More waves

Same coast, but a very different place from yesterday. At Storms River Mouth in the Tsitsikamma National Park the dark Storms River surges through a huge gorge and rushes to meet the Indian Ocean. They meet at a rugged rocky coastline and the result is an exciting, noisy place, as waves crash against the black rocks. Here is an idea of its power and majesty. And just as a contrast you can see a few Rock Dassies or Rock Hydrax sunning themselves on the rocks, as oblivious to the swirling waters below them, as to the visitors watching them.
 
This is a popular place, but a bit of a mess at the moment as a fire in November destroyed the café/shop complex that we remember from the last time we were there. And instead there are huge tents and canopies providing food . . . and taking up all the space that there used to be for walking by the waves and scrambling on the rocks. 
 
Gordon having done the, seemingly obligatory, walk across the river gorge on a suspension bridge, we left and went on our way.
 
We are now in Kirkwood, a way north of Port Elizabeth, staying the night in a lovely guesthouse that was originally a Cape Dutch house built in 1949. It’s a beautiful, gracious, welcoming place, although a bit eerie at the moment, as we seem to be the only ones here. Tomorrow we will be off early to go looking for elephants. 

(The extra is a close up of some Rock Dassies, whose are the closest living relative to the elephant, despite the difference in size. This close evolutionary relationship is deduced from similarities in the structure of the feet and teeth. I'm sure this means something to someone somewhere.)