SA Day 7

Another wonderful drive. This time through gorges and jaggy mountains! Our driver, Regan, stopped every now and again for photos, but I restrained myself from shouting ‘Photo Stop!’ every few miles. I really wanted to STOP every time we saw the hillsides covered in millions of bright PINK clumps of flowers, mixed with bright YELLOW clumps - they looked spectacular against the blue skies and white fluffy clouds. Also, the ‘IT IS FORBIDDEN TO FEED THE BABOONS’ signs - and we did see a few.

It was a three hour drive, off the N2, through the spectacular Tradouw Pass, then along the N62 to our destination, Oudtshoorn.

We said goodbye to Regan - he drives all the way back to Cape Town tonight, and checked in to this delightful place, The Rosenhof Boutique Hotel. Best one yet!! It has a pool (water TOO cold) and a GYM!! JR is absolutely delighted - she’s been missing her gym visits. Mind you, she’s not missing them quite enough to avail herself of the treadmills and other torture equipment this afternoon, choosing instead to open a bottle of bubbly, and sit on our sunny verandah and watch the new people arriving. MUCH more pleasant.

We wondered why we had two nights here (it was all arranged by Trailfinders), but it was immediately obvious - there is SUCH a lot to do! Ostrich farms, meerkats visits, feeding elephants, feeding giraffes, caves, wineries, olive farms, waterfalls, villages with art galleries (there’s some pottery we saw in CT, and really like), as well as mountains and gorges. So we’ve booked a driver for tomorrow to take us around the sights.

Dinner tonight (ostrich on the menu…) and the dress code is ‘elegant casual’…

PS The ostrich steak, while rather enormous, was delicious!