We woke up and went to this cute restaurant at a B&B they had a breakfast buffet, with eggs, sausage, bacon (what we would call fried ham), cereal, yogurt, fruit, toast, muffins, juice, coffee and tea. One thing I've noticed, eating out anywhere, theres always a formal table setting. Also every place that we have visited, eaten, or stayed the people have been so accommodating and personable. I love it. It just makes the experience so much more enjoyable when the people care that your giving them your business and genuinely want to get to know you.
After breakfast we headed down the road again. We went Face Adrenalin, the world highest bungee bridge. The bridge is 709 feet above the Bloukrans River. The bridge is over a valley in between two mountains. One one side you a have a small river and the other side is the ocean. It was a beautiful view, but not beautiful enough for me to jump off it. Holly was going to do it, but we were a little short on time and with her eye problems she didn't know how it would hurt them. She going to do some research and maybe do it before she leaves in a week or so. We were able to watch some people do it from a lookout point and were able to see their faces on a big screen. It was really cool. We talked to a guy who had bungee jumped once before in New Zealand. He said that it was awesome, but walking out on the rope bridge to the jumping point was scarier than actually jumping. No one has died or been injured on the bridge yet. A 96 year old man actually bungeed off it.
We left and headed to Plenttenburg Burg Bay. The drive stayed beautiful as we drove past mountains and fields as far as you could see. We stopped in Plenttenburg at another lookout point over the ocean. The view was amazing. I keep saying everything is so beautiful, but it really is. Really really. Words and the pictures I took don't even begin to describe what I've seen in person. God's creation really is absolutely spectacular. We walked along the beach and watched a SA bird, the oyster catcher, try to open an oyster. It was really neat and a long process he had to go through. He would wait til a wave came up and wet the sand. Then he would run to that spot, stick the oyster down in the sand to hold it.
Then he would try to open the oyster with his beak. He did this over and over again. We watched for at least ten minutes and he still hadn't gotten it open. A jellyfish washed up on the shore and was still alive. Tracey and Holly are all about saving the planet, animals, bugs and even spiders. So they rolled the jellyfish back into the water so it would live.
We stopped at a bunch of shops along the way and small farm/shopping area that had Mohair sheep and mohair products. I had never saw a Mohair sheep before or the products made out of it. It was really cool looking. Its considered a luxury fabric so its pricy to buy... Next we drove on to Monkeyland. Its a huge enclosure full of all kinds of monkey's. We took a guided tour, walking though the woods. It was really cool because the monkeys were really close. One of them walked right up to my feet and sat down. We saw lots of types of lemurs, a baboon, capuchin monkey (like Jack on Pirates of the Caribbean), and tons of yellow monkey's. It was really neat to see them so closely. One came up and sat down right at my feet. It was so cool, but they warned us how mischievous they were. They didn't try to take anything from anyone on the tour, but it has happened before.
After Monkeyland we headed into Knysna (the k is silent). Knysna has to be my favorite place so far for many reasons, but the main reason is that you get the best of both worlds. The beach with aqua blue waves plus the mountains and river. Gorgeous! A quote said often by locals, “Everything is nicer in Knysna.” I totally agree. Its not too big and not too small. You can walk just about everywhere and there is so much to do, just the perfect setting.
First thing we did in Knysna, is take a ferry ride out on the river listening to a man tell us about the history of Knysna and the different places we past. The ferry ride went all the way to the Knysna heads. This is where the river meets the Indian Ocean. There were lots of rocks and huge waves. The water is really shallow in that area. Our guide told us about the first ships that came to Knysna and how many of them sank with land so close. Along with all the history information our guide gave us, he also had many funny stories to tell as well. The river we were on has lots of sea horses. I didn't know that the male sea horse gives birth to over 200 babies every 21 days. He called it the “revenge of mother nature.”
After the ferry ride Holly and I had dinner at a nice restaurant called JJ's. The menu had some wild stuff on there. I wish they had a sample platter of it all so I could taste each of them to see if I liked it. JJ's overlooked the all the boats in the river. We watched the sunset and then walked around the shops the had. Tracey came to get us and drove us around town telling us some more local history. We stopped at this really cool hotel. It use to be some type of industrial power plant. They kept all the machines and equipment inside though. They used them for decorations. They were painted all bright colors. It was really neat and artsy. We sat on the patio talking drinking coffee and tea. South Africans love their coffee and tea time. Even at school, with it so hot outside, the teachers will sip on these hot drinks. They find it so odd that I like my tea sweet with ice.
Next we checked into another cute B&B that is ran by another sweet couple. Holly and I had a nice room that overlooked the pool. Tracey and I went swimming and talked for a little while. She is so funny. She has a wonderful personality. She says shes full of useless information and calls herself an old duck:-) I don't think she has ever met a stranger. Every place we've stopped at she has talked to someone like she's known them forever. She has two children, a son and a daughter. I'm between them in age by a year or so. She use to be a school teacher.
No comments:
Post a Comment