From the Itinerary:
9:30- 4x4 flower safari
13:30- spa appointment
16:00- horse ride on the beach
Weather: 54F feels like 51. Showers off/on. Partly sunny. Windy.
Had a nice sleep (for me) listening to the rain. I realized when I woke up that the slight leak in the water bottle turned out to be a big leak. Luckily it was on the other side of the bed, so good job Chris wasn’t there. Will have to tell the desk so they don’t think I’ve done something else in the bed
A nice sunrise - I started a fire and had some tea. You can hear the surf quietly in the background
Ok - I cant actually see into Rob and Luisa’s ….
The rain brought a nice rainbow and some bird friends (a Cape Wagtail?) There’s also a handy spotting scope to take in the view
Breakfast was a lovely buffet
and order from the menu.
I will have the procuitto and mushrooms tomorrow because Lisa’s looked great. Today I had the modified English breakfast with some cheese in my eggs. The yogurt is great and there’s an option for local honey made from a plant only found here - Erica irregularis plant.
4x4 flower tour
I wasn’t exactly convinced this would be interesting and enjoyed it more than I thought. Also enjoyed the community tour more than I thought. Pictures of the front of the lodge and in the jeep on the way over to the start
The only really colorful bird we saw was a sunbird which I couldn’t get a picture of and only saw it vaguely as it was flying away.
My favorite bird of the day is the “Lisa Bird” (Lisa
spotted it), a.k.a. Spotted Thick Knee
Was also amazed at the AI technology on the iPhone which was able to identify a bird Bungani had forgotten - the black drongo
Bongani introduced us to several herbs and local plants. Some smell good and some smell like dirty socks…
And many protea
The reserve is quite unusual as the owners try to keep out invasive species. This is a fire driven ecosystem where they do a controlled burn which grows back after about a year. As a result they have identified several new species, adding to the over 9000 species already contained in the 90,000km2. More than 2/3 of these species are endemic, meaning not found anywhere else on Earth. It is one of only 36 biodiversity hotspots on Earth.
There was another rainbow when we stopped for coffee. Or maybe coffee was at the end of the rainbow….
Probably the highlight of my day was seeing the art gallery with beautiful botanical painting using a magnifying glass and water color. Many of the paintings contained the plant and the pollinator. A few used different media and the images were so life-like they looked like a camera instead of brushstrokes.
Next activity was a Dr Hauschka facial at the Bloom Spa. While waiting I asked for a hot drink which turned out to be a Hot Toddy with a double brandy, whiskey, honey and lemon.
By the time I got to the spa (a 5 minute walk) I was looped. This probably added to my feeling of the facial being incredibly relaxing and quite luxurious. I managed not to fall asleep, but did hear myself snort once , about half way through.
Face facial’d, the next activity was lunch- same menu as yesterday but the soup was butternut squash. I had the carpaccio salad and broccoli tempura- 2 light bites that were really big. Will now start Lisa’s habit of asking for a small portion.
Horseback riding was next activity, so waddled over to the jeep. Our guide was Kora and we had one more join us- Jeanine an exchange from another tour operator.
My horses name was Flame and he only had 1 eye. He liked to walk close to the trees and try to brush me off his back. I knew I should have accepted the offer of chaps:). I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt -eg that with only one eye his depth perception was off….then the horse expected treats at the end….
We had some lovely views along the ridge
and back to the barn after about an hour. I want to love horseback riding, but the experience reminded me that I don’t.
At the stable (which was near the school/community mentioned earlier) they had a friendly cat
chickens, guinea pings and three black rabbits, so I had to have a visit (good bunnies)
Almost immediately upon our return the rain started again- good timing
Sunset was beautiful
Dinner was a similar menu. I forgot to say there is always an “amuse bouche” at the beginning and a palate cleanser before the main- so 5 courses every night. The bread was cheese bread. This time I was a bit smarter and only had the 3 oysters and some ostrich without the rest of the accompaniment. I did have to have the honey ice cream
Built a fire and fell asleep after finishing the horrid book
Comments