It's been a long time since I haven't posted, and a lot has happened since last post! So let's first start with a memorable journey through Lesotho :)
Once back from the Sani Pass at my hostel on the South African side, my next goal was to enter again into Lesotho, but this time with all my backpacks, to cross Lesotho from East to West! Here is how it looks on the map:
After a few days of hiking around the mountains, I was finally ready for the ascension of the Sani Pass, and had fully recovered from my tick bite fever.
I booked a hostel at the top of the pass, the plan being to hike up, spend the night up there, and hike back down the next day to my lovely hostel at the bottom. It didn't all quite go to plan in the end as you'll see!
The Sani Pass: Lesotho is hiding behind those mountains...
After a week of antibiotics to treat my tick bite fever, I was back in shape to finally explore the Drakensberg mountains around me. I'm staying at a nice hostel in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by beautiful mountains, with a lot of amazing hikes to do, so I was eager to start!
It's the end of my volunteering at the farm! I am now at Sani Pass, in the mountains, at the border with Lesotho. I didn't get to do much here for the moment because I got a tick bite fever and have been a bit sick, but I'm taking antibiotics and am already much better. So before I post about the amazing hikes I will be doing around here, I'm coming back a bit on my stay at the farm with some more pictures and videos!
I stayed almost 3 weeks at the farm in the end, it was a great way for me to settle down a bit, take a rest from the moving, and enjoy a peaceful environment while learning a lot about work at a farm!
A peaceful little farm in the mountains
On one of the days at the farm, Gerry (the owner) decided to take us on a safari! So we jumped on the back of his pick up truck and went into a nice game reserve. Game reserve is the name given to the safari parks, like the Addo Elephant national park I went to earlier.
This game reserve was called Tala, and although a bit smaller than Addo, was also very impressive with other animals. No elephants here, but Giraffes!
Curious Giraffe!Hi all!
After two weeks on the road, I was pretty happy to give the car back and being able to relax a bit. Being every day in a new place is quite exhausting, and I needed a place to settle for a bit!
So I subscribed to this website called Workaway, on which people can post if they need volunteers to work for them in exchange for accomodation and food in general. I found close to Durban (or rather to Pietermaritzburg) an offer of staying in a organic farm, and I decided to go for it!
The farm is ran by a small family, Gerry, his wife and their daughter, all very nice and friendly. There is another volunteer here with me, another french guy!
The deal is that I work about 5 hours a day, 6 days a week, and I get to stay at their farm and get food from the farm every day.
After the Addo Elephant National Park, I went up north, following the coast. From Port Elizabeth to the city of East London, it's called the Sunshine Coast, popular in summer for its beaches and the surf. Ironically, for the 2-3 days where I was there though, it was just raining all the time, so I don't really have a lot of nice pictures to show. Let's say it was a good opportunity for me to learn to drive in the rain and in the fog...
But past East London, I reached the next part, the Wild Coast, which goes all the way up to Durban. And there, the weather finally was nice!
Coffee bay is a nice little village at the east coast, between East London and Durban, famous for its gorgeous landscapes. I decided to spend two days there even though it is not that easy to reach: about 2 hours drive from the main road, on a small road with potholes and animals crossing everywhere! But the trip was worth it, with coastal landscapes resembling a bit Ireland or Wales.
It's safari time!
On my first day travelling alone with the car, I went for a safari near Port Elizabeth, in the Addo Elephant National Park. It's a big natural reserve, where you can enter with your car, and drive on the numerous roads (mostly dirt roads, but a few gravel raods too) which cross the park, in the hope to see some cool animals and stop to watch them. And I did see a lot of them, as you'll see below!
As the name of the park suggests it, it is full of elephants! You can't miss them, they walk around everywhere, I had to stop many times because some elephants were crossing the road. This allowed me to take some very cool pictures and videos!
Hey all!
I'm pretty late on my posting, but I'll try to catch up and show you a bunch of beautiful landscapes I got to see.
The Garden Route is famous for the various landscapes you get to see while driving, between see and mountains, it feels like every day you're in a different country!
Enjoy :)
It's Road Trip time!
I rented a car with someone I met in Cape Town, and who was going in the same direction as me, on the Garden Route for one week. The Garden Route drives you roughly from Cape Town all the way East to Port Elizabeth, for about 800 km. It's very famous for its beautiful landscapes, and there are many pretty places to stop along the way!
In South Africa, the wheel is on the right side, and you drive on the left... quite confusing at first!