The Great Karoo, the Klein Karoo, & the Garden Route--part 6

Well our travel week is about done. It is time to pack our bags for the trip back to Cape Town. But first another terrific breakfast overlooking the lagoon and through the mist the heads. Also, another enjoyable conversation with Peter and Mart. It has been so much fun meeting people at all of the places we have been and getting a chance to learn about them and their parts of South Africa. This has made the trip so much more meaningful and personal for me. I just wish I could introduce many of the folks we have met to you personally.

After breakfast we head east once more for a return to the Garden of Eden boardwalk. And we are very pleased we returned. This is a boardwalk through a section of the forest designed for wheelchair use. It is flat and broad and made from planks of wood that have been slotted so as to provide traction and to not stay wet long. Though there are no rails Marcia has plenty of room and so doesn’t seem to feel she is in any danger of slipping off the sides. Off we go to visit the forest.

There are some markers on some plants along the way, but mostly it is just a walk through the forest that quickly engulfs you once you get on your way. At places you have to push fern fronds out of the way or duck to go around a leaning branch. For Marcia that is a good thing as it means she is really in the forest. There are numerous places to leave the path and sit on a bench or have a picnic lunch. They have done a really terrific job.

We encounter two crews of workers who are busily redoing sections of the boardwalk. As was the case for the N2, the recent rains did considerable damage to the boardwalk. One section was closed still. As we stopped at this dead end we got to chat with an official with the park about the situation. We also got to tell him how nice the facility was. He seemed pleased to hear this. I hope he passes our comments on to others.

In addition to enjoying the boardwalk we also enjoyed seeing some of the native trees that constitute these forests and some of the animals inhabiting them. There was limited bird activity, maybe due to the work being done, but we did see a big spider, a huge millipede, a huger slug, and a charming frog. Not everything can be big! Some interesting fungi, lichens, and moss as well. All in all a very nice walk!


On our return to Knysna as we did on our way to the forest walk, Marcia took pictures out the window as we drove past the township to the east of Knysna. This was on both sides of the road and continued for some distance. This is a typical township with tiny shacks in mostly horrible condition. There were dogs around and cows and pigs and goats grazing on any unoccupied land. I know we need pictures of the townships as they are so much a part of the SA landscape, but I feel that we are intruding on people’s lives when we take these pictures. I am certainly not comfortable driving into a township just to take pictures. So this is what we do.

And while I say that this is a “typical” township for the poverty-stricken Africans, these shacks are actually in better shape than some of the townships closer to Cape Town. At least here there’s some room between the individual dwellings. In the more crowded areas outside the city the shacks are side by side.


There are government-built low income housing settlements that put the poor into decent housing, but clearly there’s a pressing need for much more housing to be built. We’ll put more pictures into future entries.

We returned to Feathers to settle our bill and get our box on its way to VA. It probably won’t be there before we get there, but what fun it will be to have it arrive after we are home. Then the birds can find new roosts.

Back to the N2 we go. Marcia tries to relocate her orchids but to no avail. We revisit the delays for road work and eventually reach Mossel Bay (named for the plenteous mussels to be found there). From Mossel Bay one can look back and see much of the coast we have traveled along these past two days. Overlooking the harbor is the Bartolomeu Dias Museum Complex. The Maritime Museum is the focal point of the complex and is built around a replica of the ship used by Dias on his voyage from Portugal that started in August 1487 and ended in what is today called Mossel Bay in February 1488. Of more interest to us was the Shell Museum and aquaria. Quite a nice display. And of course there was the usual display of plant specimens with names attached, but in addition there were beds of labeled native plants throughout the complex. Quite a nice set of attractions for an admission fee of 6 rand, which is less than a dollar!

The rest of the day was spent on the road, the N2, back to Cape Town. The ride was uneventful and the trip over Sir Lowry’s Pass with the sun in our eyes was again quite exciting. The pass is the gateway from the Overberg to Cape Town and its suburbs. A quick stop at the local market and we were home. It was a very nice day, but too much driving, and a super week. One night to catch our breath and then we head to Darling to visit Pat and Bobby with Dorothy, Jon, and Robyn.

Good night!
Edward & Marcia