THE TOUR CONTINUES, THE GARDEN ROUTE, MOSSEL BAY, CANGO, DURBAN AND HOME (part II)

Ok we are on the road again, driving along the Garden Route heading towards Durban with a few stops planned. Our first stop was at the Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn. It was a spectacular setting and the first time we had ever visited a cave. Not only was this, complex of caves, the earliest tourist attraction in South Africa (first tour in 1891), but early man had lived and sheltered in these caves for at least 80,000 years previously. The interior was huge, the first cavern we entered was over 100 yards long (about the length of a football field or a good size Walmart) from end to end. We walked around on a guided tour. Most of the passage ways were lit in colors, giving the caves a very eerie atmosphere. We spent two hours looking around, exploring and visiting the souvenir store, of course. At the end of the cave tour we drove a few minutes to an ostrich farm to see what was up with these birds. Well it was another first for us. You see pictures, but until you get close to these monsters you do not really appreciate just how big they are. I was about up to the start of their neck, but their necks and heads extended another 3 feet above that. And could they run. As soon as they seen us they all came charging over looking for a handout. The girls shrieked and huddled, while I faced the oncoming pack. I was not paralyzed in fear!

Well wasn’t that fun, I ask the girls? I think perhaps their idea of fun is different from their mom’s and mine. So back in our car and next stop Mossel Bay on the coast of South Africa. This is the area where most of my colleagues were transferred to, after I had moved over to the Corporate Offices in Sandton. Mossel Bay was where our company was contracted to build an offshore synthetic fuels plant. It was a sort of reverse engineering project, whereby natural gas was taken from a huge reserve, in the ocean off of the coast of South Africa and then by a process of additives, it was turned into crude, which could then be refined to all of its usable parts. Simple right? Not. This was a huge and very successful project for South Africa, that was still in the tight grip of international sanctions. It was a beautiful location and the home of some friends from Johannesburg who had moved there to work on the construction phase. An endearing memory is meeting up with our friends, just minutes after her little twins (Ange’s age) had visited the hair salon. Well, not really a salon, but the one twin had decided to give the other one a new hair style with her mom’s scissors. The other one decided that she liked it so much, she would return the favour and then performed nearly the same cut on her sister. We arrived, to find them looking adorable and their mother crying her eyes out.

From Mossel Bay, we got back on the garden Route and headed for Port Elizabeth with stops in George and then on to Plettenberg Bay where we stayed at a great Hotel on the beach. Going thru George we encountered a little disturbance, of what I think was political in nature. There was a large group of, what appeared to be, protesters. Once again when they are chanting, bobbing and weaving, all in unison, it is a little unnerving. Deysi had the radio tuned in and we heard that we should avoid one particular area in George due to protesters and potential unrest. Where do you think we were. You guessed it, right in the middle. I split out of there, and out of George as quickly as Deysi could direct me. Come to think of it, there is not one reason that would make me return to George. In any event, we retreated to safety and arrived at our Hotel in Plettenberg. It was a middle aged, concrete “box” style hotel very near to the beach. We ended our day with a walk on the beach.

Next morning we were up and continuing our journey to Port Elizabeth and after visiting there our intent was to drive as far as we could towards Durban. It was a total of 900km between the two and our intention was not to go crazy and attempt the drive in a single day. We arrived in Port Elizabeth early in the morning and had our minds set on visiting the aquarium and watching the dolphin show. The venue was called the Oceanarium and had, what we found to be, a very good show. After coming from California, it would need to have a very high standard to make an impression on us. We didn’t know at the time, but in later years found out that this Oceanarium had a very spotty record of success nurturing dolphins in captivity. A few dolphins died there in captivity. Which resulted in it being subsequently closed at two different times in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Only to be finally revived as Bayworld, which is its current designation. At the time we were there, we knew nothing of impending problems and enjoyed the show immensely. This was a large city of roughly 850,000 people and appeared very clean and modern. We left here for our accommodations and drove partway to Durban. I am not quite sure where we stayed this day, but think it was on the coast near East London. Wherever it was I know it had a pool!

Finally our arrival in Durban. This photo taken from the beach back towards our hotel on the strip. We visited Durban three times in 1990 and each time tried to stay at the Maharani Hotel. It was part of an Indian chain of hotels and was first class. The food was International, the service impeccable and the rooms were comfortable. It had been a stressful 4 days driving from Cape Town to Durban, but as much as I stressed and looked for problems, there were none. Deysi had everything planned to a T and it all went off as planned. Anyway we arrived in Durban, which is the third largest city in South Africa. It is a sprawling city running mainly along the side of the ocean. At the time we were there, it had a population of around 1,750,000 people. It was home to a very busy port (even in the time of sanctions) and had a substantial tourism industry. The climate was beautiful and the beaches were in use, almost year round. We loved this city and relaxed on the beach for 3 days before returning home, by plane from here. Once again it was the trip of a lifetime. I am exhausted even just remembering the pace at which we travelled.