Coastal Christmas 6- Wilderness

December 21, 2013

Wilderness is little out-of-the-way town on the Garden Route. While the accommodations and service did not live up to what we've come to expect in South Africa, that didn't manage to taint the fact that it was a lush and beautiful place where we enjoyed chilling for a few days. 

Someone at some point decided this view point looks like the outline of the continent of Africa...

And so, Wilderness's claim to fame is the Map of Africa.

There were so many paragliders here- unlike Cape Town where they go one or two at a time!

This is only one section of the gliders that were airborne at one time- I counted well over 20 at one point...

Gliding down from the Map of Africa for a beach landing.

Lovely view!

All kinds of signs showing what you are allowed/not allowed to do…it was like playing pictionary.

"You coming?"

Something about this shot makes me think it looks like a stock photo…perhaps it should be the background of a slideshow presentation or something?

I promise I didn't plant this fisherman just for purposes of my photo (although I may have shoved M into the ocean in order to get a clean shot…).

Coastal Christmas 5- Plettenberg Bay

December 20, 2013

Plettenberg Bay- Plett- is the eastern end of the Garden Route, making it our first taste of this famous part of South Africa as we headed west along the coast. 

We loved the town of Plett as much as the beach itself. The restaurants were great, the town was quaint and walkable, and there were lots of cute little shops to peruse (M's favourite part, as you can imagine…).

The day we left Plett was overcast which I thought would make for good hiking conditions, and I somehow managed to convince M that we should tackle the Robberg Peninsula. While not treacherous, it is a bit more of a slog than a standard beach walk. To rewards ourselves for our efforts, we stopped for lunch (and beer!) at the Knysna Heads, followed by ice cream at the Knysna Quays. This truly is a beautiful part of the country, so I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking...

Coastal Christmas 4- Tenikwa Cheetahs

December 19, 2013

"Is M walking a cheetah?"

We got this question a lot when I posted a picture from Tenikwa as one of the teaser shots from our Christmas trip. But before I get into why he was walking a cheetah, and how that's even possible, let me back up a bit...

One of the things I learned about captive animals (big cats in particular- lions, cheetahs, leopards, caracals, etc) during our Christmas trip is that once they have been bread in captivity, they must remain hand-fed as they will never learn to hunt and kill properly. Given that there are so many places for truly wild animals here, there really isn't much need to see a lion in a zoo, is there? And so, there is a shortage of places for these once-captive animals to go in the event that the "captive" places no longer desire them (read: when they no longer play well with others in the zoo, when someone decides lions and cheetahs do not make good pets, or breeders over-breed). Enter the wildlife sanctuary. 

Tenikwa is one such place: Their passion is "re-wilding" big cats whenever possible. They take in injured or abandoned cats and after healing and caring for them, they begin the process of reintegrating them into the wild. Obviously a program of this nature requires funding though, and of no short supply. As I mentioned, cats born in captivity as a general rule cannot be released into the wild. And so, Tenikwa gives these cats a lovely semi-natural home in the Tsitsikamma Indigenous Forest, and offers the public a chance to experience a "wild cat encounter". This provides an opportunity to educate the public about big cats and gives people a chance to get up-close and personal with these guys, while funding the program for "wild" big cats to be returned to their natural habitat. 

We spent a couple of hours with two cheetahs (sister and brother!), joining them on their evening stroll (which turned out to be a very brisk walk…). The one with the red harness is a female, and the one with the black harness is a male. While they were outfitted in harnesses and leashes, do not be fooled by who was walking who!

We're out! Now what?

Walking a cheetah is a lot like walking a dog…they walk a lot faster though!

 Once a cat lover, always a cat lover…these guys happen to be a little bigger than Frodo, but still love a good behind-the-ear scratch!

 Just out walking our cheetah…

Time for a hydration break!

Coastal Christmas 3- Jeffery's Bay, Sunshine Coast

December 18, 2013

Leaving the gentle giants of Addo behind, we headed back towards the coast. 

Jeffery's Bay is considered by some to be one of the top surfing spots in the world…famous for its "Super Tubes"...whatever that means. We were there during "flat water" (read: the ocean was calm). M loved it as it was perfect swimming conditions, even though there wasn't much going on in the way of surfing. 

After a day and night of beach time in J-bay we headed south-west along the coast and visited Tsitsikamma National Park (Storm's River Mouth). Tsitsikamma (say that, five times fast), was a place we wished we'd had a bit more time…it was so beautiful.

 Afternoon beach time- I could get used to this

Around J-bay, dinner on the ocean at Die Walskipper

The beaches of J-Bay

The Big Tree

Sun through The Big Tree

Tsitsikamma- awesome strange ocean/river beach

 Suspension bridges over the mouth of the river

Storm's River Mouth viewpoint

Happiness

Coastal Christmas 2- Addo Elephant National Park

December 16, 2013

I have this theory that everyone who goes on a safari has one animal that they can't get enough of. While I am always on the lookout for the big cats, and love when we have a rare spotting or a cool photo opportunity, without fail there is one animal that I could watch for hours. Elephants. These amazing gentle giants fascinate me. 

Addo Elephant National Park was originally created to protect what few elephants remained in the Eastern Cape. Over the years more and more land has been donated and/or purchased, and it is now the third largest national park in South Africa. And, as the name suggests, it's the place to go if you want to see elephants.

I know I've posted a bazillion elephants photos over the past nine months, but I simply could not not share a few shots from our visit to Addo...