Day 10

Day ten
Sunday 26th January 2020
Current position
Emitem Bed & Breakfast
Plettenberg
Eastern Cape
6312
South Africa
S 34°11.93904'
E 24°49.90788'
Well we've heard about load shedding and experienced it firsthand this morning when we awoke with no power. The South African State owned Power Company is all but bust. It has huge debts a management crisis and suffers from corruption. Two new power stations should have been completed by 2015 but have still not been commissioned. So it's all a bit of a mess like it was back home in the seventies when similar power saving methods were used.
And oh dear oh dear oh dear when Ros peeped through the curtains it was wet and windy again. So bad weather no cup of coffee and no way of warming up our Danish pastries. Then flash bang wallop just as we were reflecting on our bad luck the power came back on. Unfortunately there was not enough power to light up the sun perhaps that'll happen later but at least we could face the day after a bit of warm breakfast.
Today we visited the Elephant Sanctuary. The entry price was rather high but well worth the cost as we were patting feeding and walking with the elephants leading them by the trunk. They are so big when you are close to them. Our guide was a bit of a joker and it was difficult to know if he was telling the truth or not but he was good fun and made our hour with the elephants very interesting. The elephants had originally come from Kruger Wildlife Park as they had too many and needed to reduce the numbers. The sanctuary is small so it can only hold five elephants as an elephant needs a minimum amount of space to live happily.
Leading an elephant by the trunk was a strange experience as when the tip of the trunks is first touched it feels warm followed by a gush hot air as the elephant exhales. It was also a little damp. I was glad mine didn't have a cold as I'm sure it would have been a lot wetter. Its breath was rather smelly too.
We fed them with beetroot by placing one at the tip of the trunk which then curled upwards popping the beetroot into its huge mouth. For their massive size the elephants are very gentle creatures. They walk slowly with each of their large feet being lifted gently up and placed carefully down with every step.
On the way out we were shown the video of our visit but did not buy a copy as it is the sort of purchase which seems a good idea at the time but never ever gets looked at again.
On the way back to town we stopped at the supermarket to buy a spot of lunch which we ate in the car as it was far too cold and windy outside. We had been lucky when visiting the elephant sanctuary that it wasn't raining and there was a modicum of sunshine.
Next we headed for a boat trip up the estuary. When we arrived the lady said that their was a trip which should have left at twelve thirty but owing to the inclement weather it had been cancelled through lack of demand. However we could hire a small boat and after Ros was assured there were no crocodiles we hired one for an hour.
It was a small fibre glass dinghy with an equally small outboard motor. The chap who showed me the controls said the tank was full of petrol but to be on the safe side he gave us a partially filled can to take with us.
With watches synchronized we set off up stream. Round every bend the river looked the same high banks covered with trees. We saw no boats other than an outboard powered ferry which we couldn't quite work out where it was ferrying its passengers to. On the dot of our first half hour we turned around for the return trip. The weather had been reasonably kind with no rain but it was very very windy. The boat battled back well until we were just in view of the dock when the outboard petered out. Fuel I thought reaching for the can. With fuel replenished I pulled the starter cord and nothing happened other than a graunching sound as the ratchet on the flywheel did not engage. There were frenzied shouts from the numerous campers on the bank to throw out the anchor as if they thought we were going over the top of Niagra Falls. Infact there was not the slightest danger as we were being blown inland back up steam. Eventually Ros threw the anchor overboard to slow us down as I paddled to the shore. The campers helped me to secure the little boat on the beach and then had a good laugh at our expense. We left the boat tied up and walked to the jetty to explain to the hire company what had happened saying that it was a good job we hadn't run out of fuel further up stream. We left them with the problem of retrieving the little boat and drove off to find a nice cup of afternoon tea.
We returned later to our room for a little rest before trying to find somewhere to eat which is always difficult in a small town on a Sunday night . A lot of places were closed and the ones that were open were full however we persevered and found a Bistro with a table to spare.