Hi all and welcome back to Plett
Yet another busy few days for our little crew here in Africa and what a time it’s been!
When last I wrote we were all at the Bloukrans Bridge, the border between the Eastern and Western Cape and site of the world’s highest commercial bungee jump. At 216m it’s definitely not one for the fait hearted!! Just watching the guys walk out onto the bridge gave me vertigo. The walk to the jump site takes you under the bridge along a metal-grid walkway. You can see all the way to the bottom through the floor, which does your nerves absolutely no favours at all! There’s a strange sinking feeling that comes over you when you hear your name being called out to jump, but once you’re up on that bridge there’s just no backing out. From my safe little perch up on the hill, I watched as each of the guys bailed off the bridge. Lizzy was so keen she didn’t even wait to be counted down; she just threw herself off the edge as soon as she got there. Ollie donned the Ticket to Ride flag as a cape in the hope that it would make him look like a superhero – can’t say I can imagine a use for a superhero who’s only power is to fall off bridges with a cord strapped to his legs and a cape dragging behind him as he fell – but that’s just me. The bungee was an absolute blast in the end and all the guys were on a real high for the rest of the day.
After lunch we decided to do some high-flying activity of a different kind. This time, instead of hurtling down towards the earth, we zipped high above the forest canopy from tree to tree on a tour of the indigenous Tsitsikamma forest. At some points we stood 30m above the forest floor on tiny little platforms that were perched atop the mighty Outeniqua Yellowwood and Cape Hard-Pear Trees, which have been growing in the region for hundreds of years.
On Sunday the waves were really looking good down at the Lookout so Piece and I headed down for a few waves while the rest of the guys made for the smaller waves of Hobbie beach just next door. It was an excellent morning of surf with conditions staying sunny and offshore for the entire duration of our session. Later, after lunch, Ollie took us all for a fitness session at Solar beach. As part of our program for getting into shape and getting surfing fit, each member of the group has to run us all through a 1 hour fitness session everyday to ensure that we are all operating at our peak performance levels in the water. Ollie got things started with a game of Ultimate Frisbee, followed by a game of flags and then a hard session of pop-up practice on the beach. It was a good solid workout and one that paid off, as Jon Henry would soon note during his lesson with the guys yesterday. In the afternoon we headed back to Hobbie beach for another session before rounding off the day with a tasty braai, courtesy of Emma.
Yesterday we began our first official set of lessons with Jon and Donna Henry from the International Surf School. Both Jon and Donna are renowned for their indomitable enthusiasm and zeal for coaching and the guys got a real taste of it during their lesson. The image of Jon paddling round everyone shouting out tips and encouragements while Donna struts up and down the beach making sure everything is running smoothly, became a familiar sight. All the effort and energy really paid off though as the guys really managed to put in some good performances on the more difficult, Plett waves. 3 hours with Jon and Donna is enough to tire out a marathon runner, so it was no surprise to see some tired bodies emerge from the water after the lesson. Tired and hungry we made our way home for some lunch before heading out to the Crags for an afternoon learning about some of Africa’s wildlife species.
Our first stop was at the Crags Elephant Sanctuary where we got to walk and interact with a few of Africa’s most revered mammals. Our guide Patrick took us through the forest with the elephants and, together with the elephant trainers, taught us all about these majestic giants. As a keen nature lover myself, I always revel at the opportunity to be around Africa’s wildlife and learn from the people who work with them everyday, so listening to the guides teach us about elephant behaviour was a real treat.
Our next stop took us to Monkeyland for a guided walk through the forest sanctuary in search of the many indigenous and exotic primates that the park looks after. Many of the monkeys and apes come from other parts of the world such as South America and Asia, but we did get to spot a few of Africa’s endemic species such as the Vervet Monkey who is a common resident throughout the country.
Just across the road from the Monkeys is the Birds of Eden Park, which we visited next. This massive free-flight aviary is home to over 2000 birds of 160 different species. As a nature guide, this was a particularly interesting excursion. Not only did we get to see some of the colourful, exotic birds, but also a few of the more shy and elusive African species that are hardly ever found in the wild such as the Narina Trogon and Knysna Turaco.
After another long and eventful day we all headed back home where Ollie tried his hand at potjie cooking on the fire. I do have to hand it to him, as a first time potjie cooker, he really nailed it and we had an awesome dinner before heading off to bed.
With just 2 days left in Plett, the guys will be looking to up their game in the water with Jon and Donna, and with the conditions looking like they are, we may just have some perfect waves for it.
Till next time…
Take care,
Bevan