Day 3 - Dassie Bak to Cape St Francis

Lesley:  Well, it was great to get to bed, nice and early in our cave – pitch dark and cosy.  I slept fitfully as I realized that the mattress was a bit harder than I was used to so it was not comfortable to turn onto my stomach, which is how I usually sleep.  At about 5am, I heard a clatter of pots and pans and thought that I was dreaming again and then realized that something or someone was in the cave with us……I woke Steve up again and got him to shine his powerful torch for a good 10 minutes until, finally, we found the offender……..a huge mouse was in the house and as brazen as anything!!!  So, that was it for me, I never managed to close my eyes again for between the mouse and the huge lizard, I was not keen on having either one land on me…..

So, I was up really early and eventually Steve joined me and made a great breakfast of coffee and an egg and bacon sandwich, yum.  I was so happy that Steve had made such a good fire the night before as the shower cylinder still had piping hot water left over and as it was a bit chilly and rainified, so it was a great start to the day.

S: I decided to be gracious and let Lesley have the first stint at the wheel. We only had 195 km to go and it ended up taking us 6 hours with about 45 minutes for lunch. The road started out being quite good and Lesley had a great time hitting every pothole and driving through the water crossings. I took over the driving after we had gone through the reserve gate which cost us R40.

It is very difficult to describe the route through the reserve. There are many water crossings, some spectacular mountain passes and magnificent scenery. I enjoyed every minute of it. We saw buck, baboons and monkeys. It reminded me of Moremi and the Gamkaskloof. The latter more apt as we were in the same vicinity. A lot of the time the road wound through thick forests with the trees forming a canopy overhead, or so it seemed. L:  I took so many photos while Steve was driving as it was magical and I can’t believe how green it is even though they have not had rain for over 5 months.  The drive was quite scary and hairy especially when having to pass another car as it was single-track.  I will definitely not wait another 40 years to come back as it was a treat.

At the one stop that we made, I got chatting to an old couple – he said that he was finally able to do some travelling and was now 72.  He asked Steve if he was retired….I just thought he meant so young, but later asked him if I was his second wife or his girlfriend…..we worked out, with Steve’s grey hair and unshaven face he mistook him for much older and I was his young bokkie………giggle giggle X

S: It was at this stop, which is at the top of the Combrink pass, that we walked down a track and came upon a cable stretched across the gorge. The story is that a local farmer, in 1961, decided to rig a cable car to transport produce and livestock across the gorge, so they did not have to travel the long distances.

L: When we were nearly finished our travelling, as we came to small farming community, we saw about 20 geese crossing the road to go and drink from a puddle of water, we had a good laugh at them when we realized that the gaggle was outside the school.  So sweet to see so many together.  We sure do attract animals everywhere we go!

S: It was a relief to eventually get onto a tar road and it was not long before we reached St Francis Resort where we will be camping for two nights. We have rigged a ground tent this time so we can use the bakkie to explore without having to rig the RTT (Roof Top Tent) everytime.

The wonderful Baviaanskloof

Finishing with a gaggle of geese

We might not have internet access for a few dates but we will update as soon as we can.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORJA (my niece, six years old today)