Hermanus/Cape Agulhas

Thursday was a busy day as we finished up work and got ready to begin our road trip. We had to say goodbye to Home of Hope and also to all of our friends at AVIVA, so it was a bit of an emotional day. We had a two hour drive to Hermanus, and tension was running high by Thursday evening when we were the closest we have been thus far to killing each other. We can laugh about it now and credit all the moodiness to the fact that nobody was quite sure about how to feel with one journey ending and another beginning. A little bit of processing time and a good night’s sleep seemed to make a big difference.  

Friday morning we got up to go whale watching, which is what Hermanus is famous for. There is nothing too exciting about this activity, as it mostly requires staring at the ocean and hoping that something catches your eye. While the scenery was beautiful, I was bored about a minute in. Needless to say, we never saw a whale while we were looking for one, only by accident as we were walking on the coastline. Isn’t that the way it always goes!

After an underwhelming morning of whale watching, we headed to the Fernkloof Nature Reserve to do some hiking. We hiked along the coastline and then to a waterfall that contained flowing red water, a particularly odd site. While we were hiking we saw some of the most beautiful homes nestled underneath the mountain right along the coastline. These were the kind of houses that make you want to knock on the doors and ask these people how they got to be so lucky to live there. Don’t worry, we didn’t.

After hiking, we had a picnic lunch on the beach before beginning a 2 hour drive to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of the African continent. After arriving, we realized our hostel was in a questionable area, so we kept driving until we found a quaint little bed and breakfast that offered us a great deal. (We were their only guests.) It didn’t take long to realize that there is not much to do at the southernmost tip of Africa other than simply be there, so we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed down to the water where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans collide. We finished the day with a beer at the local pub called “Jaws” where we were once again the only patrons, and then headed back to our accommodation where we cooked a nice spaghetti dinner. All these towns are so beautiful, but we seem to be the only people in most of them and find ourselves continuously asking, “Where is everybody?”

We left Cape Agulhas this morning to embark on a 5 hour drive to Oudtshoorn, where we will be staying for the next 2 nights. It is the largest town in the Little Karoo region, and has the largest Ostrich population in the world. We’ve got a 35 mile bike ride lined up for tomorrow, where we will ride down a mountain and stop at caves and ostrich farms along the way.

Internet availability seems to be hard to come by, so I'll post pictures of our bike adventure as soon as I can!

Leaving the AVIVA House, all of us with Numsa and our "house mother" Meagan

I would say this picture pretty accurately sums up whale watching

Hiking in the nature reserve. We have to put the camera on a timer to get a picture of all 3 of us. So, I had 10 seconds to climb down some boulders and join the girls on a rock. That may help explain our awkward pose.

The camera was on a timer again here. I wasn't quite fast enough this time.

All 3 of us standing at the southernmost tip of Africa

Having a toast at the tip of the continent