South Africa

Saturday 2nd January 2016 – Woken up at 5.30am in the early morning light to the noisy bar opposite still partying to loud booming music…Aaron says on all of his travels he has never stayed anywhere noisier than here! We now fully understand why the hostel gives you free earplugs on arrival! We fall asleep for a few more hours and awaken, pack our bags and head for the train station to make our way to Stellenbosch, the oldest wine region in South Africa. It is our first African train journey and have been warned that it isn’t entirely safe, however we have no choice as transport in South Africa is so hard to come by. We book a first class ticket to Stellenbosch and are told it goes direct. What we weren’t told was how deserted the train would be and that it stops at every tiny place en route making us decidedly nervous especially when opportunistic teenagers eye us up with interest at various stops by jumping on and off the train, malice in their intentions. We quickly up sticks and sit alongside other passengers sparse though they are we feel a little safer. An hour and a quarter later we arrive at our destination with relief and find Stumble Inn Backpackers as our new dwelling place. That evening we dine in a star lit restaurant, fairy lights twinkling around us, the roof open and the stars shining brightly down upon us. We enjoy a three course feast culminating in the most delicious tiramisu I have ever tasted, laced with amaretto and finished with a velvety cup of smooth coffee. It is serene, quiet and heavenly when we return to our dwelling for the night…we hope for our first good nights sleep in a whole week!

Sunday 3rd January 2016 – Tired and restless, we awaken…a mosquito had kept us up all night buzzing in our ear and drinking our blood to its hearts content! It really was the most insatiable mosquito we had ever had the misfortune to know! We headed into town for provisions and then visited the Botanical Gardens where we saw a variety of beautifully coloured insects such as butterflies, bees and dragonflies and large, spongy lily pads, big enough to lay a baby on. The gardens were shady and cool with a myriad of trees and plants to learn about. We weaved in and out of the greenery and then headed back to our hostel. We had already decided not to do a wine tour as neither of us are wine drinkers and the weather was so stiflingly hot that many people returning from their wine tour had not been able to fully enjoy their experience because of the heat. Knowing that Aaron was likely to be in his cave for the rest of the day I left him to watch videos on his phone while I rested up and recharged my batteries in the garden. That night we dined in one of the top restaurants in South Africa…but we still preferred the wonderful meal from the night before.

Monday 4th January 2016 – After a quick breakfast we returned to our hostel where the landlord had promised to help us to find a car to rent. We had not planned to do this but had found out the night before that NO public transport whatsoever goes to the Southern most tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas, which was where we wanted to head next! Getting around in Africa really is tricky. He gave us a quote which was three times as much as we had seen online, he agreed that it was extortionate because of high season and the higher the demand for cars, the higher the prices! We visited four car hire companies in town…the same answer, either no cars at all or ridiculous prices. Aaron wanted to try one more, Bidvest Car Hire…success, they were a third of the price the others had quoted so we booked a car to pick up the following morning for a duration of two weeks. Although we hadn’t planned a car we were now relishing the thought of having our own wheels and the freedom that comes with a car. Happy with our decision we booked another night at our hostel but had to move to a dorm in their sister house…luckily for us it had a pool so we enjoyed a few hours cooling our hot bodies and chilling out poolside. That evening we enjoyed a mini wine tasting session of six award winning Brampton wines of the region. We chatted while sipping the fruity freshness of Sauvignon Blanc to the smooth richness of Pinotage in the cool evening breeze.

Tuesday 5th January 2016 – Up early today as the others in our dorm had had a very restless night. They had borrowed Aaron’s insect spray last night but still described their night’s sleep as sleeping in a ‘hell hole’! No wonder, they had shut all the windows to keep the mosquitos out so it was stifling in the room. Again, Aaron’s mosquito net had come to the rescue and we had slept under his net in the bottom of our bunk bed. We had learnt from previous nights that these mosquitos needed more than insect spray to keep them at bay! We collected our car at 11am and named her ‘Mini Trooper’ even though she was a Ford…happy and free we headed for Cape Agulhas. We drove by glorious vineyards and spied the coast in the distance following it eastwards through the picturesque hills. Flanked by pine forests I caught sight of two golden eagles soaring high above us…it is said that if you see an eagle it is one of your ancestors in spirit guiding and watching over you from the heavens…it did seem that we had our wings and freedom once more. Onwards we went, swifts somersaulting to our left and wind turbines turning to our right. After a two and a half hour drive we arrived and booked in for two nights at Cape Agulhas Backpackers…my favourite hostel so far! We were greeted by Erin who showed us on a map restaurants to eat in to feeding the stingrays…the hostel was calypso colourful with two resident dogs who follow you to the beach and Poppy the ‘male’ parrot who loves girls but won’t let men stroke him…he’ll peck them instead as Aaron found out to my amusement! With the golden 14 km beach just a few minutes walk away we spent the afternoon sunning ourselves and relaxing…sand between our toes. That evening at the bar we chatted to other guests, drank rum and beer, while Poppy sat on Aaron’s shoulder, grooming his beard and pecking his ear! Later we ate at Pelican’s Restaurant and walked on the boardwalk next to the sea back to our best nights sleep for quite a while.