Day 105: The Garden Route – Part 2
Our farmstay at the De Zeekoe Guest Farm had a very unique twist – the owners had discovered they have a large population of meerkats on their property. Over the years, they learned how to get families of meerkats accustomed to their presence and started running sunrise tours. Unlike other operators in South Africa, De Zeekoe does not feed the meerkats at all – they just use a lot of patience, slowly getting closer to them each day. Every night, the guides follow the meerkats to their hole so they know where to find them in the morning. Every morning (regardless of whether they have a tour running) the guides sit outside the same hole before sunrise so the meerkats just get used to the idea that these loud, talking rocks will be outside their hole every day.
We met our guide down the road from the farmhouse at 7AM and followed him through a little trail in the fields for about 30min until he found the latest meerkat hole. We set down our chairs, and just shot the breeze with him for about another 30min until the meerkats decided to wake up. There was no need to be quiet – we could talk or shout as loud as we wanted! Sudden movements though – that was a big no-no. Once the sun came up, the whole family of meerkats started coming out of their hole, each standing straight and facing their bellies to the sun – apparently their digestive system can’t work if they are cold, so every morning they have to heat up their stomach as quickly as possible, so they can start hunting and feeding for the day.
A cup of tea & coffee and a few biscuits before our sunrise meeting with the meerkats
Walking through the fields at dawn
Our guide leads us to the meerkat hole, where we sit and wait for them to appear
A family of sun-worshipping meerkats
Who needs TV? We have a live version of “Meerkat Manor”!
We watched the meerkats for a good hour, before they felt warm enough to stop sunbathing and run off to hunt. We got back to the farm, where a delicious breakfast was waiting for us. (Like, SERIOUSLY delicious. I need the recipes for their quiche, potato cake and farm bread. YUM.) For our next activity, we planned to visit an ostrich farm. There were plenty in the area (a big one was literally down the road from De Zeekoe). We were originally planning to visit the Cango Ostrich Farm, recommended by Russell Frankish from Green Bushpig Safaris, our Namibia/Botswana tour organizer, but it was a bit of a drive in the wrong direction. We hoped we could save a little time by finding something closer, so we asked our meerkat guide for his recommendation as he’d worked various jobs in the tourist industry in the area. He also recommended Cango, as the closer places tended to have huge tour bus groups. It was 2 for 2, so we headed to the farm.
We got there just in time for a tour, where our guide, Lizzile, gave us an introduction to ostrich farming in the area, what products come from the birds (eggs, red meat, leather and feathers), how they raise them, difference in size from emus, and then took us out to meet birds in person.
Grabbing a late breakfast at the farmhouse before hitting the road
Ostrich info: a framed collage of all the odds and ends found in the stomach of an ostrich (they liked shiny things, so Lindsay took off her diamond earrings), and a boa made from ostrich feathers (dyed, of course)
Our guide, Lizzile, shows us the steps of egg development with a real (unfertilized) sample. The size of an ostrich egg is equal to 24 chicken eggs!
Lizzile introduces us to Betty, the “friendly” female, and shows off her thigh (which is where ostrich steak comes from) and a small claw on the tip of her wing
Lindsay and Igor both takes turns feeding Betty – Igor gets a “kiss” in the process!
None of the tourists wanted to ride the ostriches (we were glad as the practice seems a bit cruel), so two of the farmhands wrangled one of the males for a short demo
Lindsay getting a “neck massage” from a group of hungry ostriches
Igor is falling in love with the biggest chickens he’s ever seen. Wonder how they’d do in a backyard in Long Island?
Apparently ostrich eggs are strong enough to stand on!
After the ostrich farm, we had several hours of driving ahead of us before we reached the beach town of Hermanus, where we would be staying for the night. At the halfway point in Mossel Bay we took a break to explore a small section of the St. Blaize hiking trail, which meanders along the coastal cliffs. The trailhead that Google Maps led us to was inside a gated golf course, called Pinnacle Point Estate. When we got to the gates and explained why we were there, we assumed they would tell us to get lost – after all, we weren’t members! Not only did they wave us in, they didn’t charge anything for access or guarded parking! (Not sure if a local would have received the same treatment trying to get in to the trail…)
The trail is known as a good spot to spot whales from the shore, and while this is the high season for whales when they are mating and breeding just off the coast, we are not patient enough to stare at the ocean for hours. But the beautiful scenery was plenty to keep us happy!
After hours in the car, we need a short hike on the coast to stretch our legs
South African coastline in Mossel Bay
Walking a short section of the St. Blaize Trail
Rock Dassies, hanging out on the St. Blaize Trail
Rough surf below the cliffside trail
View of the gated golf resort where we walked the St. Blaize Trail
We only had an hour of daylight to make it to Hermanus, and with Igor at the wheel we were actually going really slow because he kept getting distracted by the scenery and asking to take pictures! No doubt South Africa is stunning – dare we say it? – just as much “eye candy” as New Zealand. Sadly, the high rate for violent crime spoils it from being the perfect travel destination – there were so many spots where we wish we could have gotten out of the car to take pictures, but it didn’t feel safe.
Driving the Garden Route is beautiful – we kept taking pictures out the window of the bright green fields and seaside towns
The cloud cover gave us a spectacular sunset – unfortunately we were driving away from it, so this was the view in our rear-view mirror