Eastern Cape Adventure Map
When we arrived to Addo Elephant Park they were fully booked for the next few nights. We were hoping to get lucky, but many people warned us to book in advance for this popular tourist destination. However we didn't want to be committed to any particular activity on this road trip in order to make our drive hassle free. We wanted the freedom to stop anywhere and stay as long as we wanted. So, now we would not experience the luxury of waking up in the wild where the wild animals stroll. However, we managed to find a near by hostel. While at the park, we booked one Safari drive and left the rest of our day open to keep our schedule flexible in case we wanted to do our own driving through the park.
Monday, November 14, 2011
The next day, we were up at 5am to pack up our things and make the 6am Safari. Believe me when I say, it felt as if the temperatures were in the freezing region. It was so cold that everyone was wearing long clothing and even winter coats. Dan and I slowly started putting on the layers when seeing experienced Safari go-ers looking so prepared. As this was our very first tour, we had no idea what to expect from a morning drive through the Safari. In an open jeep with the brisk morning air, we probably should have at least assumed that once on the road things will become even cooler. I could have worn a tuke and mittens along with my entire winter gear from home. But remember, this is South Africa, and that is all I kept repeating to myself. We managed to sit through 3 hours of driving in the cold draft of the jeep while trying to take pictures with our cold and rigid hands.
Our experience: priceless. No cold could have turned us away from what we ended up witnessing. It was real, it was wild, and I wish I was still there :-) But here, why don't you judge for yourself?
After our Jeep tour, we tried to warm up by enjoying a breakfast at the park's restaurant. The sun has also gained its warming potential and was helping along our thawing process. We then decided to take our Ford Figo for a Safari ride. We thought the potholes were manageable and the roads were well paved for the Figo, regardless of the scattered animal poo which can always be washed off. We took a chance to assume that no animal will use our rental car as a scratching post on this day. Three extra hours we spent driving around looking for lions and water buffaloes, but we were running low on fuel and we decided to head to our next destination (where we would encounter more Safari opportunities). Overall, we had a wonderful time seeing elephants, zebras, meerkats, ostrich, cranes, various birds of pray, kudu, antelope, deer, wart hogs and wild boar. (Many people suggested to try and spend a few days in any Safari if we wanted a holistic experience and see various animals. However, we had limited travel time and invested some of it in discovering other National Parks as well.)
Since I was still feeling under the weather, Dan decided to change some of our travel plans. He decided to skip out on visiting Nieu-Bethesda as it was an extremely large detour from our current direction. Instead he added a secret stop-over before continuing our drive to Coffee Bay. I was sleeping and Dan was managing all on his own till Gramstown.
In Gramstown, Dan stopped for gas and to ask for directions, and the only reason I knew we stopped was because I woke up to a comment: "Does the lady speaks English?" I first giggled to myself and then looked at Dan who was aproaching the car with a mechanic from the station. I guess the man had trouble understanding Dan's accent so I first asked Dan where he wants us to go (as I was unaware of the new plans), and I repeated his exact statement -"We are looking for Hogsback"- to the man. This story has stuck with us as it is funny on so many levels. Dan is particular when it comes to words and the English language. I however, take less pride in my knowledge of the English grammar but enjoy my strengths in communication.
I knew little to nothing of Hogsback at this point so I was curious to find out what was waiting for us. I would usually read ahead about a location, but this time I was happy to be resting and/or drinking my poweraid-like fluids. Most of our drive along the way was flat with some rolling hills showing in the distance. However, the closer we got to Hogsback the mountain range was getting larger, covered in green and lush vegetation and then...we noticed waterfalls. Not one but many, right at the top of the peaks. By this time I was awake and reading through the Cost to Cost guide to quickly learn about Hogsback (even though Dan had already arranged our plans for the night, or so we thought).
As always, sun was setting fast and Dan's first choice for accommodation was unavailable. He managed to find a retreat located in a breathtaking place however, we again, should have called before hand. As you can see the view was magnificent and the 3 mountains we later found out were named Hog 1, Hog 2 and Hog 3.
Since I was still feeling under the weather, Dan decided to change some of our travel plans. He decided to skip out on visiting Nieu-Bethesda as it was an extremely large detour from our current direction. Instead he added a secret stop-over before continuing our drive to Coffee Bay. I was sleeping and Dan was managing all on his own till Gramstown.
In Gramstown, Dan stopped for gas and to ask for directions, and the only reason I knew we stopped was because I woke up to a comment: "Does the lady speaks English?" I first giggled to myself and then looked at Dan who was aproaching the car with a mechanic from the station. I guess the man had trouble understanding Dan's accent so I first asked Dan where he wants us to go (as I was unaware of the new plans), and I repeated his exact statement -"We are looking for Hogsback"- to the man. This story has stuck with us as it is funny on so many levels. Dan is particular when it comes to words and the English language. I however, take less pride in my knowledge of the English grammar but enjoy my strengths in communication.
I knew little to nothing of Hogsback at this point so I was curious to find out what was waiting for us. I would usually read ahead about a location, but this time I was happy to be resting and/or drinking my poweraid-like fluids. Most of our drive along the way was flat with some rolling hills showing in the distance. However, the closer we got to Hogsback the mountain range was getting larger, covered in green and lush vegetation and then...we noticed waterfalls. Not one but many, right at the top of the peaks. By this time I was awake and reading through the Cost to Cost guide to quickly learn about Hogsback (even though Dan had already arranged our plans for the night, or so we thought).
As always, sun was setting fast and Dan's first choice for accommodation was unavailable. He managed to find a retreat located in a breathtaking place however, we again, should have called before hand. As you can see the view was magnificent and the 3 mountains we later found out were named Hog 1, Hog 2 and Hog 3.
After a long and serious off-roading in the Figo, we were again in a race against time to find an accommodation before getting stranded in the dark. We were happy and lucky to find something available called Away with the Fairies. Only to find out the next day that this is the exact place where J. R. R. Tolkien became inspired to write Lord of the Rings. We enjoyed a lovely dinner once unpacked (most delicious nachos stuffed with everything you can imagine almost 10cm high and tasty thin crust pizzas) and mingled with other backpackers who were staying at Hogsback for the night. We happen to arrive just before a popular 3-day mountain bike race which I believe was called Hogsback Cross Attack.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The next morning we decided to start early and take a short hike before breakfast. The sun was shining and we were told the nearest waterfall should take no longer than 30-45 minutes. We were maybe 5 meters into our hike and we hear a loud screaming noise and then 5-6 fast moving animals with hooves running through the forest. Dan and I stop for a second and could not decide if at this point it was safe for us to continue. Locals have told us that hog sightings are a myth and the hikes were safe to all ages. We were stunned when we heard the scream and chaos coming from below us. For sure these were hogs running by us. But we were also certain that the locals would not encourage tourists if an activity was dangerous. Right?
The entire way to the Swallowtail falls, we were on guard hoping not to see any more hogs. At every noise we heard, emergency escape procedures were discussed, Dan suggesting to climb trees. I was not happy to climb anything in order to save my life. One hour has past and we were finally at falls #1. Assuming that we could take a 'short-cut' (a hand drawn map was our only guide) and arrive back to our hostel for much needed breakfast, we decided to follow the waterfall to the top. Biggest mistake ever ! We not only ended up hiking for an entire 3 hours without breakfast, we also ended up hiking an undesignated trail along the waterfall (marked as 'short cut' on our map). We only needed to get to the top of the falls and we would be near the hostel. (The big tree you see in the picture is also "The Big Tree" we have been passing by throughout on our journey and not seeing them from up close, until now).
When we finally made it back to Away with the Fairies, the locals did not want to believe our stories about the hogs (this myth we definitely busted). They were also amazed that we made the entire trail up along the Swallowtail falls as they pointed out: it is extremely challenging for most people. We were told to hike from falls #1 (Swallowtail) to falls #2 (Madonna and Child) and make it a 2 hour 'easy' hike, but we thought the 'short-cut' labelled on our map would get us back faster so we could have breakfast (no one told us the short hike is also longer if you chose to take the 'short-cut' back to the hostel). Makes for a good story, we finally had something to eat at the Butterfly Bistro and decided to drive in order to visit Madonna and Child falls.
November 16, 2011
From Hogsback to Coffee bay, we had a 5-6 hour drive ahead of us, including potholes the locals were trying to warn us about. At this point, Figo has made it through Rocky Road, a Safari and one long journey to Hogsback up to the enchanted forest. Now we were ready to see if Figo could handle the Wild Coast of South Africa.
R :-)
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