Durban - Friday 18th March

We decided today to head out into the countryside to visit The Capture Site and some Cycad gardens. Our first destination was just outside Howick which is about 120kms from Durban.

We stopped for brunch at a farmhouse cafe just short of Howick then traveled a couple of kms down the road to The Capture Site. On the 5th August 1952 a armed apartheid police roadblock flagged down a car in which Nelson Mandela was pretending to be the chauffeur. Having succeeded in evading capture by apartheid operatives for 1 months, Mandela had just paid a clandestine visit to ANC President Albert Luthuli's home to report back on his Africian odyssey and to request support in calling for an armed struggle. He would be held in prison for 27 years after his arrest on this day.

In the exhibition shed they have an extensive history of Mandela's life then you proceed for a short walk to an amazing sculpture of his image made out of metal stakes.

A view from the distance. 

View from where the chairs are in the photo above 

When headed back to the botanical gardens in Pietermitorzburg ( PMB for short) to view the cycad collection that I had read about in the Africian cycad magazine I get quarterly. 

A nice view down a row of London Plane Trees just after the entrance

They had just started to make a new Cycad area to house the different species from the cape areas of Africa

Back into the car to visit the Cycad Centre which is a well known cycad nursery about 20 kms away.After a brief stop to look around we headed back into Durban to visit the world famous Durban Botancial Gardens.I had been planning a visit to these gardens for the last 20 years so got the realise the dream today.They have an incredible display of cycads with what is regarded as the worlds most rarest plant - Encephalartos Woodii  

Absolutely huge specimen of which there were 4 that were planted in the gardens around the start of 1900 - they have doubled in size since they were planted. There each have their own video security camera and are micro chipped . Photo of all four

Various photos of their well maintained varieties in the Cycad section

Whole group of blue leave species

Went back to the hotel for a rest and then Ciffy our taxi driver picked us and dropped us to an Indian restaurant for dinner.

PE to Mthatha to Durban - Wednesday 16th to Thursday 17th March

Wednesday 16th March 

We were thinking about staying an extra night in PE but they were fully booked again so decided to go with the original plan of driving to Mthatha which is about 480kms away as we were now finished the garden route drive and were just transiting to Durban .

We had a slight detour into East London to view a row of magnificant Encephalartos Altensteinii that I had seen in one of my South African  Cycad Society magazines I got last year which was good timing. Here's the original photo in the article 

And the row now which was a bit difficult to take a photo due to the traffic

Nice countryside drive for the first few couple then hit the coast again where quiet of bit of roadworks were happening when I got stuck behind a dump truck then speed up to overtake him on a bridge but ran into the local policeman who pulled me over for speeding and crossing a double white line.I assume this is their main position to catch people doing both of these things. He tried to tell me the fine was $150 and that international tourists had to pay it on the spot which is totally untrue. When I asked if he took credit card he suggested that we could work something out.. Game on I thought !After a bit of haggling I passed over some money and was back on our way amougst some rain and got in just after 5pm to check in then got ready and walked down to a local Italian restaurant for dinner then home to bed.

Thursday 17th March

 Early breekie at the hotel then on the road for the 430km drive to Durban

 Not much to see along the way except watch out for crazy Africian drivers and arrived into our hotel just after 2pm to check in. beautiful hot and sunny day with excellent view of the beach from our balcony with the local fun park in front.

We decided to do a streak restaurant call Butcher Boys for dinner which was only a short taxi ride from the hotel.

Garden Route trip - Monday 14th to Tuesday 15th March

After handing back the keys to the unit we were on our way for the very popular Garden Route Drive over the next couple of days with today's journey of 500kms to Kynysna, pronounced Nice Na 

A  very scenic drive   along the coast and mountains to get in around 2pm and check in to a B+B then off to have a look around town and a late lunching we had back at the B+B with some beer and wine. Had a lazy afternoon and then headed down to South 34 restaurant which services both seafood and Japanese for their half price sushi night including some giant oysters as well followed by a short cab ride home.

Tuesday 15th March - Knysna to Port Elizabeth

A short drive of about 270kms today  however regardless of heading off early we wouldn't get into PE till about 5pm as we had a few stops today

 

First stop was a drive out to Knysna point lookout for a great view back into town

And one of the heads looking out to the sea

Second stop was at Jukani Wildlife Sanctury which is home to rescued predators and other wide life where the focus is on conservation and education,specifically on the plight of predators in captivity and in the wild all over the world.

They have a good range of large cats such as lions,Bengal and Siberian tiger,jaguar,leopard,cheetah,puma,caracal as well as some rarer species such as white lions and tigers and black leopard.They also have a range of other animals like zebra,Africian wild dog,hyena,jackal and honey bagger.

Our guide Elvis took our small group around each of the animal enclosures and explained the history and origin of each animal and their traits

A couple of cat photos but most were budging as it was the middle of the day

Then it was off to Bloukrans Bridge Bundgy Jump which is the worlds highest commercial bridge Bundgy at 216 metres above the Bloukrans River,     Just a bit under double the distance of the one I did at Victorai Falls. We had lunch whilst looking out to the bridge and watching a few people jump off

Back onto the highway for the couple of hour drive to PE which was a bit hairy when we got in as the iPhone maps took us to the wrong first avenue which was in a not so pleasant area so high tailed out of there to find the right one and book in for the night. Accomodation for whatever reason had been difficult to book as most places we had tried were booked out and we had the last room at the hotel.

Got ready for dinner and walked down to a nice Italian restraurant for something different tonight . After a great meal of snails,bread,steak ,beers and 2 bottles of wine the grand total came to AUD$76!! Which we could each and drink like this at home for the same prices .

Cape Town - Saturday 12th to Sunday 13th March

Up early today to drive to the Habour City markets for breekie and markets. They had a range of superb food so Jo went for the oysters and bubbles whilst I settled for the BBQ and pork belly salad sandwich

After eating we wondered around the craft markets then drove to Canal Walk shopping centre which used to be the biggest centre in the Southern Hemisphere for some retail therapy. Got home just on 1pm for a short rest and then walked down to the burger joint at the end of our street for some pre carnival drinks watching the crowds start to gather along the road for the entertainment that starts at 7pm

Went back and changed into some warmer cloths as the wind started to pick up , gathered our tickets to the stand Joey had booked us into so we had a better view.     ended for the bar behind the stands however you couldn't take the grog outside the area so I did a quick runner back to the flat get get some wine ,mix of vodie and organise and some ice then back into the stands to watch the parade over some nice drinks

Very much like a mini Sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gra , although there was about 50,000 people

It wrapped up at about 9.30 pm so we headed off to try and chance our luck for dinner at the Italian restaurant along the parade however they were fully booked so back down to Willowby's at the V+A for some great wine,sushi and sashimi followed by a $5 cab home to the unit about 11pm.

Sunday 13th March

Our last day in Cape Town so we had a late start to the day and went down at 11am for brunch at the V+A followed by some shopping then home to rest and get packed for the garden route trip over the next couple of days as we transit to Durbanto finish our trip.

Our choice for dinner tonight ?- you guessed it back to Willowby's again for their great food. Only a short lineup tonight and as I turned around to see who was in the line, Stephen Moore and a few of the Brumbies were right behind us so had a chat with them while we waited as they were over for two super 12 games and when they are over they always visit Willowby's .Also had a chat to peter Ryan an ex bronco who is their tackling coach who I recognised as well.

Cape Town - Friday 11th March

Went back to our local restraurant for our $5 breekie then into the car for  sightseeing drive to Cape Point and around the Cape Peninsula .

We left Green Point and drove the coast road down to Hout Bay in amoungst very strong winds which increased as we got into Hout Bay with the backhoe clearing the sand blow from the road . 

A quick stop off at the bay for Jo to get out and take a photo whilst nearly getting blown away

 Here's a view back to Hout Bay from the other side which looks very pleasant

The drive around the coast down through Chapmans Peak is stated as one of the best coastline drives in the world with lots of tourists on the road heading to Cape Point.Post  entry to the park we did a couple of side drives and then arrived at Cpae Point to take the Flying Dutchman Funicular up to the lighthouse . 

The wind was absolutely howling as we got out and walked the final 50 metres to the lighthouse

Had a superb view of the Cape of Good Hope and now know why so many ships came to grief around the cape.There is a misconception that the Cpae of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa,because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian oceans however the the most southern point is Cape Agulhas where the 2 oceans meet.The Cpae of Good Hope marks the point where a ship begins to travel more eastward than southward.

The first European to reach the cape was the Portuguese explorer bartolomeu Dias in 1488 who named it Cape of storms. It was later renamed by John ll of portugals the Cape of Good Hope because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. 

 We headed off to Simons town for lunch however there were loads of roadworks so we kept going until Kalk Bay and stopped at the Harbour Restaurant and enjoyed a sushi and sashimi late lunch and Sav Blanc overlooking the ocean

Arrived home for a rest then headed just down the end of our road for a light dinner at the Thai Restaurant to finish the day.

Cape Town - Monday 7th March to Thursday 10th March

Monday 7th March

Today was our scheduled winery tour followed at night with the farewell dinner.We were picked up at 9am by a guy who had won the first South African big bother that now runs a site seeing tour company to visit 4 wineries around the Stellenbosch region . We were joined by 2 couples from central SA who were farmers and were down for the brothers to ride in the Cape Town bike race over the weekend

Arrive back at the hotel about 5pm so quick shower and we were off to dinner with Amanda and Jan to a seafood restaurant 

 for our final dinner together which was a terrific however unfortunately Jan was not well so had toreturn  home early which left the 3 of us to battle on over wines and beers talking about the fun adventures we had over the past 8 weeks.

Tuesday 8th March

Breekie and then a late check out at 10am to travel via cab for the 5 min trip to check into our Air BNB apartment for the week . Post meeting the guys that rent it we walked back down to the V+A for a quick lunch as we were on the 1pm Robben Island tour

The hour boat ride over was very rough with a few people on pie bags then after we landed onto buses for the guided tour around the island . It was first a lepper colony from 1846 to 1931 but in the 60's a maximum security prison was build with most being political activists, the most famous which was Nelson Mamdela who spent 18 years of his 27 years in prison on the island. After the buses we got out to have a guided tour through the maximum security wing by an ex political prisoner who spent 5 years here after being arrested for demonstrating

Nelson  Mandela's cell

View back to Cape Town

Less rougher ride back to back  V+A docks for the short 15 min walk back to the unit then followed by a short stroll to a Japanese restaurant for dinner.

Wednesday 9th March 

Walked down to the V+A for breekie and then brought a ticket for the big red bus tour that would take us firstly around the various city sites and then we jumped of at the markets in Green Market square to buy a bag to house all our purchases over the last 8 weeks. Here was a free walking tour from the big red buses city office so we headed off there via another groups of markets on the way.

The tour took us through the he picturesque Bo Kaap which is well known for the colourful houses and cobblestone streets.Many of the residents are descendants of slaves from Malaysia,Indonesia and various African countries,who were imported to the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch during the 16th and 17th centuries. The slaves were known as "Cape Malays" and Bo Kaap is also known as the Cape Malay Quarter .

Lions Head mountain is in the background 

We were up the top of town so decided to finish the walking tour early and head up to Avis to check on our car booking for tomorrow followed by a walk back to the red bus office to locate a lunch spot close buy and then return to board the bus for the trip up to table mountain 

The beach areas were beautiful however not many people in swimming as the tempatures of the Atlantic Ocean is about 6-8 degrees at the moment.

Got home about late afternoon and then made our way back to the V+A City Grill restaurant for a streak for me and zebra for Joey.We made our way to the comedy club which we had booked a few days ago around 8pm to a good sized crowd. I took a photo shortly into the MC's retour one when he caught me out and promptly paid out on me throughout the night

Had an excellent time at the club as he also paid out on the black and white South Africans as did the 3 acts they had on .

Thursday 10th March 

There are a number of restaurants just down the road from us so we had an early breekie about 7.30 as we were picking up the car about 8.30 from Avis in ton. We went for the very expensive $5 bacons,eggs,mushrooms and coffee option and then walked the couple of kms into town.

With little fuss at Avis the paperwork was done within about 20mins and we were on our way to table mountain to take the cable car to the top hoping that there wasn't much of a queue as the waits can we over 60mins at times. parked the car and walked straight to the ticket office without delay and onto the cable car

We joined a free guided tour to get the history and details on the mountain then walked around to the various lookouts on a beautiful sunny day( with no wind as a bonus

Back down the mountain to head off to Kirstenbosch Botanical Garndens to mainly have a look at their cycad collection. Cycads first appeared about 280 million years ago during the same time that dinosaurs and pterosaurs roamed the earth. They are often called "living fossils" and survived the extension event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

The gardens cover 532 hectares extending to the top of table mountain and the estate was purchased in 1895 for 900 pounds by Cecil John Rhodes who on his death in 1902 left it to the people of South Africa.

The cycad amphitheatre was first planted out with 300 cycads of 13 species in 1914 and today there are about 500 plants of 28 species of Encephalartos growing in the amphitheatre with many how sporting a Centenarian label on the cycads introduced during 1914 to 1916.

The most valuable one  the Encephalartos Woodii which was the  only  clump  ever been found in 1895 by John Wood John Woodf . He also founded the natal herbarium and was the curator of the Durban botanical gardens.In 1903 he sent his deputy to fetch some of the smaller offsets and 3 of them were planted in Durban with only 2 now surviving. The plant below is a sucker from one of the Durban plants and arrived in 1916 and now in a cage to protect it against thieves with protection by motion sensors ,micro dots and micro chips .Althought extinct in the wild and bale to be breed given the only plants left are males the pollen is used in cross breeding with other cycds tomaybe one day over many generations produce a more true Woodii 

View looking down into the amphitheater 

View back to the Woodii

Came across a 50 year oldliving  fossil having a rest under the shade of a cycad whilst I spent the time looking around 

Next it was off to the tree top canopy walk

Drove home to have a short rest then walk down to Willowby's Japanese restaurant again in the V+A building for dinner . When it get busy and there is a line up like tonight , the staff come out and provide wine tasting to keep you busy which is a great idea.Post dinner we had a short cab ride home to hit the sack.