South Africa Sojourn

We're travelling along the South African coast right now, on a 15-day vacation from our site in Swaziland. We're surfing, hiking along beaches and through forests, exploring little towns and settlements... it's been great to be on the move. We've rented a car and can pretty much come and go as we please-- not relying on khumbis and busses feels like such a luxury-- and when we get to Cape Town we'll hop on a train bound for J-burg.

Right now I'm using the computer at a great backpacker's lodge located in the shady forests around Nature's Valley. Yesterday we hiked around Tsitsikamma National Park and it was brilliant. It's breakfast time and we have a fun day planned: Monkeyland in the morning and the beaches of Buffalo Bay in the afternoon. I've been excited about Monkeyland for months. It's a free-roaming primate sancuary in which you can just walk around the grounds with all varieties of monkeys. Guess I've gotta remember not to put bananas in my pockets today...

Anway, we've been driving from east to west along a coastal highway called the N2. We picked up our car in Piet Retief and went straight down to Durban, where I picked up a used surfboard other essentials. Then we went into a remote area called the Wild Coast, staying first in the Eden-like beach town ofPort St. Johns and then Coffee Bay. Coffee Bay was great-- stayed a few nights, surfed/boogie-boarded (she-J) in warm, shark-free waters and went on a little day adventure to Hole in the Wall. Then we headed on down to East London (where I picked up a cheap old wetsuit for the cold waters ahead), then the surf mecca of Jeffreys Bay for a few days. Next, we're off to Buffalo Bay for a couple of days/nights, then Mossell Bay, then we'll spend some time in the Cape Town area before boarding the train.

So that's the basic itinerary... we'll post pics and vids when we're back home in Swaziland.