South Africa Day 9, 10 & 11 - Break and transfer to Durban

Day 9 - Saturday:

After a final breakfast in George, we loaded our bus and had an obligatory "Grubbafodo". At ten o'clock we rolled off the site in the direction of "Blackwaters River Lodge" near Goukamma. But our route was not going to take us there directly. First we stopped at the supermarket to stock up on water and snacks for the weekend. The next stop, however, was not planned. However, when we saw the sea with a beautiful sandy beach behind a mountain dome and the weather also invited us to visit the beach, Massa steered the bus to the left of the roadside and we stormed towards the sea. Once there, we enjoyed the beautiful weather and when the last of us arrived at the beach, the first were already in the water. It was a very welcome way to cool off, but we had to enjoy it with caution as there were warnings about strong currents. When everyone finally came out of the water safely, we took lots of photos and after we had finally successfully cleaned all the sand from our feet, we were able to continue our journey by bus to Knysna. Our first stop was a lagoon, just outside the town itself. We got there via a tree-lined path and let the fresh breeze blow around our noses. We were treated to a beautiful view of the sea and the cliffs in the bright sunshine.
At around 3 p.m. we made a second stop in Knysna, where we had about an hour to stock up on souvenirs, eat ice cream and stroll around a bit.
We went straight to our destination, the "Blackwaters River Lodge". The complex was very spacious, surrounded by green mountains, through which a river meandered, colored brown by tannins. Our rooms were also a dream. Immediately after we moved into them, we had delicious lasagne (smaak lekker ;)) around the campfire, which gave this eventful day a successful end.

Day 10 - Sunday:

Sunday at the "Blackwaters River Lodge" was all about team building. After a delicious breakfast, which we ate outside in a beautiful setting, one group headed to the beach, while another group went on a short 6 km hike. During the hike we were even able to see and observe monkeys in the forest, which was something very special for us. We were free to spend the day as we wanted, so we went canoeing together, played volleyball and golf, or just sat together in the sun. It was a very nice day, which was rounded off with burgers around the campfire. After dinner there was a small choir meeting, where we talked about the trip so far and also gave an outlook on the coming weeks and months. After that there was a small pub quiz, in which five teams competed against each other and answered questions like "How long did the longest game of Monopoly last?" or "How many giraffes live in Botlierskop?" (Well, were you paying attention? Then you can answer this question;)). In the end, the “Baboons” won and received a bag of chips as a prize.

Day 11 - Monday:

We were already having breakfast at 6:45 a.m. while our luggage was being loaded onto the bus. We left at 8 a.m. sharp and said goodbye to the beautiful "Blackwaters River Lodge." We had about 350 km ahead of us, or about a five-hour bus ride. We left the Western Cape province for the first time and reached the Eastern Cape, where the airport of Port Elizabeth, our destination, was located. We made two stops along the way, with the first rest area with the little monkeys living there and an impressive bridge over a huge gorge being a small highlight. We finally reached the airport at around half past one and with a heavy heart we had to say goodbye to Martin, our tour guide, who we all grew very fond of, and to Massa, our wonderful bus driver. We sang goodbye to him at the airport and then went to check in our luggage. Everyone made it through security, so our flight took off on time at 4 p.m. and landed back in Durban after less than an hour and a half. At Durban airport we stocked up on water again and were then taken by bus to "Sica's Guest House", our accommodation for the next two nights. Very nice rooms and a delicious buffet for dinner awaited us there. We ended the evening comfortably and then fell into bed, excited about what this new part of the trip had in store for us.