The descriptor "magical" was often used to describe areas in Nature's Valley, where we stayed during our trip along the Garden Route. We had the magical experience with the elephants, hiked in the Magic Forest on the farm of our lodge, and took a magical 5-hour trek through forest, beach, and more forest.
The following photos provide a glimpse into the magical beauty of this piece of South Africa (so far everything we've seen is beautiful in the country!).
The 6-hour journey on the Garden Route began in Cape Town and took us through long stretches of brown farmland before reaching sites closer to the ocean and more lush and green. Yeah, we thought Garden Route meant lush and green, but it really refers to the variety of landscapes - fortunately a fellow traveller gave us the heads-up on that one the morning we were heading out on the road. Ginnie likes to take windshield shots on long drives to document what we see, these photos bring you along for the ride. Check out the elephants we saw on the side of the road! How crazy is that?
After our morning with the elephants, we hit the beach for our first dip into the Indian Ocean. It is currently Fall in South Africa with temperatures similar to those of Fall in the Northeast (ok, well not really as cold actually, but around high 50's/low 60's) so we weren't crazy enough to actually don swimsuits and submerge, but we got our feet sufficiently freezing and an unexpected wave hit us so we were pretty soaked up to just above the knees! The cold wind helped us dry off as we sat on the sea wall and watched the waves, the brave swimmers, and a little boy having a blast on his boogie board.
To keep that first full day active, we took a 45-minute hike in the Magic Forest which loops around a stream (they are having some dry times, so the stream was pretty much a dry river-bed) and through thick forest on the farm property of the lodge where we stayed. We always deny that we are hikers, but this trip is making us both think we kind of are, but just of the short-term variety. It's not too likely you'll see us on multi-day treks any time soon!
We had a nice, fairly relaxing time in Nature's Valley and Ant even contemplated doing the world's highest bridge bungee jump off Bloukrans Bridge, but decided against it due to the cost. It is certain if someone offered to pay he would have been first in line!
The photo above says it all! South Africa is so beautiful and amazing and our time kept getting better as we moved into the safari portion of the trip.
Our second day was one we were looking forward to (more hiking, see) after reading about a 5-hour hike that begins in the woods and follows down to the beach area of Nature's Valley town and then across some black rocks along the beach (a tad treacherous on our journey as we came to the rocks 20 minutes before high tide and had a few patches where we had to cling to rocks to find a foothold while timing the waves and not being pulled out - no problema...) and then to an estuary where we re-enter the woods and climb back upward along the Salt River Trail and back out to near where we entered on the other side of a major road. It was one of the most stunning walks for the scenery of the mountains, then the forests, the band of baboons who happened to be right outside the forest when we emerged and the strong waves of the Indian Ocean.
vrede en liefde!
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