Cape Crusader

Monkey World, Nature's Valley & Hog Hollow

Monkey World, Nature's Valley & Hog Hollow

A rather brief and cheeky visit to monkey world was the first stop in a tightly packed schedule. The Monkey's were cool but there were better sights on the agenda so we weren't there too long. On the way out we offered a donation for the sanctuary, funny thing was i think they thought I was going to offer a large sum, the head of conservation personally greeted us and explained in detail how our donation would be spent. Before he'd finished we'd saved three monkeys from medical testing facilities in the Congo, flown an Orangutan from a zoo in Russia and given new teeth to a troop of Cape Baboons. I felt quite embarrassed handing over a fiver after all that. Sleeping monkeys.....



The next stop was Nature's Valley, an area of outstanding beauty about 45mins west of Plettenberg Bay. The beach seemed to stretch as far as the eye can see and even after walking for close to an hr we were still only half way. Unfortunately our progress was cut short by a Lagoon flowing back into the ocean. Now you know why you got the geography lesson earlier. This photo's taken on the beach at Nature's Valley.



After a quick pit stop to watch some lunatics throw themselves off the world's highest (206m) bridge bungee jump, we saw this one girl seem to fold in two (looked really painful, there was quite a pause before the next lemming went off the edge), we decided to head back towards Plettenberg. About 20mins out of Plett there's a beautiful country retreat called Hog Hollow. I took my mum there when she was here in January. It's a beautifully kept property with a veranda that looks out over a deep ravine with thick forestation. Unfortunately i wasn't able to make a booking, they're full until April 2007! Shame. This photo is the view across the ravine from where Als and i were sat on the veranda.



We'd planned to meet my flatmate Paulina and Cheyne in Plett that evening so we tootled off to a crafts market called "Old Nick" before finding a nice spot to have dinner. I cannot remember for the life of me the name of the restaurant we eventually chose, it had a huge mozaic on the front, which was enough of a feature for Alessandra to remember after 5mins going round in circles. Anyway, it was a really lovely restaurant, with a impressive and individual decor. There were surreal artworks on the walls, very reminiscent of Reni Magrette, and wonderful sculpted lighting features made from very thin skins or perhaps ceramic. Anyhow, it was a very pleasant environment and a perfect escape from a rainstorm that had just come in. A few glasses of Cap Classique and a tasty seafood stew with Crayfish, mussels and calimari, as well as a cheeky stop at the Dry Dock for some Oysters on the way home concluded a ram packed and exciting day on the Garden Route.

posted by Cape Cornetto @ 2:40 PM