South Africa - Knysna - Plettenburg Bay - Tsitsikama (Storms River) - Jeffreys Bay - Port Elizabeth

We arrived at the hicklety picklety 'Island Vibe' hostel and were greeted by the lovely Craig and the bonkers Beverley (whose voice certainly made up for her lack of height). We ‘slept’ in the hottest, noisiest and possibly smallest dorm yet. 

 

John in his tuk tuk

Beautiful Knysna

Knysna is a wealthy holiday retreat so we were hoping to find some yachties to sail with but alas were out of season. We were lucky though to be taken around town in a tuk tuk to all the sites by the amusing John where he pointed out the many shipwrecks, Dutch houses and stunning view points. We also devoured as much fresh fish as we could lay our hands on.

From Knysna we headed to Plettenberg Bay for two nights where we chilled in ‘Albergo’s Backpackers’. 

Plett Bay with Andy

We met some ‘interesting’ characters including a loud local Saffa who didn’t understand the etiquette of dorm sharing and a sweet law student who surprised us when he whipped out his hairdryer (we knew there was something we had left behind!). Our highlight in Plett Bay was sea kayaking with the entertaining Warren and James (we liked them immediately when their boss allowed them both to take us so long as they split the pay; who are we to turn down having two strapping young lads to do all the work?). 

Dressed and ready to go kayaking!

Warren and James

We were thrilled to have hammerhead sharks swimming under our kayaks, to see a seal playing with and eating an unlucky octopus and the high point a pod of 50+ dolphins jumping and playing right in and amongst our two kayaks on a fishing mission. We were so grateful to our two guides we took them out to the local pie shop which would certainly rival any British equivalent.

Leaving a rainbow behind but bringing the rain with us we hopped on to the Bazbus, destination ‘Dijembe Backpackers’ in Tsitsikamma (Storms River). We arrived in the pitch black to a garden of horses and a welcome sherry at the bar served to us by the eccentric owner Brad and his girlfriend Helena (it soon became apparent that he was attracted to Helenas!). 

Dijembe

Dijembe is an eco-hostel with frog cultivating ponds, quirky handcrafted décor and a host of animals from dogs to bunnies.  We spent the first day walking and chilling waiting for the sun to reappear for tubing and kloofing (jumping off rocks) the next day.  It was most definitely worth the wait as we woke to the sun streaming through our window. With all the rain the river was full to the brim and the rapids flowing faster than ever. We donned our wetsuits, life jackets and helmets to ride the white waters (slightly out of control at times) down the river and through the rocks. We all had a few grazed knuckles and bruises at the end but the adventure was an adrenaline high to say the least.   

Relaxing in the Jacuzzi

A great day thanks to our three guides, Randy, Savo and Etta even if they did take great pleasure in constantly tipping us off our tubes. 

That night we treated ourselves to a jacuzzi under the stars in preparation for ‘horse riding’ through the forest the following day. Excited we mounted our horses mules with cowboy Brad leading Andy and the two of us following behind. At least we tried to follow but it turns out these horses mules didn’t want to go anywhere and it was a frustrating ride (even Brad couldn’t get them to move which was quite amusing). However we did at least get a tour on horseback through the local township even if we did end up stranded outside the tavern with a beer in one hand and the reins in the other while Brad had disappeared (again) this time to find fish and chips. An extraordinary fellow and one we were pleased (especially Hels) to see the back of when we hit the road to ‘Jeffreys Bay’.

Bye bye Helena and Cowboy Brad!

 

J Bay as it is known by the locals is a huge surfing destination.  We only had time to stay one night and spent the day on the beach waiting for the surf to develop. Sadly it never did so not much to report there and we were happy to get back on the road to Port Elizabeth.

 

Ana aboard the BazBus

Knowing that we would be arriving late into Port Elizabeth on a Friday night we took some beers onto the bus and had a ‘jolly’ journey there with the fun Ana who had boarded with us in J Bay. On arrival we were ready to go out for a bit of a party with the hostel manager Lindl and his friends in a local nightclub. 

The next day we wandered the streets of PE followed by an early night and a 6am alarm for the next part of our journey on the Bazbus.