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.

Away with the Faeries !!!

It was time to leave the beach and head to the mountains again, so we headed up to the village of Hogsback  in the Amatola Mountains in the Eastern Cape.  The village is said to have inspired JR Tolkien when writing "The Hobbit".  The village is named after the three mountains which overlook it.

We camped at a fantastic hostel called "Away with the Fairies" which had a 15m high tree house, a bath on a clifftop at the end of the garden, parrots and monkeys swinging about in the trees.  We went on a mountain bike tour with a crazy guide called Nils.  It was a great trip and he took us on lots of great trails in the forest.  We visited many beautiful water falls and had many entanglements in some mean looking spider webs !!!

Samango Monkey.

The Hogsback mountains in the cloud.

The bath at the end of the garden.

climbing to the treehouse!

Big scary moth in the bath !!

At the top of the Madonna and Child Falls, looking over the forest.

On the bikes.

Hogsback mountain in the background.

39 Steps waterfall.

The 3 Hogs.

After the cycle we visited the Eco-shrine which was a shrine to the planet and the local area by a local artist.  Very interesting as she gave us a guided tour of her exhibit.

Eco-shrine.

Something about the creation of the Earth.

Eco-shrine and the Hogsback mountains.

The next day we went for a big hike through the rain forest, then up to the  Kettle spout falls overlooking the village.  It was a hot day but a good hike and we rewarded ourselves with a bath at the end of the day !!!!!

Gillian dancing with a tree !!!

A refreshing dip !!

Gillian at the bottom of the Madonna and Child Falls.

Breathtaking !!!!

Me and my Hog !!

Heating the bath water !!!!

Gillian opts for the fully clothed bath.

Sunset bathing.

Hogsback was a beautiful place with lots of great activities.  It was a nice change from the beach !!!!