Getting into Nature
Monday, November 10th, 2008Day 226
We waited for our bus out of Swellendam and down the coast to Nature’s Valley. Nature’s Valley, sounds like a tourist brochure named the town. Either that or those bars from back home grow on the trees. Which would be a good thing. Our bus was on time and we departed the pretty town of Swellendam.
Most of the drive was boring highway driving until we reached the coast at Wilderness, yes that is actually the real name of the town. Its far from being Wilderness though. The town is filled with holiday homes, however the coast is beautiful. We past through the coastal towns of Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. Nice enough looking places, but pretty much generic looking coastal towns that filled with tourists in the December high season. I was glad we decided to skip them.
Soon we pulled off the N-2 highway to Nature’s Valley. The area was beautiful, green forest covering mountain sides. 20 minutes off the N-2 we reached “Wild Spirit Backpackers”. Jenny the friendly but a bit odd owner came out to meet us. This place was beautiful and remote. All on its own on the top of a valley overlooking the dense forest and mountains. We dropped our stuff in our slightly musty double room and sat down for dinner. Dinner was a big table with the other guests. We met Tim and Hilda from the Netherlands, and Jarrko and Tinna from Finland. While the atmosphere was good I can’t say the same about the food. It was small portions and not very good to be honest. Basic pasta with an odd sauce, it tasted like a bad backpacker meal. Not a goos start with the food and considering that there was no other restaurant around the food might be an issue here. Regardless we went to bed that night dreaming about the spectacular coastal hiking trails that were a short distance from here, the real reason we were in Nature’s Valley.
Michael Coroneos