The day after my birthday, we drove to the De Hoop Nature Reserve in the pouring rain. Once we were in De Hoop, it felt like the game drives in Pilanesberg and Addo all over again. There were ostriches and Bonteboks everywhere, along with many new birds and animals.
We settled down in our awesome little cottage and my dad cooked us spaghetti (with his homemade sauce). Ben and I also had our first experience with heating blankets on our beds. It was heaven!!
The next morning, Ben and I were still in bed at nine, so my dad came in and opened the curtains to start waking us up. It worked, but since he was looking at me, I reached onto my nightstand and grabbed my eye mask thing. I put it on and fell right back asleep. Nice try dad!! Now it has become one of the jokes of the trip.
Once Ben and I had actually woken up, we drove 16km to the coast where we could see southern right whales from shore. They were super cool. Then we hiked along the coast for an hour or so, stopping to watch more whales and have a snack along the way.
After lunch, Ben and I spotted some sand dunes to jump down. (Dad was still into the whales.)
When we finally made it back to the cottage, mom insisted on us going for another walk around a lake nearby. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) for Ben and I, the trail was literally infested with weird large gnat-like insects. They flew up our noses and into our eyes. Definitely not one of most fun experiences of the trip. We abandoned the hike and returned to our cottage. (Thankfully.)
The next day, we drove to Cape Town for the last week of our trip. The next post will be about our time in Kalk Bay, a "suburb" of Cape Town.
Bye for now!
-Abby
The next morning, Ben and I were still in bed at nine, so my dad came in and opened the curtains to start waking us up. It worked, but since he was looking at me, I reached onto my nightstand and grabbed my eye mask thing. I put it on and fell right back asleep. Nice try dad!! Now it has become one of the jokes of the trip.
Once Ben and I had actually woken up, we drove 16km to the coast where we could see southern right whales from shore. They were super cool. Then we hiked along the coast for an hour or so, stopping to watch more whales and have a snack along the way.
Check out all these shells on the beach!
When we finally made it back to the cottage, mom insisted on us going for another walk around a lake nearby. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) for Ben and I, the trail was literally infested with weird large gnat-like insects. They flew up our noses and into our eyes. Definitely not one of most fun experiences of the trip. We abandoned the hike and returned to our cottage. (Thankfully.)
The next day, we drove to Cape Town for the last week of our trip. The next post will be about our time in Kalk Bay, a "suburb" of Cape Town.
Bye for now!
-Abby
These pictures are amazing (I love the beach covered in shells), but my favorite by far is the video of you two jumping the dunes! I haven’t done that in a few years but it looks like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteWait...you didn’t explain why ostriches are so weird and why they shouldn’t be considered birds!?! I’m so curious!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Abby, for the wonderful descriptions of DeHoop Nature Reserve and the photos of ostrich and other wildlife. Enjoyed seeing your accommodations and the action shot of dune jumping. Looks like even with all the driving you're still getting lots of exercise. Love, Grandma Mary Jo
ReplyDeleteAbby
ReplyDeletewhat a great experience! those photos are great and you do a wonderful job describing the beauty of the country and the animals. see you soon.
grandpa jeff
I LOVE the dune jumping video! You both fly!
ReplyDeleteAbby, I love your posts. You are getting to see so much of South Africa, and you describe your adventures so wel. Will be very interested in your comments on Capetown. Like Johannesburg, there is so much history there. Love, Grandma Joan
ReplyDeleteI second the comment requesting more information about ostriches!
ReplyDeleteHi Abby. I love this post. I am slow responding to it because I am not used to reading blog posts and commenting on them. I like the story of putting on your eye mask after your dad tried to wake you up. I like that you were describing distances in kilometers instead of miles. Very south African. I liked the story about how the gnats saved you from a walk you didn’t want to take. Of course, I liked the photos and the video of you and then jumping from the dune. That turtle in one photo looked huge. Did you try riding on it back? I like the story about the electric blanket but what happened to the hot water bottle idea?
ReplyDeleteYou can probably tell I am dictating my comment. I did not proofread it enough. I will proofread my next comment better before I publish it.
ReplyDelete