Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, SA

Sunday April 27 Kidd’s Beach, Eastern Cape Province – 398 km

Last evening we went for a walk and watched all the fishermen (and one intent 3 year old) casting lines hoping to pull in grunter or rock salmon. Again this morning they were out there at it when we got up.

Port St. John Resort

We started our morning by heading into the town of Port St John. We were surprised with how old and dilapidated it was as it was toasted in “The Lonely Planet” as the center of tourism for the Wild Coast of SA. There are some very nice resorts in the area catering to the fishermen but certainly nothing in the town that we saw that would encourage us to return.

With good intentions we did our research on the net last night and planned our route and destination for today to no avail. The road we looked for seems to have been renumbered. Instead we are at the Palm Springs Resort at Kidd’s Beach just south of East London on the Indian Ocean. There has been so much rain here over the past three days the roads to the resort are poor, some parts looking like a creek bed. Luckily until today - it poured in East London - we haven’t had much rain and it seems to be clearing now. From the weather forecast we saw for our next destination the weather is supposed to be back to the sunny days. I sit here looking at and listening the Indian Ocean while I type this.

Again today we drove through the multiple small settlements and mountainous/farming areas, winding roads climbing and descending and curving around. We were surprised at how many dead dogs we have seen on the road today as we hadn’t been seeing any dogs at all until the past day or so. Many of the towns are making an effort to build sidewalks from the townships into the main town center, we think to try to keep people off the side of the road. Not sure if it will work or not but is a good idea.

We had been commenting on how the only Americanized fast food chain we had been seeing EVERYWHERE was KFC (even in the smaller communities) until today when we saw our first McDonalds. There are “Wimpy” bars as well which Norma remembers as a hamburger chain big in Britain.

We had been hearing how high the rape crime rates were in SA and are amazed to see how many young girls are walking alone or in two on the highways hitch hiking. They sure don’t seem to care who picks them up. There are the minivan/buses running between all the little communities but we don’t see any rhyme or reason to how they work. There are people standing on the side of the road they just pass by and then they stop for others even when they are so full the people have to squeeze to get in. There are no seat belt laws here so you will see small children – 3 to 4 years old sitting on the drivers knee, small children hanging half out the open windows while the car is going 100 km/hr. and people piling into the back of bakkies (pickup trucks) with canopies. Today we saw a family of 6 kids and 5 adults pile in, all smiling and getting settled on pillows and quilts for their ride to their next destination.

We have seen several traffic accidents since arriving – there was a bad rollover today. Generally the drivers are courteous, although there are exceptions. When you pull over to the shoulder to allow someone to pass and they will flash their lights to thank you after they are safely by. Also the slower moving vehicles will often give you a wave when they move onto the shoulder it seems safe to pass. Overall it seems much better than dealing with some Alberta drivers (not our kids!).

Every populated area we go through we are struck with the chaos of people walking every which way and generally filling the streets and sidewalks. Sometimes there will be no houses to be seen and there will still be people on the road.

This is another holiday weekend, Freedom Day, so we are aware the roads may be a bit busier tomorrow as everyone heads back to the cities after a long weekend. Our plan is to go into Addo Elephant Park tomorrow in spite of the internet telling us there is no room to camp.

 

April 28, 2014 Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, SA – 399  km

Woke to a beautiful sunny morning. Doug started the day by chasing the monkeys out of the garbage can. There was a family of six merrily jumping tree to tree and generally getting into mischief.

Norma Practising

Kidd Beach Resort

Our drive this morning again took us into the mountains but this time there were large stretches where it was totally uninhabited. Still seeing the bus stops where no houses can be seen but fewer people and only cows on the road. The rain the past few days has really brought on the cactus flowers so that was a treat for us.

After travelling west for about 3 hours we arrived at Addo Elephant National Park. Our Wild Card (National Parks Pass) gets us into all the parks. There was no caravan space tonight so we resigned ourselves to a day visit only and started with a picnic lunch overlooking a waterhole. During lunch we saw warthogs, an ostrich and a kudu. 

The highlights of animal viewing were the zebras (first time we have seen them) and the wonderful dung beetles (those are the neat beetles that make elephant dung into a ball and roll it into a safe spot where they can lay their eggs). They have the right of way for vehicles in the park! There are even dung beetle signs posted similar to our “watch for wildlife” signs. They are about the size of a loonie and the ball they make is the size of an orange. We watched two of them make a ball, have the ball start to roll down an incline, jump off or get rolled off onto their backs and start the entire process again. We also saw several different types of ungulates (kudu, wildebeest, impala, etc.).  There were numerous families of warthogs as well. We came across three of them on the side of the road where mom was giving junior a bath. The little one kept rolling over and pushing at mom for more! This park was cited as having the largest elephant population but we did not see a single one. We had thought about getting a camping spot closer and returning to the park but opted to carry on further south west.

Dung Beetles at Work

Warthog Baby Bath

 

We then fueled up and headed toward the ocean. We used the caravan book to find “the Willows”, a very nice spot on the ocean front. Luckily we had a detailed tourist map of Port Elizabeth or we wouldn’t have had such luck. We got it for only $12.00 a night as we were given seniors rate of 50% off, a real bonus as when we pulled up we had decided this was probably going to be our most expensive night so far as it is pristine and right on the ocean.

Indian Ocean View From Campsite

Time to get some laundry done, go for a walk on the beach and settle in. I imagine the sound of the waves is going to lull us to sleep tonight as it is pretty loud.