Day 6 - Knysna

The music at breakfast was just as amazing as the night before. There was instrumental versions of Tina Turner and Meat Loaf, and more music like that. We were served by the house's shriveled grandma, who reminded us of the witch from 'The Witch and the Magician'. Through our adventures, we've made a long list of movies we need to watch, including 'Gone with the Wind', 'Out of Africa', and 'Asterix in America' because of the Gubbel Gubbel (turkeys). While there are no turkeys here, any large bird that makes strange noises and is unfamiliar to us is now a Gubbel Gubbel.

After spending almost four hours in the car yesterday, it was only about 1.5 hours today. But that was enough for us. Somehow, none of us were feeling very well. Vera had a little sore throat, I felt a bit off, and both Vera and I felt a bit fluish. It was exciting because at the beginning of the journey, we actually had to go back to Mossel Bay to rejoin the 'highway'. However, due to the unrest in the townships, the access to the city was blocked. But our hosts knew a detour through a gravel road, and suddenly we found ourselves in the Australian Outback, in a sense. The only thing missing was the kangaroos. So we bypassed Mossel Bay and arrived at Blackwaters Rivers Lodge. Once there, we were amazed by the rooms again. We have an open fireplace in the bedroom, a spacious bathroom, and a huge living room just for us. Photos will follow. Despite everything, I had to lie down with an aspirin and doze off for a bit. But it felt really good.

The lodge itself is located in the middle of nowhere. And we are the only guests. And because there's nothing to do in the middle of nowhere, we drove into the small town of Knysna and looked around. At first, we didn't know where everything was, so we parked a bit wrong and quickly found ourselves in a street where we didn't feel comfortable. I don't think we had anything to fear, but sometimes our instincts just kick in. It was like a street market by and for Black people, and some sketchy young people were following us, trying to sell us drugs. We ran away! In the next street, everything was fine again and there were small roadside shops for tourists. Here, a Rastaman immediately started a conversation with us and wanted to take us on a township tour tomorrow because there's a big festival with lots of Rastafarian people happening. Uh, no thanks. You don't seem very trustworthy. We're scared. :-D

At the waterfront, there were even more souvenir shops, bars, cafes, and restaurants. We strolled around a bit and later settled in a seafood restaurant. "Later" means 5 PM for us. It starts getting dark here and our stomachs tell us that several hours have passed since breakfast. So we always have to go eat and then we get tired. We would love to go to bed at 7 PM, but that's not possible. Only when it gets dark, the shops close, and it's not very safe to just walk around the streets. So we usually hang around for one last drink somewhere, then go home and go to bed. By the way, it's already 8:30 PM and we're in bed. But it's not a problem because there are really cool movies on TV here. The latest Thor movie is playing right now, and the day before yesterday we watched Baywatch with The Rock Johnson and Zac Efron.

However, when we got home today, we went to the lodge's own restaurant and had a nightcap there. This is how it went: we went to the reception and said that we would like to have a drink. The receptionist then went with us to the restaurant, unlocked it, turned on the lights and music, and became our own waitress and bartender. And when we had enough, the heating, music, and lights were turned off again, and the restaurant was locked. I don't know if I mentioned it before... We're the only guests at the lodge. EVERYONE is here just to serve us. Nice! In the room, there was also a little bargain and some chocolate. Someone had already fluffed our pillows and turned on the electric blanket, so we could sleep wonderfully...