Today was a day of changing scenery. We started in Mossel Bay, South Africa which is a beautiful city on the ocean. From there, we traveled to the southern most tip of Africa, called Cape Agulhas. It was a cold and windy day which to me made it even more special. The walkways are easy and close to the rocks. There is a beautiful lighthouse, this is where the Indian & the Atlantic oceans meet.
Karoo National Park
Founded in 1979, this is a wildlife reserve in the Great Karoo area of the Western Cape, South Africa. It is a semi-desert area which covers an area of approximately 290 sq. miles.
The Karoo National Park is a sanctuary for herds of springbok, gemsbok, Cape mountain zebras, Cape buffalo, red hartebeest, ostriches and so much more. The park also hosts the greatest number of tortoises species of any park in the world.
Many years ago, early adventures, explorers, hunters, and travelers on their way to the Highveld all agreed that the Karoo is a frightening place of great heat, great frosts, great floods & great droughts. Today it is the same, however they have found water underground which can be tapped by boreholes, making it possible for permanent settlements and sheep & ostrich farms.
The Karoo is divided into the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain Range, which runs east-west. The Outeniqua-Langeberg Mountains is where they are separated. The Great Karoo lies to the north of the Swartberg range, Little Karoo is to the South.
Cango Caves
The Cango Caves seen above are located in the Little Karoo at the foothills of the Swartberg range near the town of Oudshoorn. These caves are spectacular and date back 750,000 years ago, they are one of the country’s best known and most popular tourist sites. These caves are approximately 2 1/2 miles, but tourists are only allowed in about 1/4 of the caves lead by a guide. If you are visiting the Garden Route, I highly recommend taking a day to visit the caves. As you enter the caves you are brought to one of the old paintings dated back 80,000 years ago by the bushman.
Hermanus, a gorgeous seaside village southwest of Cape Town, in SA’s western Cape province. This town is a whale watching Mecca. The day we arrived they had spotted the first mother and calf in the bay. This town reminded me of a smaller version of Sausalito or Tiberon, CA.
Hermanus Bay, South Africa
Beautiful! It wouldn’t let me continue reading, though. I want MORE!!