we had a chat with Sue and Phil who were staying at the same campsite, and who
shared a huge amount of information on travel in Southern Africa, with
particular advice on good birding spots. The previous day we had had a similar
chat with Maans, who has travelled extensively throughout Southern Africa and
who gave us loads of good ideas and useful info. Yet again we have found that
South Africans are an incredibly kind and helpful bunch.
Going through Port Elizabeth on Saturday morning, we passed a large cemetery and were surprised to see queues and queues of vehicles waiting to go in. We noticed many very well-dressed men squashed into bakkies (pick-up trucks) and overall we had the impression of people attending an important social event. Apparently funerals are a very common sight due to the impact of AIDS. The large numbers of people attending on that day were extremely striking and quite thought-provoking.
The campsite here at Storms River Mouth is right on the shoreline, with huge breakers crashing on the rocks in front of the truck. There is also a little swimming pool, which the kelp gulls are making the most of, quite amusingly.
When we checked in here, we were given a little map of all the footpaths from the campsite. They were all short (apart from the Otter Trail, which takes 5 days), so we decided to do all of them, starting with the 3km stroll to a waterfall. We set off this morning with high hopes of returning for lunch and coffee before heading in the opposite direction for another walk. Over 3 hours later we finally arrived at the waterfall - what the map doesn't indicate is that a good section of the walk involves scrambling over a rocky foreshore and that the views and bird watching opportunities would be so good that we would be slowed right down. The walk was fantastic - quite similar to the Cornish coast with foaming waves crashing on great rocks below, dense vegetation above and a lot of animal life including a seal fishing in the surf, Knysna Louries, an African Black Oystercatcher and a group of Dassies who posed for a great photo opportunity!
The waterfall was well worth the walk - it falls over the cliff edge into a large fresh water pool formed in the foreshore rocks before exiting through a very narrow gap to tumble into the surf.
For those of you who are envious - it's winter here! This evening it started to rain - apart from one night a week ago this is the first real rain that we've seen so far, however we expect to see more and cooler temperatures as we head further South towards Cape Town.
Sue has become very proficient at creating culinary masterpieces in a small space - it's surprising what can come out of a tiny fridge, be cooked on a tiny cooker and be eaten on a tiny table by two hungry people!
We've uploaded a few more photos this evening - Dassies and all!