A walk on the wild side.......

 After a brief stop in the city of Port Elizabeth, which wasn't all that exciting, we went to the Tsitsikamma National Park and stayed in Nature's Valley for a few days.  We stayed at a really nice hostel called Wild Spirit, set in the forest with a big emphasis on recycling, saving water and permaculture.  It was family run and they made us feel very welcome.  For the 3 days we stayed here we had rain, rain, rain!!  It was quite welcome though to have a break from the heat!  We went for a good  walk on one of the local trails, down through the rain forest then along the beach before climbing back up to the hostel.  It was actually very nice being in the rain forest whilst it was raining.

Eco Toilet, a simple but great idea !!!

Our wee cottage in the forest.

At the Wild Spirit

Wild Spirit staff.

Looking out across the national park.

A lovely lodge.

The magic window.

 Heading off on our walk.

In the rain forest.

Monkeying around !!!

A stormy day on the beach.

A nice little beach.

No feeding the Baboons !!.

There were a lot of wildlife sanctuaries in the area, so we though it was about time we went to see some African wildlife.  We went to two places - Tenikwa Cheetah park and then an Elephant Sanctuary in the afternoon.  The Cheetahs were amazing, we got to take them for their morning walk (or rather that took as for a run !!!).  They were amazing animals and it was fantastic to get so close to them and touch them.  When they start to purr it sounded  like a motorcycle engine revving !!!!!

We took Chaka a 3 year old cheetah for his walk.

 Walkies !!!!!

A beautiful cat.

A real poser !!

Chaka and his sister Thandi.

Easy there boy

Gillian looks back nerviously !!

Time for a good scratch !!!

Having a look out.

A Maribu Stork.

The Leopard, we were definately not allowed to take him for a walk !!!

Hungry !!!

Time to go and see the Elephants.

Gillian's new friend, Jabu !!

Jabu likes a good scratch behind the ears !!!

Nice clean teeth !!!

 Dean, Jabu and Gillian.

Dean takes Jabu for a wee stroll !!

 Dinner time !

 Elephants wave goodbye.

Even though it rained at Natures Valley we just donned the water proofs and got on with it and had a great time.  Aparently the Cheetahs like the rain as it makes them more active so it was all good.  A really nice relaxing hostel at Wild Spirit which is definaetly worth a few days if you are staying in the area.