South Africa Sun 6 & Mon 7 Dec '09

South Africa Sun 6 & Mon 7 Dec '09
Sun 6 day of rest, reading book.

Mon 7 start whole day tour at 8am, just me and driver/guide.
We drive for one and half hours westwards out of scrubby bush into the foothills of the Drakensburg Mountains, gloriously green with tall trees and fruit and nuts growing in the fields.
Scones with cream and jam at the Coach House then a guided tour of the nearby nougat factory. Everything manual including wrapping each individual nougat 'sweet'. Well worth visiting here for the free samples.
Then to Magoebaskloof and its tea plantation, but it has been compulsorily purchased by the Government and handed to the local Makguba Tribe. With no help or support, they have been unable to maintain it resulting in a tea jungle. A shame, but there is still the Pekoe Tea Garden which has fantastic views across the valley.

Next to Debege Water Falls, spectacular and dangerous, with several plaques commemorating youngsters killed after falling from the slippery rocks. These make a beautiful place sad.

Whilst driving up the side of a mountain through astonishingly beautiful forest, my guide tells me about elephants' incredible sense of smell. A group of men are lined up. As an elephant sniffs each one, he is told the mans name. The elephant turns his back to the men who then throw their hats into a pile. The elephant is told to find Fred's hat and give it to George. He does it correctly. Then Joe's hat to Jim. Etc and he gets it right every time. Then they throw George's hat in the pile. George is not one of the men sniffed by the elephant today, he was in a group sniffed 6 months ago. The elephant successfully picks out Georges hat. They are that good at remembering smells and their owner. It's a pity they are a bit big for checking bags at airports.

We visit Haenertsburg, a very pretty village.
Then Sunland Baobab Tree. It is over 6,ooo years old, huge, and has a pub inside the trunk. Incongruous and not to be missed when you visit South Africa.
We drive on, through Modjadje, a town with thousands of small dwellings spread over hundreds of acres. On to the Modjadje Nature Reserve, created mainly to preserve a forest of Cycads, Modjadje Palms some of which are 1000 years old. Their fruits look like large pineapples and are much loved by the hundreds of Vervet Monkeys populating the area. (These monkeys have the largest vocabulary of the monkey world, 36 different sounds used to communicate)

On the return drive we see Sable (3 sightings, close up) and Buffalo in the distance.

My thanks to Annelize for suggesting these places to visit. It has been a great day.
A long day, 11 hours and 420 kilometers. My last day. I fly out tomorrow, back in the UK Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading my ramblings, till the next trip, All the Best, John.