Spoiled on the Garden Route

This past week has been absolutely amazing. Thanks to my Host counselor Henry at Claremont Rotary Club and Howard, member of the Mossel Bay Rotary Club, I was able to travel along the southern coast (heading east) to visit various Rotary clubs along the “Garden Route” in South Africa (pictured-- also, notice the name of the town in the upper righthand corner of "Sutherland" :)). After taking such an incredible journey, I can now assuredly say that I have fallen in love with South Africa. If it weren’t for family and obligations back home, I would seriously consider moving to South Africa. The people I met were the most hospitable people I’ve ever encountered-- which is hard to beat coming from Charleston, SC (aka #1 friendliest city in America).

When I was presented with this opportunity to travel along the Garden Route I immediately thought, “Oh no… I can’t drive on the left hand side of the road.” But I was determined to not let that stop me. After all, I’ve made it this far, so why not? So I rented a car for the week and set out on my journey. Surprisingly enough, driving on the left side of the road wasn’t that difficult. What was difficult for me was remembering which side of the steering wheel holds the mechanism to signal a change of lane and which side contains the knob for wiping my windshield clean. Needless to say, I think I drove with my windshield wipers on quite a lot and signaled very little.

Monday
After renting the car, I set out to visit the Rotary Club of Mossel Bay. The drive to Mossel Bay took me about 4 ½ hours, but the time passed quickly as I spent most of it staring at the beautiful scenery around me. On the way, I saw many cow, sheep, horse, goat, and ostrich (pictured).

I arrived in Mossel bay at 4:30pm and met Howard, a “swallow” from the UK (swallow is the term given to a person who spends half of their time elsewhere and then the other half in SA). Howard is a member of the Mossel Bay Rotary Club and was the organizer of my trip. He took me to meet my first hosts, the Marais family. The Marais family consists of Dr. Eugene Marais (Rotarian) and his wife Oma B, their daughter Genee (also a Rotarian), and her son Indy. Dr. and Mrs. Marais live next door to Genee and her son on the golf estate in Mossel Bay. They take turns cooking supper every night and have a wonderful relationship with one another. Upon arrival at the Marais home, I was greeted with such warmth from their family. I had my first home cooked meal and was given my own room and bathroom, complete with a view of the ocean (pictured).

After dinner, I went and spoke to the Rotary Club of Mossel Bay. I gave my presentation which lasted about 30 minutes and then listened to a second speaker. The second speaker was interesting in the fact that he wants Rotary to get involved in his project idea- Preserve Planet Earth. In short, he proposed that Rotary needs to control population growth in the same manner that they have almost completely eradicated Polio—i.e. sterilizing women (especially in impoverished areas). I won’t exactly comment and give my personal views on this subject, but I will say that I have never been so shocked at a Rotary meeting before. Needless to say, I don’t think his idea will come to fruition any time soon. In any case, the meeting was entertaining to say the least.

Tuesday
I traveled to Knysna in the morning to meet with the Rotary Club of Knysna for their lunchtime meeting. Arriving in Knysna is quite interesting because there is a long bridge you cross over a lagoon in order to reach the town. The drive was again spectacular because the scenery was unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. I met with a real estate agent and Rotarian, Peter, who took me to the meeting at the Sailing Club. The venue was situated right on the water, in fact I felt the wind against the building as I gave my talk. I gave my presentation to a room full of Rotarians and then toured the city with the President, Franc. He took me around the city and up the mountain to the “Heads of Knysna”. I had a wonderful view (as you can see from the pictures). I really do believe that I could live in Knysna—everyone was so friendly, the city was charming, and the nature was incredible (pictured).

After the tour, I said goodbye to Franc and headed out to George. That night I arrived and spoke to the Rotary Club of George and toured one of their projects—an assisted living facility. I usually get questions at the end of my presentations, but I have to say that the members from George really were very curious about a number of issues such as: the death penalty in America, successful fundraising strategies, and politics. The “questions” part of my presentation is always my favorite part because it forces me to think on my feet—gives me good practice for being a politician;).

That night and the following two nights I was hosted by Ian (Rotarian) and his lovely wife Ferdi. Again, they were incredibly welcoming and made me feel right at home.

Wednesday
I went to Oudtshoorn, just north of George. The drive was incredible and also adventurous. I actually had to stop in the middle of the road for baboons crossing (pictured). Baboons have a mind of their own and are quite vicious at times. They’ve been known to scratch and bite people, so needless to say, I stayed in my car.

I eventually made my way up to Cango Wildlife Park. There I was able to see flamingos, crocodiles, lemurs, lions, tigers, white tigers, bats, fish, and cheetahs. The park was amazing and I actually got to go in the large cage with the cheetah cubs (about 9 weeks old) and play with them (pictured). I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to top that experience!

From the Wildlife Park, I went to Cango Caves (pictured). The Caves were astonishing—millions of years old. I took a tour that lasted about an hour and we traveled about 2km throughout the caves. I did the standard tour because I was running short on time, but apparently there is an adventure tour where you have to crawl and slide through rocks—not for the Closter phobic. Our guide told us that recently a rather large woman went on that tour and got stuck. The group then had to wait 10 hours to be rescued!

That night I went back to my hosts in George and ate another wonderful meal with the wives of the George Rotarians. Ferdi was an amazing cook and I felt so spoiled by her.

Thursday
Ian and I left in the mid morning and drove to the Knysna Elephant Park. We’re both big fans of animals and so we decided this would be fun to do together. We arrived at the Park and took a tour through the Elephant Reserve. All of the elephants here are “orphans”. Some had their parents killed by hunters and others had been rejected by their mother. The Elephant Park was opened in 1994 and has been very successful ever since. Ian and I were able to feed and play with the elephants (pictured). Again, this experience was incredible!

From the Knysna Elephant Park Ian took me to Plettenberg Bay for lunch. The hotel we went to was situated on an absolutely perfect spot, right on the bay (pictured). If and when I go back to Plettenberg Bay, I will most definitely stay at the Beacon Hotel. They have everything from scuba diving to volleyball to good food and relaxation there.

Friday
I was absolutely spoiled by an invitation to go for a private plane trip on Friday (pictured). Phillip, president of the George Rotary Club, owns three planes (and many other big kid toys). He took me around the area where I got the best view of George, Knysna, Mossel Bay, and everything in between. Flying in a small plane was actually a lot of fun—it was like being in a porche in the sky. Someday I think it would be really nice to learn to fly… completely relaxing.

After my flight, I drove back to Mossel Bay. My hosts took me around the town and to a cave where I saw dassies (pictured). I never knew that this animal existed! It looks like a big, smelly hamster. Apparently the smell comes from the fact that they pee on themselves so their feet are sticky which in turn helps them to climb rocks. Yeah… not all animals are cute and cuddly.

Saturday
I drove with Howard and Genee to a Rotary Conference in Swellendam (two hours back in the direction of Cape Town). There I was able to meet many Rotarians and exchange contact information. I now have many more presentations lined up for the coming months. The conference focused on building a better and boulder community and touched on areas like membership and branding. After the conference I said goodbye to Genee and Howard (who felt like family to me at this point) and headed back to Cape Town.

I arrived in Cape Town at 5pm, but my mind stayed in the Garden Route. I honestly can say that was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I was so spoiled by everyone… no wonder I would like to move there!