On the road with the runs
Trip Start
Jan 19, 2006
1
10
16
Trip End
Feb 03, 2006
Colesberg,
South Africa
Friday, January 26, 2007
Uncle Michael had opted for a mountain pass for the first leg of the journey, which he claimed would take about an hour tops. Hmm, maybe not. Man, it was hairy and defo not just 1 hour. With three in the back of the BMW, it was a bit cozy and not the best. The road wasn't even tarred, it was just kind of dirt with stones, plus being really narrow and steep and windy. Argh. Still, we got through in one piece, and from there is was just heaps of really straight boring roads.
The further inland we headed, the hotter it was getting. We were into the 'Karoo' the desert type land in the centre of SA. By the time we got to Oudtshoorn it was almost 40 degrees, urgh
Anna-Marie sitting on one!
. First on the agenda was the Cango Caves, which was about 30km out of town. Unfortunately we had possibly the most dull and unenthusiastic tour guide, I swear he must have been the inspiration for the tour guide on the Leage of Gentleman...... 'this is where the boy lost his footing'...... On the tour we passed a small group of people, and man they reeked big time of BO!! They were on the 'adventure' tour which is 2 hours and involves crawling through small gaps and crevices, not my idea of fun. Some fat bint had got herself stuck just a couple of months back, she was warned that she wouldn't make it but went on anyway. They had to prise her free with liquid paraffin, and the 'operation' involved several ambulance teams and a helicopter, ha!!!! Read more about it here:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6225301.stmAfter an enthralling hour the tour was finally over and we were able to escape from Colin the guide into the scorching sun. Next on the menu, ostrich!!!! Oudtshoorn is famos for ostrich, and there were plenty of show farms for us to choose from, we opted for the Cango one as it was the nearest. The tour started with an introduction to the blighters by some dude Isak, thankfully he was heaps more enigmatic than Colin! Then came the main course - the crazy birds!!! As it was so hot, they all had their beaks open as this helps to cool them down, but also adds to their insane appearance. The first thing was an option to give one of the tame birds a 'kiss', which basically involved putting a piece of grain between your lips and waiting for the bird to peck it out
Bored in the caves
. No thanks. We saw a few more birds and some babies and then it was time to have a go sitting on them. Anna-Marie was the first to volunteer, so the worker guys chased after and grabbed an ostrich, putting a bag over its head (with a hole for its beak), Isak explained that if the bird can't see then it calms down. The poor things only have 30g brains, their eyes actually weight more than their brain, so the lights are on but no-one is home!! It was too hot for us to try to ride the ostrich, good as it seemed a bit mean to me. One of the guys that worked there demonstrated what riding one would be like, but it was more like the bird was running to try to get him off its back than anything else!!!
After all was done, it was time to get back onto the road and the journey ahead to Colesberg, some dull little town in the middle of nowhere, but a decent enough place to stop for some scran and sleep.
