Struisbaai/Malgas, Day 36-We picked Struisbaai for our overnight stay for its proximity to Cape Agulhas. We were up early this morning for breakfast and a quick drive to the southern most point of Africa. The featured picture at the point was taken by a couple that turned out to be from Corvallis. So weird, because we haven’t seen many people from the US, let alone from Oregon. They live in Alaska now, but still….
Arniston a 200 year old seaside village, a bit to the east of Struisbaai, seemed like a good place to stop and take a little hike through the dunes to a well known cave. More dirt roads on the way, which we are discovering are pretty much all the secondary roads outside of the towns and cities.
From Arniston we drove to De Hoop Nature Reserve and Marine Protected Area. We had a nice lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon looking for every animal we could find in the reserve.
Pete spotted a troop of baboons. We snuck up in the car as quietly as possible. This Eland didn’t pay ant attention to them or us.
We saw a large herd of Eland and stopped to watch them for awhile. The gigantic bull had a favorite cow that he made sure was always close by. Elands are the second largest of the Antelope.
The reserve also has Bomtebok. These are funny looking Antelope, with beautiful coloring.
We searched all over for the a Cape Zebra and finally found a few out by a small lake.
Then there were the birds, ostrich, and what looked to be some sort of Guinea. The gray bird on the left is the Paradise Crane, South Africa’s National Bird.
It was nearing 5 pm when we left the reserve. It was 30 minutes to Malgas, a wide spot in the road with two or three buildings. We made it to the Trading Post just as they were closing. Thank goodness they let us shop for provisions. Our overnight stay was booked at a self service Lodge that included a kitchen, but no food. We are on the Breede River, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. No complaints, as it is stunning.
We are staying in the upper apartment in the thatched boat house. Here is part of our view.
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