South Africa: Days 13 - 15 (Knysna)

The morning of Day 13 we departed the Karoo on our way to the Southern Coast town of Knysna only to be promptly delayed by a flat tire. There are these really thorny trees - I mean so thorny they are like 3 inch bamboo skewers so tough you can't break them off with your hands - and the thorns somehow find their way on to the road and are actually the biggest cause of blowouts in the country. The only problem is that this road is in the middle of nowhere where we had a better chance of being struck by lightning than a car coming by. Thankfully one of the innkeepers came through a few minutes later on her way to town (probably to restock the bar!) and checked on us - but our fearless leaders had it under control. In about 45 minutes they changed the massive truck tire and we were on our way!

Once in Knysna late that afternoon we arrived at the inn which was situated in the middle of the forest about 3 miles from the main highway that went near the coastline. And who better to greet us than the inns 5 dogs! Well, they were sniffing out some prey in the grass and didn't pay any attention to us. Who did greet us was the innkeeper, who was the bubbly-est person we may have ever met. At first I thought it might be too much for me after such a long drive (and silently wondered, "Will I want to kill her after 3 days?"). We got our room keys and dropped our stuff off and relaxed in a brief moment of peace and quiet. It was cool in the forest but we had a heater so we were very happy. The inn itself was amazing - surrounded by huge pine trees, it had an elevated wooden walkway connecting the cabins so that the natural grasses underneath could grow; a pond, a swimming pool, and not another person or cabin for miles so it was QUIET. At night, the stars shown very brightly like they had in the Karoo.

The morning of Day 14 we took off for Plettenberg Bay to grocery shop and during our morning break we tried fruitlessly (AGAIN) to find an internet cafe that 1) was open, or 2) had a working connection. What is it about this country and the internet? So we wandered around the town square before getting back on the bus and driving to The World's Highest Bungy Jump, underneath Bloukrans Bridge. I hadn’t really considered this optional activity but I knew Lize, Seb, and Johann were going to do it. I was surprised when Sonja decided to go and off they went under the bridge for the jump. Part of me actually regrets not doing it (you were right, Lize!) but part of me still doesn’t. I was saving myself for the Great White Sharks in Cape Town. It was great though to watch them all brave this huge jump into the gorge with nothing but a giant rubber band around their ankles, and I could see the stress on Brigitte and Andy as their children prepared for their jumps. Even Lize called her mom to tell her she was jumping and she loved her. I don’t think my mom could have watched.

After that it was off to Tsitsikamma National Park at the ocean to have lunch and a hike. Unfortunately the hike was cancelled because while we were in the Karoo a major storm had hit the coast and washed away the trail. So we sat in awe on the grass watching the massive waves hit the rocks and wondered aloud how they could have come over where we were sitting days before and up on the hill behind us. After that it was back to the inn for some free time and rest before dinner. After dinner we were given a task to design a t-shirt as a group that summed up our experience.

Day 15 brought some options for our time spent in the morning. You could go with Lize on a trail hike through the forest around the inn, horseback riding, mountain biking, or quad-bike racing. Seb, Johann, Petrie, and I went for the quad-bike racing, and the rest of the group went on the hike. I had never been on a quad racer before so I was pretty excited. That was until I found out that you had to shift the gears manually and I’ve never driven a car with a stick so that whole concept is completely lost on me. Every time I shifted the bike stalled so while everyone is practicing I’m just stalling and stalling and stalling. Finally I get the hang of it and figure, ok this is the best it’s gonna get. So I signal everyone else to go first so I don’t hold up the gang and we go for a test run around the track. That was another thing. I thought we were going in open land – I had the added humiliation of being lapped 100 times to look forward to. But, in the end I really didn’t care – I was trying something new and I was going to have fun no matter what. So we go around the track once and I missed the turn-around spot and ended back at the farm where we started. Oops. And the guy tells me, "You have to shift out of first!" So I couldn’t hide that I was going slow either. I couldn’t say, "Well, first is fast enough for me, thank you." And besides, the turns on the track came so fast that if I did shift to second I would not have had time to shift back down for the turn and probably would have flown off the thing. So I said, "OK thanks!" and started back down the hill to the track. I never did go out of first, and I didn’t care, it really was pretty fast. As I bounced over the bumps and my ass flew off the seat and I felt like I really was going to fly over the handlebars I was laughing hysterically inside the helmet. I would look back occasionally to see if any of the guys were coming up behind grandma so I could pull off to the side. And all seemed to be good in the way of not getting dirty until I came across the one mud puddle on the track. I tried to go slow, but it was useless; mud flew up and I was filthy. So I said, "well ok then – let’s do this". And with each round on the track I let myself get faster and faster till I was pushing first gear like it hadn’t been pushed before, laughing all the way (Ha Ha Ha!!). When the rest of the gang came to pick us up on the way to town where we would be going on a boat ride I was so proud of myself and my muddy clothes - I think everyone (especially AJ) was looking to see if I’d killed myself in the process.

Once into town we were told the boat tour was postponed until the afternoon so we wandered around town a bit and then had lunch at a restaurant at the marina overlooking the bay. If you’ve been to one coastal town and ate at the marina you’ve been to them all. So this was a smaller version of Pier 39 in SF but the fish was fresh (AJ’s mussels were not) and when we went back to meet for the boat ride to find that it was cancelled altogether we joined Alex, Sonja, and Brigitte to go see "The Dark Knight" before meeting back for dinner (also at the marina but thankfully at the restaurant across from where we ate). Dinner was great – we ate at JJ’s and JJ himself came to greet the table and ask where we were all from. The food was great and we sampled more of the great wines from South Africa. We piled back into the truck and with a full belly and slight buzz we all were quiet for the short ride back to the inn ready to climb into bed.

Not so fast we were told. It was now "Mandatory Shot Time"!! I thought, "oh dear, not again" but thankfully it was a "15 year-old-girl-drinking-for-the-first-time" kind of shot (Amarula, a SA version of Bailey’s & Crème de Menthe), but it was symbolic for the locals as it was called the Springbok, and was Green and Gold, the colors of SA Rugby, Soccer, Cricket, etc. But when I found out there was a song and dance to it then I was sold! It went like this:

(with the shot in front of you)

(look to the left) "No Leopards!"
(look to the right) "No Lions!"
(look between your legs) "No Hyena!"
Springbock! Springbock! Springbock!

Then you do the shot without picking it up. This was not as easy as I thought it would be (I had to cheat or I was going to bite through the glass). And someone dropped theirs and it shattered on the floor. But it was another South African hazing. I promptly went to bed and fell fast asleep – for the next morning we were headed to Cape Town!! Oh and I have to say I found the innkeeper to be so charming and sweet in the end that I think this was my favorite inn on the whole trip!!