Yesterday, I awoke to a rushing sound outdoors. At first I thought it was the wind, but when I stepped out, the temperature had warmed up considerably. I was the surf of the ocean that I heard, not the wind. I prepared cheese and biltong omelets for all of us and then went to the beach to enjoy the warm sun and the amazing blue sky. Gila took more photographs and then sat on the beach drawing. Shelley also took pictures of the rock surfaces and little tide pools that remained eveytime the surf rushed out again. I walked barefoot in the sand for a bit but then sat under the umbrella to attempt for the second time the beginning of a new novel. I lasted one and a half pages and gave up. The sun was making the screen difficult to read and I realized I was content enough to bask lazily in the sun.
Our destination was Seweweekspoort, meaning seven weeks to port. It is believed that that was the amount of time a trek to reach port from the Klein Karoo back in the 1800s. Shelley estimated that the drive would take four and a half hours so we were on the road by noon. The landscape that unfolded before us consisted of richly green vegetated mountains and farms with many sheep and cows.
At the half way point, we stopped to get rands from the ATM, shop for breakfast supplies, buy meat for a braai, buy some beer, cider and amarula and eat lunch. The stop had taken longer than Shelley had anticipated. It wasn't until just after five that we made the turn onto the dirt road to our destination. Our speed had been 100 to 120 for a good part of the drive, but here, we slowed to barely 40 in an attempt to save the car's suspension.
Just a few kilometers along the road the scenery changed drastically. Gone were the gentle sculpted green mountains. Obviously some cataclysmic geological event had occurred. The mountains were huge piles of rocks with no vegetation at all. You could see all the fault lines, where the earth had been pushed sideways and where the caves had been formed. I kept repeating oh my God as we turned each each curve to see more evidence of the raw power of nature. Gila could not keep the superlatives from rolling out one after another as she hung out the window to catch every different rock face on her camera, iPhone and iPad. Although the directions stated that we were to go less than 30 kilometers, it took more than an hour of winding roads ruts and puddles before we reached the guest house road. We were greeted by four dogs and Ben the owner. In his concern Daniel had phoned three times hoping that we had made it. We had no phone reception so she assured Daniel of our safety on Ben's phone. Gila then went in to use Ben's wifi so she could e-mail Jeff that she was not be reachable for the next three days.
The cottage was a sprawling structure that consisted of two buildings. The first had a washroom, a bedroom for two and a living room area. The door led to the porch and garden of the second building which contained the master bedroom, a sitting area and the kitchen. Again, Gila and I shared a room and gave Shelley the master.
Ben invited us to have the braai in the fireplace indoors since it had become rather cold and Shelley built an awesome fire. When the coals were ready, Shelley took care of the cooking. Everything was slowly cooked until it was crisp and we enjoyed the meal with baked potatoes, carrot salad and cole slaw. I had amarula coffee for dessert. Gila washed the dishes and we went to our rooms. The Cango Caves are on our schedule for Friday.
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