The Garden Route

The baby Chetahs are very cute
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We arrived in the Knysna area and had to go through our normal driving around and debating on where to stop to look for a place to stay. I think the hardest part about traveling for so long is the constant search for food and lodging. But the fact that we had a rental car made this search a bit easier. We just kept driving, and Bill turned towards East Heads and saw the Woodbourne Resort which had a description in one of the books we had. It had cabins as well as camping grounds. We got a cute little self contained cabin that had a kitchen and living room, and the kitchen was inside so no monkeys to contend with. I decided it was time to relax, and Bill being full of energy took a walk exploring the area.

One of the views that we saw on our drive along the coast
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When he returned, we headed to town to try and find some food. We finally found a parking space. Now, in South Africa it seems all areas have a "parking guy." The only official ones we found were in one part of Cape Town who acted like a parking meter and showed up right as you parked and collected your money. Everywhere else there were guys in construction bright orange vest that would come up to you as you parked your car and try to guide you into a spot or tell you they "were protecting" your car. So if you return and your car is intact, you should give them a tip as they work on donations. Needless to say Bill was pretty fed up with being told how to park, and leaving a tip was out of the question. It's probably good they don't expect to be paid until you return because who knows what would of happen to our stuff if it was the other way around, since Bill had no intention of "donating" to anyone. I still wonder if anyone can just get a bright orange vest and become a "parking guy."

The opening at Knysna Heads
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Anyhow, Bill did get "guided" in by a parking guy, and we left to find food. We found a mall area and ate some lunch at a cute little cafe though Bill realized after we ate that the special sounded good. We went in search of an internet cafe, but didn't have much success in finding one. We walked through 3 mall areas and just figured we'd try again tomorrow. So we headed into the grocery store instead to find a mad house. Bill described it as being in Wisconsin right before an expected snow storm. We couldn't figure out for the life of us why it was so crowded, but we did our best to find what we needed and wait in the massive line to check out. So relieved to get out, we returned back to our cabin. We cooked and had a night in watching a movie, THE RUINS, on my ipod. Though I can't recommend the movie unless you like scary movies with strange endings, but there was a lot of screaming.

The imposing rock cliffs that mark the entrance to the lagoon
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The next morning made it easy to have cereal and fruit as we finally had a kitchen and some groceries. After we headed past the part Bill explored on foot yesterday and went to the Knysna heads viewpoint. Again we were greeted by a "parking guy," and I kept walking towards the brick path as Bill went back to the car for the camera. I sat at the viewpoint for a bit wondering where Bill was, and as I was getting up to turn around, he finally came down the path. He had wondered where I went and had seen a dirt path thinking I went that way, but I'm not sure how he missed the street sign that said viewpoint. We spent some time reading and switching viewpoints, and then headed down to the beach area. Bill explored on rocks while I read a bit more. Though, my stomach growling got me to get his attentions and we headed to the East Head Cafe where we had some burgers and a great view.

Looking down from above the water is swirling around
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We headed back to our cabin for a bit, but Bill really wanted to go walking so we headed out to find Phantom Pass which should lead us to a park area with walking trails. As we were headed that way, Bill had the thought that we should try the internet first because we didn't know what time they would close on a Saturday. As we headed back to town, we discovered why there was such a mad rush the day before. Everything but restaurants were closed, and we finally saw some internet cafes to see that they were all closed for the weekend. If you're not in a big city, most stuff closes the whole weekend not just Sunday. And so, we gave up and headed back out to Phantom Pass to find out it just went back to another main road, and we never found the park. Not very good luck for the day, but Bill was able to call and book us a cheetah walk for the morning.

Bill and Michelle enjoying the view
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So we got up extremely early, luckily, I looked at the clock because Bill had set the alarm to pm instead of am. So we were making a mad rush to get ready quickly since we got up a bit late, but we got out the door with plenty of time to make the 45 min drive and arrive before 7:15. We arrived at Tenikwa, which was basically, a specialized park in wild cats. We signed up for a cheetah walk and then their normal one hour tour of all the cats.

Our guides took us over to Zulu and Duma cage as we got to see these 10 month old cheetahs. They were probably brothers from the same litter. Bill was a bit disconcerted that the cheetahs were harnessed and then we walked them with two leashes. He liked walking with the lions cubs because they were free to do as they pleased. We basically walked one person and one guide to a cheetah; no one was going first, so Bill volunteered. Though as we started emerge into the jungle, Zulu took off and Bill let go as the guide tried to keep up. We got to one spot, and the guided took out huge cat toys. And we played with them as if they were any other cat.

The waves crashing over the rocks
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However, there were some baboons in the area and the cheetahs were starting to get defensive. The guides were worried because the alpha male of the baboons could hurt the cheetahs, and one had got hurt a few weeks back but it couldn't have been the alpha male. So she radioed in a call to bring out the house dog to scare the baboons off. Though the couldn't find the dog, so we ended up trying to get them to walk back. That was a challenge as every few feet, they just plop right back down. Cheetahs can run up to 70 miles an hour but only for 30 seconds, and then they need to rest. And so, they kept stopping and we kept trying to get them to go by throwing a ball or the guided lifting one up. I walked Zuma back most of the time, and we finally arrived back at their cage. And we got to watch them eat, which was raw chicken. As we were watching, we saw the owner yelling at someone and almost threw a rock because he was driving so fast and could of hurt and animal if any were out.

Knysna Heads in all its beauty
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We went for a snack before starting the next bit of the tour. The owner came and apologized for the scene and told us it was a hostel owner trying to see what this business was. Though he encouraged a cheetah by doing things he was told not to do, and then went to complain to the receptionist and was extremely rude to her. He pointed out that if you're going to complain go to the manager not the receptionist.

We saw 5 month year old cheetahs, Zintler and Ihlosi. They were full of energy but the female was a bit shy at first. Then we saw Merlin and Amber, African Wild Cats, they look just like normal house cats. I would have never been able to tell the difference. Then we saw Sinja, Ginju, Tsotsi known as the Caracal, and they were really soft. Bill really liked these ones with their pointy ears. Then Tokolushe and Tickes who are black footed cats; they like to hide inside tunneled areas. Then we saw Jasper and Ti-eye, Serval, which looked like smaller cheetahs, and suddenly became Bill's favorite after seeing them. Then we said bye to Duma and Zula again. Duma was pacing around the cage, maybe upset by the altercation that had taken place earlier because he'd stop eating when it happened and had been pacing ever since. Then we met Earl, a stork, that like to peck. And finally, we starred at the baby cheetahs who were being bottled feed, and should not be touches yet as their immune systems are still really weak. Then it was time to leave, and say goodbye to all the cats. I tried not to pick a favorite as not make Mojo (my cat) jealous.

Michelle found another Cat to play with this one was a Caracal
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Bill still had an inkling to walk, so we tried another park. We found the park this time, but the walks were too far, so we just went the great viewpoint instead and starred away at the waves. We were going to try to see a waterfall, but since there wasn't much water flowing, we figured it wasn't worth trying to find it to see a stream. We then headed towards Cape Town and found a cute little cafe, Picasso, to have lunch. We had no idea how big there menu was going to be when we sat down, but there were too many choices. We tried again to find internet but since it was Sunday, it was even more hopeless. And so back to Cape Town we went driving and driving and then driving some more hitting Cape Town around 8 at night...

Michelle walking with a Chetah
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Michelle