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Old 22 Dec 19, 10:25 PM  
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ali-s
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Deserts and daisies days 11 - 13

Deserts and daisies days 11 - 13

We head further South to Clanwilliam today. The plan is to stop off on the way in Nieuwoudtville ' the bulb capital of the world ' to hopefully see more flowers. I didn't realise we'd have to drive up a mountain to get there , well that's what the Vanryns pass felt like. As we zig zagged higher and higher I concentrated on some chat show on the radio and refused to look directly at the view. From the corner of my eye it seemed like half of Africa was spread out below us. When we got to the top I was surprised and relieved to find we were on top of an escarpment and didn't have to go down the other side. In Nieuwoudtville we stopped at the information centre set up in the church hall, then had lunch of soup and toasted sandwiches , also served in the hall. There was the usual selection of knitted craft items and preserves on sale and quite a few visitors keeping the locals busy.
The assistant at the info centre advised us that there was a botanical garden a couple of miles down the road , or for fields of flowers we could drive another 40 minutes or so, but then we'd be heading to Clanwilliam in the dusk/dark. We opted for the botanical gardens, which disappointingly weren't gardens at all, but several acres of rough grassland with the very occasional tiny flower hidden amongst the grass.


It was too late to drive on in search of the fields of flowers, so we about turned and headed back down the Vanryns pass. Going down wasn't so bad, we were on the inside lane so I didn't have a sheer drop feet from my door.I gave David my phone and he eventually got it unlocked in time to take some pics as we were halfway down.




We arrive at our b&b in Clanwilliam just after 5pm. No suitcase waiting for us, much to my dismay, but a phone call to the courier confirms he's on his way, just stuck in traffic. He finally arrives at 7.30pm. First thing I do is change my shoes for flip flops. Then out for dinner. We have a nice enough meal at one of the top 3 restaurants on trip advisor ( not sure how some of these places get their ratings) then back to the b&b and the luxury of our own toiletries and pyjamas .
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Old 29 Dec 19, 05:56 PM  
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Deserts and daisies days 11 - 13

We get our exercise today, we are walking to a waterfall and doing a rock art trail. After a delicious breakfast , eaten while watching the antics of nearby weaver birds , we head out over the Pachuis pass . This is a proper pass, scenic and with solid ground on each side, so I enjoy the view.


The waterfall walk starts on private property, there is a coffee shop where we get a drink and ask directions . We are told 'cross the stream, walk towards those trees, turn left towards the rocks, follow the footprints painted on the rocks' Considering ' those trees' were a few 100 metres away this seemed a bit vague , as we start off we are joined by one of the cafe owners 5 dogs , a brown labrador, when we reach the trees he disappears into a nearby cottage and returns with a border collie. The 2 dogs accompanied us all the way to the waterfall, waiting for us when I stopped for photos and showing us the way over the rocks, though the collie was a little more conscientious than the lab, who led us astray a couple of times suggesting routes more suitable for 4 legs than 2








The waterfall was in a pretty setting and there was a waterhole deep enough to swim in , both dogs swum but the water was freezing, my feet were numb from paddling. Both dogs led us back to the coffee shop, a lovely walk all the more enjoyable for the canine company .








Our next stop is a short drive away. The Travellers rest farm is where the Sevilla rock art trail begins. We have lunch at the farm restaurant then buy permits for the trail from the farm shop. The trail is 5kms long and a reasonably easy walk, though there is a bit of scrambling over rocks . There are 9 sites where we can see rock art done by the San people thousands of years ago. Some of the art requires imagination to marry it up with the description in the leaflet , other illustrations are obvious.




The sun is setting on the way back to Clanwilliam and the colours of the scenery are beautiful.

We are back at the b&b by 5.30 and wander into town in search of dinner. Ruth's restaurant has a blackboard outside with a very reasonably priced menu, inside, the menus are handwritten on A4 paper, Ruth ( I assume it's Ruth )explains she has only been open a few weeks and doesn't yet have a licence for alcohol, we decide to stay anyway and have one of the best and cheapest meals of the holiday , and she's not even on TripAdvisor
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Old 9 Feb 20, 06:21 PM  
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Deserts and daisies days 11 - 13

Deserts and daisies days 11 - 13

I want to do a tour of a rooibos tea plantation today. Reception say they have literally just received an email from a local estate saying they have a tour today , but when we phone they are fully booked. We are told we can follow behind their vehicle in our car which is better than not doing a tour.
So at 10.50am we are following a mini bus along the R364 wondering if by any chance it is going to the Elandsberg estate, it is,the group consists of 8 Germans and 1 South African , 2 people haven't turned up, so we get seats in the tour vehicle. This turns out to be a 1974 converted truck of which our tour guide is very proud.

Once we are all seated he tells us it's history and how it's never let him down. Then it won't start. We all start laughing, thinking he's joking with us ( he's a funny guy) but the battery is dead as a dodo. One of the estate workers gives it a push, trying for a rolling start, but we just end up stopped across the driveway nose first in the scrub . Then a tour bus full of Japanese tourists arrives to find us blocking the road, the owner/guide starts grumbling , he doesn't like the ' click click, kerching' brigade ( so called because they either photograph it or buy it ) the truck is manhandled off the road to let the coach through, and our owner/guide stomps off muttering to man the shop for the Japanese, they aren't touring the estate, just visiting the shop. We are still giggling at our situation and our laughter is fuelled by the discovery of a twig used to lock the driver's door,( a stecken according to the Germans) it's obviously been specially selected for the job and has been carved and trimmed to fit perfectly . We are still giggling when our guide returns complaining that the Japanese have cleared the shelves and didnt even know what they were buying. Meanwhile jump leads have been found and the engine started, But a tortoise has just trundled into view so we all get out to take photos. Eventually, about an hour late we set off for our tour of the estate.




The rooibos ( red bush) only grows in the Clanwilliam area of South Africa, it gets it's name from the colour of it's stem. It's caffeine free and low in tannin . We are shown the plants in different stages of growth and the production/drying and storage areas. It's all very interesting and our guide is amusing ( if very politically incorrect ) and we finish up tasting the different blends before we decide which we want to buy. The Japanese have bought most of the prettily packaged items but haven't touched the bargain bags of premium quality tea bags in plain plastic wrapping, I bought a pack of 200, wish I'd bought more as they have way more flavour than what's on offer in Tesco's.




It's lunchtime by the time we get back to Clanwilliam. We have yummy quiche and chips at Nancy's tearoom then wander around town in search of a fridge magnet to add to my collection. There's a tourist info centre set up in the church opposite our b&b, I ask where we can see the best flowers and am told we're a bit late , but there is a nature reserve on the way out of town where there was a good display a week ago.
Ramskop is less than a 5 minute drive and is in a lovely setting beside the dam/reservoir. Many of the flowers are past their best but there are enough left to keep us occupied for an hour or so. Lots of birds I haven't seen before as well.









Back at the b&b one of the employees offers to give the car a much needed wash, it is still coated in dust from the Kalahari, 100rand later I hardly recognise it in it's shinyness
Reception make us a dinner reservation at one of the highly rated restaurants on TripAdvisor . Again, rather disappointing. Service was so slow, 2 hours for 2 courses and they were no better than we had on our first night at Ruth's restaurant.
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Homewood suites,RPR,POFQ Oct06
California August 08California without a car trip index
Mexico 2010, Easter in Mexico Trip Index
ESD Pointe Orlando, Palm Pavilion Clearwater, RPR August 2012
Costa Rica July 2015 Pura Vida! trip report
South Africa 2017 trip report

Edited at 06:37 PM.
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