safari sistas

Back on our porch… with our wine…, this time at Armagh Country Lodge in the Tsitsikamma. Tonight we have bathrobes and face masks on, so we are glad there is no one to witness except a fat ugly spider (at least he is outside), some frogs, and Thandie, our resident dog.

Our day started bak at Kragga Kamma when we woke up on our hard beds, glanced around for spiders, and then enjoyed breakfast on our porch. We then packed up, drove through the reserve back to Bush Cafe and had our first close up cheetah encounter. For only a few rand, the 3 of us got to meet Dhuma face to face – a retired celebrity cheetah – who is living out his days at the game park.

On our way out, we also encountered a warthog family, a mother and 4 piglets. I was very excited to add to my warthog portfolio, but I think Jaimi felt otherwise, for as I climbed into the car she remarked, “Great! We took all of 3 photos of us with the cheetah, but we have 80 of the warthogs.”

Once I was finally able to pull myself away from the warthogs (oh by the way, I will be bringing home a piglet) we began our roadtrip to the Tsitsikamma, a national park region a couple hundred km west of PE. Tsitsikamma means “land of many waters” and the lush vegetation is evidence of it! The freeway proved to be a breeze: well maintained, uncrowded, and considerate drivers. However a slight over-abndance of traffic signs in my opinion. We had quite a time trying to decipher what “curve in road – tree – truck” meant, among other interesting pictorial signs. And I was amazed when Jaimi hit the brakes going down a hill due to a slow truck up ahead, just as I glanced over and saw a sign with a car hitting a truck going down a hill “how did they know?” But at least there was no chance of getting lost – there were 4 signs pointing out the turnoff into town; it was just a bit of a riddle determining exactly which sign was actually placed where the road was, so we would end up on it rather than turning into the bush! Overall the drive went by quickly and Kevin was very good in the backseat except for a brief period during which he took to poking me in the back of the neck with a stick.

Arriving at the Armagh, we had an entire list of potential things to do in mind: drive back 5 km to photograph the 2 cops in folding chairs with a multi-colored sun umbrella and radar gun, check out the Storms River bridge up close (is that the one we might bungy from?), but in the end the expansion of the campaign-against-white-legs won out: we hit the pool.

Later in the afternoon we trekked into the bustling metropolis of Storms’ River (4 dirt roads, 1 paved road, and miscellaneous footpaths) where we arranged our activities for tomorrow morning – but no hints, you’ll hear about it if we survive! Jill was impressed by Bacchus Cafe, and upon mentioning it, we both went into latte withdrawal symptoms. So we went there, and found that cafe does not necessary mean cafe; we were greeted with a full menu and a choice of filtered coffee – normal or decaf. Bummer! But Kevin got his daily portion of ice cream and shortly thereafter we found the one and only internet connection available in town. Guess we’ll be regulars there (well, here) for the next couple of days.

Thandie was happy to see us upon our return to the Lodge, and we were happy to get into the shower (I was a little less happy to have Kevin in playing in the sink during my shower – as if you anyway get constant water pressure and temperature in Africa!). Our evening was spent at an African dinner buffet at the B&B’s restaurant, before retiring onto our porch.

Oh yes!! And I do believe lent is over, so I have big plans to celebrate! Correct me if I have miscounted the 40 days… Actually, don’t!

P.S. We will have a Best Blogger award, so Tracy you are well in the lead!!!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 4th, 2006 at 7:10 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.