Confusing the monkeys

Trip Start Aug 15, 2008
1
49
53
Trip End Ongoing


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of South Africa  , Eastern Cape,
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Tsitsikamma park is a beautiful strech of 82 km of protected coast along the Garden Route in the Eastern Cape.  We were fortunate to have a very nice place to stay in Storm's River called Tsitsikamma backpackers.  We chose to do a canopy tour on our one day in the park.  The starting point was a 5 minute walk for the hostel with a lovely little shop called "Bubblegum" on the way which sells the BEST cake and billtong in all of the Eastern Cape. 

We arrived at the canopy tour not really sure what to expect.  We were given a safety briefing and a rundown of where our money goes and how the trees are protected from any damage from the cables.  The company only takes 43% of each person's admission and the rest goes to various community projects and conservation projects.  The cable system is held on by friction and is meant to be changed every few years so the trees get some down to time just be normal trees again.

We were harnessed up and given helmets and driven to a point overlooking a valley where we walked onto our first platform.  The first cable was a short "nursery" cable to warm us up.  We were hooked in and on our way to the other side one by one.  Oddly, this activity made me more nervous than any other heights activities I've ever done before as I actually had to DO something.  I had to learn to break and was told that if I didn't break hard enough I would crash into the next tree!  I took this advice to heart and almost ended up getting stuck in the middle instead.  Thankfully I found a happy medium as the tour went on. 

We did two shorter cables before a couple very big, very high cables, the longest of which was 91 metres.  10 cables later we were back on solid ground and hungry.  We were relieved to find lunch on the other end. 

We walked back to the hostel and spent the evening watching movies and having a few drinks.  It occured to me that "Africa" as we knew it had ended a few stops ago as I lay on a leather couch, in a beautiful house, furnished to home standards.  We have been riding in comfort for the last few days, staying at very nice (and cheap) backpackers with clean, comfy beds, and there is such a selection of food in the super markets that we hardly know what to grab!  The Garden Route so far has been VERY beautiful.  It reminds me a bit of British Columbia, specifically Vancouver Island.  I am missing....well....almost everything about the places we have been, but have to admit that it is nice once in a while to be able to find clean, safe food for snacks and modern amenities in hotels.  I guess its a way of easing us back into it before we hit home in a week?
Print this entry Sandton hotels