Laurel here...

It was with anticipation (for what is ahead), awe (for the striking country around us) and a little sadness (for leaving Franschhoek, with which we have all fallen a little in love), that we headed off this morning. The weather was beautiful and the drive over the Franschhoek Pass was an 'oooh, ahhh' affair with the striking beauty of the Franschhoek valley surrounded by mountains with clouds playing majestically over them, combined with a painter's palette of wildflowers blooming in the fynbos (South African bush).

We arrived in Hermanus, beauty satiated but 'coffee starved' and headed straight for a takeaway place so we could drink in the sunshine while imbibing our coffee (ahh!) & looking for Southern Right whales - Hermanus being the whale watching capital of South Africa. Unfortunately the whales weren't as accommodating as the other wildlife on our trip, not making an appearance during the whole of the one hour we spent there (how rude)! It was a lovely spot and one could easily spend a few days, but… onward and upward, or rather downward on this occasion, as we were off to Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of the African continent & also where the Indian & Atlantic oceans meet. Along the way we encountered… a dirt road (but better than many we experienced on our safari), a turtle meandering, or was he rushing (?) across the said road and, at one stage, we were racing an ostrich which was rushing along in competition to us. Cape Agulhas is, as you can imagine, striking in its solitariness. After a delicious pizza & beer at the local pub we were off to our final destination of the day - Swellendam. We drove into the storm which was obscuring the horizon ahead and it gave us the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of a green Africa in the rain… something we hadn't really had to date.

Our accommodation in Swellendam was the Schoone Oordt Country House… what a beautiful place! It's an old house which has been faithfully restored and added to and is just stunning! Our rooms were behind the main house and demonstrated enormous attention to detail… to the point where, when we returned from dinner, the fireplaces in each room had been lit and were cosily inviting us to come in and take our rest. Ahh, bliss. Nite,nite...

Quote of the day - "Those clouds are angel's robes" - Charles Kingsley

Distance travelled 343k; Sunny 16deg; Altitude 128m