Kathy’s Travels

Hey All

One of my last activities in Plettenberg Bay was to go on a great hike and beach cleanup in Robberg Nature Reserve with some of the students from the ORCA research center.

A wonderful place to see some of the unique examples of fynbos (a type of plant life unique to this part of the world). We spent the whole walk picking up cigarette butts and other trash. Watched the seals making a right royal noise, you could actually smell them before you saw them.

When we got to the beach you are able to run all the way down the sand dune. This is an area where 2 currents collide and that means trash from both sides ends up on this beach.
We filled 2 large black bags and carried 2 crab traps off the beach. That was after about 2hrs of cleanup. Could have filled a lot more.

This beach is also a great place to view the endangered African Oyster Catcher. A rare bird that is black with red legs and a long red beak.

A great time in all. Next stop Buffalo Bay and Wildside backpers

Well here I am staying with family in Plettenberg bay. At first I was kind of wary about coming here. All I had heard was that it was pretty, touristy and where all the matric / 12th grade highschoolers came for end of year parties.

 Didn’t sound like the kind of place I would enjoy or that it would have much character. I was mistaken! Even though there is tons of construction going on which equals too much traffic, Plett has a wonderful seaside village feel. There are all the advantages to bigger places but still lots of old charm.

 My aunt and I visited Monkeyland. By the sounds of it, you expect another corny old tourist trap. But here you find 12 species of monkeys ranging from the tiny squirrel monkey to the larger languars. They are all rescued from labs, circuses, pets….. and there are about 300+ roaming free in a forest the size of 24 rugby fields. For R100 you get and hour long guided trail through the forest to meet all these wonderful creatures. We saw 8 of the 12: vervet monkeys, squirrel monkeys, 2 kinds of lemurs. gibbon, howler, languar and capuchin. Truly a great experience. If you don’t want to pay for the tour you can sit on the deck and try keep your possesions away from the very mischevious vervets.

In the same area you can go to Birdland, also all rescued and Elephant sanctuary. A great place to spend a whole day.

Another interesting place is the Global Village, where you will find products from all over Asia and Africa. Be sure to bring your wallet to this little stop.

Then there is also the sea and beach. With scuba diving, surfing and whale watching activities, not to mention sun-baking…. I mean bathing…..