ran out.

Bungee Jump Photos....there's lots. And lots more, plus a video for you all to watch when we get home!
Keith getting strapped up. You sure this is going to hold?


Keith safely back on solid ground. Emily wondering how it went. One very happy, the other very nervous...


Again, one happy, one nervous. Emily wore this same nervous smile until she got pushed..errr until she jumped.. off the bridge...


The Push. These guys don't give you an option. It's 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Bungee....and you jump as they push you off the bridge!


There is no turning back now...

Falling.....


Still falling...that was a LONG 7 seconds.


And finally, returned to safety. And smiling.


That is a lonnnnggg way down. But we did it!


We then pushed on to Nature’s Valley for one night, then on to Wilderness for two. We stayed in cabins all three nights and the weather cleared to beautiful clear skies by the time we left Nature’s Valley. We hired a canoe at Wilderness and paddled and hiked to a nice waterfall. That is about it for activities. We ate great dinners as we are still quite enjoying cooking for ourselves. Actually it’s the eating of the dinners we like, but the cooking is OK too.

We have now moved inland to the Route 62 and will take this east towards Cape Town. The scenery here is in stark contrast to the Garden Route. We are in what I’ll call high desert, with green valleys, dry plain, all surrounded by mountains.

A brief lunch stop at the Knysna Heads, on the way to Wilderness.


On the way up the Montuga Pass, heading inland.