Adeventures of Penguin, Simba, Ostrich and Smurf
Trip Start
Nov 07, 2005
1
72
75
Trip End
Nov 04, 2006
Wilderness / Knysna,
South Africa
Saturday, October 21, 2006
The lady at the hostel told us about various things we could do in the area, including scenic walks but we opted to do scenic drives. Because we can. We drove to a place signposted 'Map of Africa' which is a viewpoint where the land in front of you is supposed to be shaped like the continent of Africa. Apparently. If you squint like you're looking at a magic eye picture. Whoever discovered that was surely on drugs.
There happened to be a village market on that night so we hung around to see what it was all about. But apart from a few paintings and some pancakes it wasn't all that. But there was a fab cheese stall, and after sampling most of the cheeses we came away with a large slab of brie which we washed down with a lovely sparkling red that we'd become addicted to since trying it in Cape Town.
Ruth, I think I can safely say it was the best brie of mi life! Probably of all our lives.
Whilst dishing out the cheese, Bart asked why Brent's hands were shaking, to which he replied that they start shaking after he's been drinking and stop when he starts again.
We were relaxing on the patio after having gorged ourselves on said brie, when an Irish lady arrived, exhausted, with her two toddlers in tow. Brent kindly whisked them away whilst Bart and I chatted to her. She'd spent a lot of time in Zimbabwe and was interested to hear how it is now. She was sad to hear Vic Falls was a bit of a ghost town and how desperate the people were. Having spent time in South Africa in the past she came to the sad conclusion that South Africa might end up the same way someday.
We had no electricity for most of the night, and ended up cooking dinenr by candlelight, which reminded me of frequent power cuts I have at home, and something I probably have to look forward to in a couple of weeks time. Dinner took ages cos the oven was stupidly slow, and Brent got bored and started throwing a ball of foil at Bart's back whilst he was washing up. Bart strangely liked it and insisted on one of us rolling the ball of foil down his back in a weird massage.
I took pity on one of the whiny Jack Russell dogs and let him sleep on my bed that night as it was cold outside. It turns out he couldn't have left even if he'd wanted to cos he couldn't make it back down the steep stairs from our room without Bart carrying him.
The enxt morning we moved on to Knysna, a small town famous for oysters and probably not much else. After checking in to our student-flat-like hostel, we ventured out across the lagoon to the oyster company restaurant shop thing. By car, because we have one.
Bart and I had never tried the slimy seafood so he got 3, I just got 1 and Brent just watched and laughed.
We ate them then and there and much to the lady in the shop's insistence that they were 'divine' I didn't quite agree. They were ok but I've had better.
We just hoped Bart wasn't going to get the aphrodisiac effect they're known for.
After cooking a braai (BBQ) feast of fish, steak and sausage, Bart sat on the sofa patting his stomach and examining his Africa fat: "I've never been this fat before. I like it!"
Almost everyone who'd been on the truck had put on a couple of kilos which we liked to refer to as Africa fat. I'd stupidly attempted to start a diet after leaving Cape Town but only lasted 2 days with Bart and Brent constantly shoving cheese and wine in my face.
It's not easy having no willpower.
