Dolphins and Monkeys and Surfers - Oh My!

I've done a fairly lengthy update today because we're trying to get caught up with all our updates from Africa before we head to India. We've uploaded a few photos from Rawsonville but the rest from our Garden Route trip will be up in a few days (internet access permitting).

Sunday, January 16th, 2005

With great reluctance and heavy hearts we left Kyle and Victor and their beautiful guest house in Rawsonville (thanks again guys!) and caught a Translux bus for the coastal town of Knysna (pronounced nize-na). We booked bunk beds at a backpacker's lodge and went out to have dinner on the waterfront. Later that evening we sat around a campfire talking with British, Swedish, French and German travellers who were staying at the lodge.

Monday, January 17th, 2005

We rented a little VW Citi Golf called "Chico" from Avis and hit the road to make our way up the Garden Route along the eastern coast of South Africa. After almost two weeks of drinking, eating and lounging at Kyle and Victor's we were feeling a bit sluggish so we decided to do some hiking in the Knysna National Park. As we drove into the park we saw signs warning us that we were now in an area where wild elephants and baboons roamed freely. Unfortunately, we didn't see anything more dangerous than a poisonous centipede. We recorded a few sounds from the forest - click here to hear them. We finished our 10km hike and left the park a bit before sunset.

Feeling energized from our hike, we drove an hour up to Plettenberg Bay where we'd be staying the night. We arrived at the Abalone Beach House and were welcomed by Grant and Elbi. Moments after arriving Grant told us that we should go see the dolphins swimming and playing in the ocean. We walked 2 minutes from the guesthouse and sat on the beach to watch a pod of about 50 dolphins. As the waves formed near the shore they'd surf along and occasionally leap out of the water, do a flip and splash back down. It was amazing - we'd never seen anything like it.

Tuesday, January 18th, 2005

We woke up at 7AM to go for a walk on the beach and watch the sun coming up. We didn't see a single person during the two hours we were out because 80 percent of the people who have houses in the area are only there during the holidays in December and early January. It was as if we had our own private beach.

Returning to the guesthouse, we packed up our things and headed for a place we'd heard about called Monkeyland. We thought that with a name like Monkeyland it had to be fun - we were right! The sanctuary is now home to over 130 monkeys from 13 different species. The monkeys were previously living in cages in laboratories or were kept as personal "pets" until they could no longer be cared for. Now they live in a safe, natural environment where they are able to walk (and swing) freely.

We signed up for an hour-long guided tour through their habitat and saw Ringtailed Lemurs, Spider, Brown Capuchin, Squirrel and Vervet monkeys. They were all within an arm's length away. Because the monkeys are free to go wherever they want, it can sometimes lead to problems. For instance, Monkeyland has a nice outdoor restaurant at the edge of the sanctuary. Each table is given a spray bottle full of water to squirt any monkey that gets too close (it doesn't hurt them but monkeys like water as much as cats do). However, we saw a Spider Monkey drop from the roof, slide down a support beam, and before anyone could squirt it, it grabbed a lady's sandwich off her plate. The monkey then ran into the forest, whooping and hollering, being pursued by its fellow primates who wanted a piece of the booty.

A small coastal town called Nature's Valley was the next stop on our trip through the Garden Route. We checked into the 15-person dorm room at Hiker's Haven and went out for a walk to explore the area. We found a peaceful saltwater lagoon only a few minutes from the lodge and sat talking as the sun went down.

Wednesday, January 19th, 2005

Again we woke up early, packed up the VW, and drove a few kilometers back to where we were on Tuesday (Plettenberg Bay) where we had reservations to go dolphin and whale watching in sea kayaks. Sadly, a thick fog and stormy weather had rolled in during the night and the trip was cancelled. Undeterred, we hopped back in "Chico" and set off for our next stop: Jeffrey's Bay.

Thursday, January 20th, 2005

Last night we stayed at Island Vibe Backpacker's in Jefferson's Bay (they call it "J Bay" here). J Bay is a big surfer hangout because of its world-famous waves and vast sandy beaches. We talked late into the evening with some of the South Africans who worked at the lodge and a group of French travelers.

This morning we got up at 6:30AM to meet with Tom and Etienne, two sea kayaking guides from Island Vibe that we hired to take us out. It was an overcast morning again, but we hit the open (Indian) ocean regardless. We were on the water for about 30 minutes when Tom spotted a pod of bottlenose dolphins heading our way. We paddled a bit more to get the best view and sat in amazement as about 20 of them swam around and under us. Neither of us had ever been so close to them. A few minutes later we spotted a pod of 3-4 humpback dolphins and paddled out to see them closer as well. By the end of our two hour trip we'd seen about 30 dolphins. Tired, but satisfied, we returned to the shore, put our kayaks back on the truck and headed back to the lodge.

We're in downtown J Bay getting ready to head up to Grahamstown to visit with Kyle's mom, Pat and sister, Leigh. We'll be there for a day or so and then we'll go back up to Pretoria where we'll submit our visa applications for China. We hope they don't have a problem with our visa or passport photos looking nothing like us now that we don't have any hair!

We hope everyone is enjoying the new year. Thanks again for taking the time to read our updates!