The town of Graaff Reinet

Our first priority yesterday morning was to get our internet working again. We have two SIM cards and we use one each for our internet access. Turns out that Ruth's expired on Thursday night, and mine expired on Friday night.

So we woke up on Saturday with no internet.

Keys Locked in Car

We left Bethulie at just after 9:00am, and had a loose plan to make it to Graaff Reinet, about 364 kms (226 miles) away.

We're actually slowly making our way back to Cape Town, just not really deciding what the next destination is until we get to it!

Yesterday. And a few other oddball things...

Just have to catch you up on a few different things. First of all, our plans for the summer of 2014. As our regular readers know, we managed a campground in the middle of Saskatchewan, Canada last summer.

This coming summer season, we are doing the same thing. But at a different campground.

January Expenses

It only just occurred to me that we never posted our January expenses. I think we just had so much going on at the beginning of February, and then we've had poor (or non-existant!) internet a few times during the month.

January was again a little higher than normal for us, but when we break it all down we actually did okay. We spent a total of $2,054 in January.

Back in South Africa

Hard to believe that it's only two weeks tomorrow and we will be heading back across the pond to New York City.

We left Lesotho (our 21st country visited!) on Tuesday morning. We didn't have a firm destination in mind, but we did know the general area we were heading for. We ended up in the town of Bethulie, South Africa.

Here's how it all happened...

40 kms (25 miles) in two days... (part 2)

Okay, in Part 1, we had told you that we were about to go to sleep in our fancy accommodation. Actually, it was not bad. We had sleeping bags that we had rented from the lodge, and they had foam mattresses for us to sleep on.

And because there is no electricity (although we did have a candle!), you pretty much go to sleep when the sun goes down.

The Happy Hippo

The best backpacker hostel in Durban? While we don't know for sure that it's the best, we can't figure why you would need anything better.

We recently spent two nights at The Happy Hippo in Durban. Great location, and comfortable surroundings. Oh, and two nights in Durban isn't long enough!

40 kms (25 miles) in two days... (part 1)

When we completed our four hour horseback riding excursion a few days ago, we had decided that any more than that in one outing would be too much.

So we made a plan that any longer trips would be better done on foot, with the horses carrying our gear. The best of both worlds!

High above Lesotho

We went for an ambitious hike yesterday that took us up to Mount Fuku-fuku. We have no idea what the distance was, but that the literature had said it went along the top of a ridge of mountains and that it was for "experienced hikers only". And that it was an all day hike.

So a guide was assigned to us, and we set off at about 8:30am.

Pony Trekking in Lesotho

Okay, so we haven't been horseback riding since 2006. No worries, we'll be okay, right??

And we were. But it wasn't without it's interesting moments!

Our first hike in Lesotho!

By the way, Lesotho is pronounced "Ley-soo-too". Just so you know.

Some of you had asked how we are managing to get on the internet here in the middle of the Lesotho mountains. There is a very weak cell signal coming from an old 2G EDGE connection. We are connected, but it's slower than dial-up! Still better than nothing at all.

The tiny Kingdom of Lesotho

Back at the beginning of October, we had been in the city of Ottawa tourist office on the 18th floor of an office building in downtown Ottawa, Canada. Across the hall was the Embassy of the Kingdom of Lesotho.

We went and knocked on the door!

Through the Gates of Paradise

Well, I don't quite know how to tell you about the last couple of days, but somehow we need to try and get caught up on our adventures. So this is a condensed version of things, but it's difficult...because we've seen and done so much! To top it all off, we're in the middle of nowhere and have limited electricity and very slow internet. Still, we're determined to tell you what a great few days we've had!

We left Durban on Feb 7, and stayed at a nice backpacker place called Amphitheater Lodge that night. Then on the 8th, we drove into another new country...the tiny Kingdom of Lesotho.

Not long enough in Durban!

We didn't plan very well. Actually, what happened is that we spent too much time on "the Garden Route" which is overrated as a tourist destination. Sure, it's nice enough, but we should have driven through a little quicker and allowed for more time in this area.

So, we only had one full day in the city of Durban, but it gave us enough of a feel for the city that we know we want to return one day!

Arrived in the city of Durban!

We'll squeeze two days into one post here, simply because most of it was taken up with driving! We left Wild Lubanzi backpackers lodge on the morning of the 4th, and arrived in the tropical port city of Durban on the afternoon of the 5th.

Here's how it all happened...

Drizzling, but still a great day...

Our regular readers might have noticed that we're trying to play catch up from our six days away without much internet. We did have enough connectivity to check emails, but definitely not enough for a blog post, especially with pictures. So check the prior posts to make sure that you didn't miss anything because we're trying to do some extra posts until we're caught up!

On Monday February 3rd, we went for a hike. Rain or shine.

Bulungula to Wild Lubanzi

We enjoyed our time at Bulungula, and we're glad we made the effort to go there. But the lodge itself could be a little more organized. It takes them forever to make up your bill, so if you want to get an early start you should settle up with them the night before. When we went to pay our bill in the morning, the girl was off having a shower and we had to wait around for a half an hour. Not that big of a deal, but there were other people waiting too.

Our bill for 4 nights was R1,685 ($177) and that included one dinner meal, parking, and a few bar drinks. Not bad. We had brought food for self catering so we made our own meals the rest of the time.

How many cows did you pay for your wife?

On Saturday February 1st, we did the Village Tour offered by Bulungula Lodge. The idea of the lodge is to have the visitors interact with the community as much as possible, and vice versa. This tour shows you a lot of local customs and it was certainly the most interesting part of our stay in the community.

Canoeing and pancakes at Bulungula

Our second full day, we decided to go canoeing. The activities at the lodge are run by locals, with part of the proceeds going to the community, and the rest going to the person running the activity. The excursion cost R80 ($8.40) each. This particular day, it was a young guy named Lindo who was running the trip. He was 24 years old, and this is his only job.

Bulungula - A walk on the beach

We had a goal on our first full day at Bulungula. To relax!

They have a lot of activities to take part in if you want to, and they're very reasonably priced. We eventually did the canoeing and the village tour, but they'll be detailed in upcoming posts. For today, we went for a walk on the beach. We've never seen so many different seashells!

Arrival at Bulungula

This post goes back to January 29th. We did a 257 km (160 mile) drive from the East London area to the Bulungula Lodge located on South Africa's "Wild Coast".

The drive took us into an area where there aren't many tourists, and really the only tourist accommodation is a few remote backpacker lodges along the very scenic coastline.

But first, you have to get there!

Our Tilley Hats!

We are experts on Tilley hats.

Well, maybe not experts, but we sure do have a lot of experience with the two hats that we own! We have accumulated a lot of hours wearing our Tilley hats, so now we think we are fully qualified to tell you about them.

Heading into the wild!

The Wild Coast, that is.

This section of South Africa isn't really "wild" although it is one of the least inhabited, as well as an area where many locals live traditional lives. It's also supposed to have some gorgeous scenery, and we're looking forward to taking some great photos for you!

Only downside is you might not see them for a while!

Driving Day

Yesterday was a driving day. Hard to believe that we've been in South Africa for almost four weeks. When we look at the map though, we really don't seem like we've made much progress! And so we needed to do some driving.

Because of Ruth's accident with her hand on Sunday, we never made it down to Port Elizabeth's beach area. We wanted to have a quick look though.

A visit to a South African hospital

This is not how we planned on spending our Sunday!

We were actually kind of taking our time yesterday morning, and Ruth had made some delicious gluten free pancakes for us all. I was in the process of writing yesterday's blog post, and our couchsurfing hosts Kurt and Leizel were getting their kids ready to go to a birthday party. Ruth was in the kitchen, tidying up.

Then we heard Ruth calling. "Kevin! I've cut myself. And it's bad!"

Knysna Self Catering Holiday Flat

We stayed a couple of nights at a self catering holiday flat in the Knysna, Garden Route tourist area. It was a nice place, and we wanted to tell you about it!

It's a private rental, so you don't have to pay any administration fees or anything like that. And for what you get, it's a very reasonable price.

Apartheid's Leftover Problems

We've been in South Africa now for over three weeks and we wanted to tell you about some of the things we've seen and heard regarding race, which still plays a huge part in South African society.  Of course the news of Nelson Mandela's death on December 5th brought South Africa into the forefront of the world's media again, and so we were very curious as to how life since the end of official Apartheid has been for all races who call South Africa their home.

Glow in the dark waves

Port Elizabeth currently has a "red tide".

A red tide is a strange phenomenon caused by the rapid growth of a microscopic form of plankton. During daylight hours, the water close to shore has a reddish brown shade to it, but at night when the waves come in, the white caps glow in the dark. And they glow blue!

Would you bungee jump off this??

Yesterday we drove from Knysna to Port Elizabeth. We have to start increasing our driving distances because time is flying by too quickly! It was only 260 kms (161 miles) but there was a lot to see along the way so the drive took us almost all day.

Plus, it was almost 10:00am before we hit the road.

Beautiful views around picturesque Knysna

But before we set off for the day, our couchsurfing host Didi had suggested that we go for an inexpensive breakfast at a spot overlooking the harbor. Great idea! So she drove us down to the Knysna Falcon Creek Spur restaurant.

Who wants to go Paragliding??

Well after seeing people do it yesterday, we want to go paragliding!

We did the 115 km (71 mile) drive from Reebok to Knysna yesterday, but we took a little detour to go for a hike. Along the way, we stopped to watch the paragliders and to see the "Map of Africa".

Mossel Bay

We wandered around the resort town of Mossel Bay yesterday. Not really a great deal to do there, but they have a museum that's worthwhile. Besides what is probably the worlds largest display of seashells, there's also a full size working replica of the first Portuguese ship that sailed to this part of Africa.

How to Ride an Ostrich!

Yesterday was totally hilarious, and we have the video below to prove it. Never thought we would ever hold an ostrich in our hands, let alone ride one! What an experience. Too funny.

We were invited to visit the Highgate Ostrich Show Farm near Oudtshoorn, South Africa. The farm is located only an hour's drive off the popular "Garden Route", and it's definitely worth the detour.

Some things are simply too strange to try and explain!

Very strange story to tell you today.

Yesterday they were calling for an overcast day, although the temperature was a comfortable 23C (73F). We decided to drive to a beach parking area close to the town of Mossel Bay and walk into Mossel Bay from there.

But I made a wrong turn.

Our First Airbnb Experience

So yesterday, we had to drive from the pretty beach community of Arniston to the mostly residential community of Reebok.

Oh, but before we get to that, we had to go visit a cave. A sea cave!

The southern tip of Africa!

The southern tip of Africa is at the community of Cape Agulhas. It's also the official dividing point between the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and the cool waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Yesterday, we drove from Hermanus to to the seaside community of Arniston, with a stop at Cape Agulhas. We didn't have any plan as to where we were spending the night. But we figured something would come together. And it did!

Hiking around Hermanus

We've been staying in the town of Hermanus, on the western part of South Africa's south shore. It's a pretty seaside community with a lot of beach homes and vacation rentals. There's a golf course, and quite a few expensive looking homes.

To get a good view of the area, our couchsurfing hosts Celeste and Greg directed us to the mountains behind the town where the Fernkloof Nature Reserve has a series of free hiking trails.

Cage Diving with the Great White Sharks!

Okay, here it is. Everything you wanted to know about cage diving with the sharks in the cold Atlantic waters off the coast of South Africa.

Although this activity sounds dangerous and scary, it's really not that bad. To be perfectly honest, it was more of a learning experience than an "adventure" activity. Having said that, there were definitely moments where you felt the adrenaline flowing into your bloodstream!

Our first South Africa road trip!

Technically, our second. But the short 70 km (44 mile) drive from Cape Town to Leoni's beach house doesn't count!

So yesterday, we had to drive from Leoni's beach house on the western shore, all the way to the town of Hermanus which is on the southern shore. The most direct route would have been to go back through Cape Town.

But we wanted to take the scenic route!

Relaxing by the seaside

We spent the weekend relaxing. Sure, we did some walking on the beach and around the complex here at Jakkalsfontein Nature Reserve, but for the most part we just relaxed and stared at the waves coming in!

It's not really a "nature reserve"...we would almost call it a nature resort!

Ten Reasons You Should Visit Namibia

We spent the months of November and December 2013 exploring the country of Namibia. Over the course of almost eight weeks, we drove approximately 10,000 kms (6,200 miles) all over the country. We experienced the many different cultures and saw so many natural wonders.

But one of the things that we didn't see was North American tourists.

We didn't expect this!

We had made arrangements with a couchsurfer who offered us a place to stay at a "nature reserve". It's located about 70 kms (44 miles) north of Cape Town, on the Atlantic Ocean.

It's actually in the opposite direction of what we were planning, but it was described to us as being a bit remote and "not ideal for some couchsurfers but possibly heaven for some", so we figured it would be worth the detour.

But we weren't quite sure what to expect.