A Whistlestop Tour of South Africa – Part 2
A six hour trip took us to Birds of Eden, the largest aviary in the world, where you see everything from Macau’s to Flamingos to Fruit Bats flying free in the rainforest. All 3,500 birds were unwanted captive animals from zoos and private individuals around the world. We were up early the next morning to walk the cheetahs at Tenikwa. Again, these are orphans which were raised as ambassadors to educate the next generation.
A few hours later we were in Hermanus where, not only did we see a Southern Right Whale strutting his stuff about half a mile offshore, but we also saw a Dassie (rather like an over large guinnea pig) sitting on a fence – all this in a 20 minute stop – on our way to Cape Town.
Friday dawned clear, so we raced up Table Mountain before the tablecloth appeared. A visit to Kirstenbosch Gardens to see the Proteas (flowers not the cricket team), followed by the V&A Waterfront.
We were lucky to see the flowers in full bloom in the West Coast National Park, with the added bonus of a host of wildlife and game. No trip to Cape Town is complete without a trip to the winelands, and a Boschendal picnic must be the pinnacle. After a gentle lunch, and airport run to drop off Steve, we were on our way north, and with a short night at a motel, we got back early evening on Monday.
The four remaining days included visits to school reading and maths projects, the Apartheid Museum and a township project at Westbury. A pretty tired Wendy climbed on her return flight to Australia, but, hey, we did it – a pretty good attempt at the best of South Africa in twelve days! My only regret was that Steve was only able to join us for the weekend in Cape Town.
Freebooter 