Along the coast towards Tsitsikamma National Park

Today was a really beautiful day. Early in the morning, I drove from my accommodation in Addo towards the coast. Just below the Addo National Park is the Woody Cape Section, which is indirectly part of the National Park. However, the road there seems to be privately owned, so I had to pay an entrance fee of €5. After about 4 kilometers towards the beach, I found myself in the middle of a huge sand landscape and the entrance fee was worth every cent. I walked along the coast for quite a while and conquered some dunes. From up there, the view was amazing. It was extremely windy and you can see the sand blowing in the photos, even though it was even more impressive in real life. In addition, there was no one around for miles. Only three anglers shared the beach with me. On the way back, I passed one of the anglers that I had already greeted friendly on the way there. I started a conversation with him and he told me everything about fishing and the techniques he uses here. The angler used a kind of kite to which the fishing line was attached. This way, he could cast his fishing line and bait far out into the sea due to the wind, and at the same time, he could see if a fish had bitten by looking at the kite in the sky. A really fascinating technique. He wanted to catch a cob, a very large type of cod, beyond the waves. While watching the kite, I noticed a large black area in the sea from which a kind of water fountain shot up into the air. When I zoomed in with the camera, I could see a whale :) The angler dryly commented after I excitedly told him about it that this was nothing special here. Okay, for me it was! After talking to him for almost an hour and observing the whale at the same time, I went back to the car and continued to Jeffreys Bay. A popular village on the coast for surfers. I sat down on a rock by the sea and had lunch. Here too, I made some great animal observations, this time it was an octopus and a crab. In addition, there were so many beautiful seashells there that I didn't know which one to admire first. The village, the beach, and the coast reminded me a lot of Holland. Since everything was also signposted in Dutch and a large part of the people here also speak Dutch. Overall, it doesn't feel like Africa anymore down here. The townships have become very small and can only be seen if you don't drive on the main roads. The towns and villages are all very touristy and resemble the coastal towns in Europe. I feel comfortable here and enjoy the very warm temperatures of 28 degrees during the day. Nothing reminds me of the South African hinterland through which I drove the first two weeks and which I described in my earlier blogs. I can now also go into a supermarket without feeling uncomfortable. The Garden Route, which I am currently driving and which leads from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, is one of the tourist highlights in South Africa, so I'm not surprised how it is here, but I somehow expected it. However, due to winter, there aren't many tourists around :) My last stop today was Cape St. Francis. Here too, I drove to the sea and parked at a very beautiful lighthouse. Then I climbed over the rocks towards the sea and while doing so, I could see another whale in the distance. It was already 4:00 p.m. and I had to slowly make my way back to the accommodation. The last 100 kilometers already took me through the Tsitsikamma National Park and when I saw the landscape, I'm already looking forward to doing some hikes in the National Park tomorrow. But the day had one more highlight in store. When I arrived at the accommodation, a very friendly host welcomed me and said that I would be the only guest today. So, I could choose my room. After showing me a few rooms, I decided on a very nice room. He then brought me a cappuccino and I enjoyed the last rays of sunshine in the garden of the accommodation. It was really a very beautiful day that slowly came to an end.