Kathy’s Travels

Hidey Ho Everyone

Sorry for the LOOOOOOONG delay in writing, but I plan to remedy that in the future.

Since returning to the states I have worked as a vet tech at a local clinic owned by a married couple who used to be the vets at the Nashville Zoo. As a result we have had all manners of interesting creatures come in – cervals, linx, kinkachoo, coati, monkeys of a number of species etc……. plus the usual dogs, cats, hamsters, lizards, snakes, hedgehogs etc….

However I have finally decided to take the piece of advice that my mom loves from Dr. Phil: “Its easier to bitch and whine than to suck it up and do something about it”. I have decided to do something about it.

I AM MOVING TO SEATTLE!!!!!

On June 4th I will take the train up and will be living and working at the hostel until I can find a job hopefully at the local zoo.

Keep in contact all and watch this site for weekly updates.

Kathy

Well here I am, Back in the good old U.S of A, and what a schlep it was to get home.

It all started with a simple farewell to family at Cape Town airport. Hop on a plane and fly to Jo’Burg. En route I realised I left my jacket somewhere back in the Cape Town airport…. great start!

Next step was a 19hr 40min flight to Atlanta, GA. But my luck turned out to be improving as I ended up with 2 seats during the first 9hrs and traded for a whole row of FOUR seats for the last half. So at least I got a little sleep.

Well waiting for my flight to Salt Lake City, UT, and my subsequent 8hr layover…. the check in desk asked for volunteers to give up their seats as the flight was overbooked. Compensation was $400 off your next flight anywhere with Delta or their partners… Heck yeah! That sounded great. Break up my layover with another flight, this time rerouted to Phoenix and then Salt Lake, but still giving me 2hrs before my Eugene flight. Sounded perfect. ….. or so I thought!!!!

Arriving in Phoenix.. we all boarded the flight… about 1min after my butt hit the seat an announcement followed for us all to de-plane… Turns out the aircraft was broken and they were waiting for a part to be flown in from Seattle… There was no way I was getting home tonight! 🙁

Now, you have to understand 1: I had been travelling for over 30hrs, 2: had not had dinner & 3: No-one was helping me get home (they were calling us by cities, Eugene, Oregon was somewhere way down near, if not at, the bottom)…. I even tried calling the hot line and we are not even going to go there…. frustrating is an understatement! I was so brain dead I couldn’t even swear and curse to relieve my stress…. Eventually 2 of the crew members helped me out and got me sorted.  I decided to wait and fly out to Salt Lake City, stay at the hotel Delta airlines was going to pay for and take a late morning flight home.

Other than the $400 to my next flight, the only other thing that made my decision worth it was the free breakfast at the hotel…. They had MAKE YOUR OWN WAFFLE!!!!! 😀 how cool is that… but then small things always make me happy.

Well here I am, home, safe, cold, looking for work and planning my next trip (I am thinking along the lines of Holland for late July and August and heck why not go back to South Africa again… I hear there is a great music festival and the organiser needs a PA…)

If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know!!! 🙂

Met some friends to go explore the Sunday market located in Green Point by the stadium, about a 7min drive from Long Street.

A perfect place to go pick up last minute items and be sure to bargain all the way. A safe bet is to try around 40-50% less and then work your way up slowly. If all else fails, start to walk away… Works every time.

To get there we took a local taxi. So for R3.50 (a normal taxi would be over R15) we got there and was entertained the whole way. Please note however, these taxis are notorious for their fast speeds and often being overcrowded….. so experience at your own risk… but definately give it a try…. 🙂

Picked up numerous things I didn’t need, but always a good day when you can bargain down the prices. You can get anything from cough mixture to a 5ft wooden giraffe, to pottery, jewellery……. to much to type. Also lots of food stalls when all that bargaining makes you parched and hungry.

Go, enjoy and find lots of good deals. 🙂 🙂 🙂

The Penin Tour through Baz Bus is a definite must. You get to see alot of Cape Town you wouldn’t ordinarily see.

From getting up close and personal with the locals… penguins that is…. To chasing away baboons at your lunch spot. Not forgetting an easy bike ride through the reserve and hike to Cape Point.

The tour guide, Bruce, was full of useful information and random stories…

Starting off with some rather dreary looking weather and trying to wake up participants… side note: a saturday morning after a rugby came always results in a few being… well… a little under the weather. 🙂
But, true to form, wait 5min and the weather in Cape Town will change. We ended with a beautifully sunny day.

I think the top marks go to the delicious chocolate cookies and scrumptious rolls we had for lunch.

All in all, a good day was had….

Well my luck held out and I made it all the way to Cape Town. Was able to initially book till Stellenbosch and then it turned out that not just one but THREE people didn’t show up… so I had a choice of where I wanted to sit.

Arrived at Long Street Backpackers at about 10pm last night and got checked in. (see my last entry for Long Street for rating and info). But as a refresher…. this is a pretty good place. In the heart of the party scene with numerous bars and coffee shops to choose from.

Lola’s just up the street to the left of the backpackers makes a great little cupcake and an excellent iced coffee.

Caravan Cafe… a moroccan style resturant has excellent food for a decent price. Tonight I had the chicken shwarma with vegetables and a glass of mango juice… not only was it healthy and delish’ but it all cost under R35 (less than $6).

Tomorrow morn’ will see me depart on the Baz Bus Peninsula tour… watch this space for a review.

Well…. the baz was late and I let myself be convinced to stay “just one more night”…. now of course there is no space on tonights shuttle. But hopefully I can squeeze on to get to Cape Town….

Evening was great… with a lekker braai (good BBQ)…. and I set fire to my POI chains and played a little. My friend got some great shots of the fire reflecting off the pool….

Today I relaxed with some of the girls…. went into town…. had a swim in the pool and made some of my jewellery….

So the moral of the story is…. sometimes its better to stick to your plans… but then again sometimes good things come at unexpected times….

Welcome to Hermanus!!!!! A perfect base to act like shark bait for the Great Whites that frequent the area.

Hermanus Backpackers: 8.5/10 Comfortable… thin pillows… but good beds… friendly, helpful staff and lots of activities. Free breakfast 😀 Walking distance from shops and resturants.

Wake up at 6am (or rather all night due to a snorer, 5am I gave up and slept in the TV room) time to get ready for shark bait. Many people disagree with shark cage diving and I must admit I had my reservations too. Arguments against this part of the tourist industry include that they are feeding the sharks, creating a connection between man and food, therefore increasing the chance of man being food, bringing the sharks closer to land where bathers are etc…. However, we were out there for almost 6hrs and only saw 4 sharks for about 10sec each time. Some boats didn’t even get to see one and there was only one boat that was lucky enough to get a “playful” shark. Great Whites are very curious and that is what brings them to the boats. The bait is always the kind of food that makes up their natural diet and the skippers try not to let the shark eat it, but rather use it to catch their attention.

We were not able to get into the cage for most of the day and only on the last shark did we jump in and view it underwater for all of 2seconds before it moved on. It was still amazing and I must admit my fear has diminshed and I respect these beautiful creatures more. That is not to say that I would like to meet one while scuba diving. I went with “Shark Lady” charters and was very impressed with the professional and educational angle they took. The cost was R800 plus R50 for the shuttle. This includes a light breakfast, lunch and coffee.

Hermanus has a very nice colonial seaside town feel. With lovely little shops and a craft market to pick some gifts… In one of the quaint art shops I came across a stunning print of an African Wild Dog. They said they would drop the price and when I told my folks about it they said it would be my christmas present… a little late.. but well worth it. So here I am… after travelling half way around the world…. I find my christmas present… and what a find. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Moving away from the wonderful coast and into the Klein Karoo / Little Karoo…. home of South Africa’s ostrich industry.

Backpackers Paradise: 9.5/10 the -.5 is for the very flat pillows….. But if that is the only complaint then thats pretty good. The beds really are EXTRA wide and comfortable. The ostrich braai is ever so tasty, but don’t forget the vegetarian option. The staff are very friendly and helpful and Moses the shuttle driver knows everything.

My first day saw me doing the adventure tour in the Cango Caves. I can officially climb a chimney and be mailed through a postbox that is 27cm by 30cm. Our first major challenge was the “Chimney”, a tiny space that goes almost vertical and is so small you can’t even turn around. The guide sent us ahead and when we reached what we thought was the right hole we shoved the first girl up then hesitated. She waited up there for a full 5min as we discussed if this was the right route. When the guide arrived we said in unison “we shoved her up there but not sure if it is the right hole….” (mmmm that almost sounds wrong…. 🙂 Anyway… needless to say we had chosen the right path. 2 turned around at this point. When it was my turn I realised that I was too short to reach up to where there were handholds and the chimney was too slippery. So with a push from the bottom and a pull from the top I was able to climb up. The air is thinner down there so it was hard to breathe and made us all look like we had run a marathon.

Next stop…. the “PostBox”, a small hole 27cm by 30cm that you get to by inching along on your stomach and then sliding through. All of us went head first (apparently you are meant to go feet first, but it was more fun our way). As you go through the space the rock is so smooth it makes a slide and for those of us with short arms and not able to brace ourselves… it makes a wonderful trip with us ending in a heap at the end.

All in all a must!!!!

Next day was time to Ride and ostrich. I had eaten one now it was time to ride one. We chose the Cango Ostrich Farm, R30 with discount, more expensive but well worth it. First came a history and then an introduction to the newest members of the farm. Got to hold one of the chicks and watch another as it started its 10hr journey of hatching. Then a quick kiss from the only tame ostrich in the area. Before moving on to the ride. I was the second one to go. Mine was a large male, and as I held onto the wings and tried to wrap my legs around its front all heck broke lose as I it went running off and I screamed with joy. 2 jockeys run alongside you ready to catch you or pull you off. The ostrich tried to help me off by turning very quickly… then my foot got stuck under the wing …. when I did eventually get disentagled I discovered I had received a large white feather for my trouble… OOPS! but they did say to hold on tight.

The weather in Oudtshoorn is well…. HOT and DRY!!!! so every afternoon was centered around the pool or watching one of the numerous videos….

The Klein Karoo is a definite place to stop… most think of South Africa as beaches and sun…. well its amzing to see the interior where there might not be a beach but there sure is a LOT of sun…..  

Well after Wildside, cute surfers and Buffalo Bay am now in a small town by the name of Sedgefield.

Sedgefield has sprouted along the N2 main highway that runs along the coastline. And in this tiny little place there is a wonderful new hostel called Upendi Backpackers. Upendi, meaning love in Swahili, is a double story thatch house about a 1min walk from the lagoon.

Upendi Backpackers: 8.5/10 Comfortable, clean, friendly. Close to the lagoon where you can go canoeing and search for the rare knysna sea horse. Or you can go to one of four beaches and surf, swim and tan. For the adventurers you can ask Sancheo, the owner, to organise a tandem paragliding flight or heck…. why not take a full course and get your pilots license. Sancheo will also teach you to POI….. or fire dance. I was playing with fire on the 2nd night of my study and haven’t burnt anything yet… so she must be a good teacher.

That would be Wildside Backpackers….. Buffalo Bay, found just south of Knysna, this stunning shoreline really does live upto its name of being the Wildside. Superb surfing and swimming and a fantastic natural rockpool where you can go snorkel for fish, crabs and even an octopus or two.

Wildside Backpackers: 9/10 great atmosphere, very friendly staff, delicious food and the beach literally comes in the back door. A definite must. Daily trips into Knysna ensure that you won’t miss out on the little town, but if you are in the area, a stay at Wildside is the thing to do.

Spent my days swimming and lying on the beach and watching my friends surf. Spent the evenings gazing at the stars or visiting the bar.

On the second day a very random thing happened. 2 of the girls and I went to Buffalo Bay, the town, to look at the waves, found it pretty much dead pan. So headed back to Wildside. While I played paprazzi on the beach, the girls attempted to get a few waves. Suddenly out of the setting sun this rather hunky surfer walks up to me and asks if my friends are trying surfing for the first time. When I say “yeah pretty much”, he replies with “I would love to teach them….”, “they would love you to teach them too…” came my answer. So there he went, promptly walking into the waves and taught all afternoon. At the end of the day, the 3 of us are all smiles and trying to buy him a drink. He just declines, says he has to get back, and literally ….. RUNS OFF INTO THE SUNSET! Talk about random…..