Day 15: Plettenberg Bay - Knysna - George

Total Distance Covered: 1,516 km
Distance Remaining: 494 km

It was a very special day today. We hit the road at 7am and put in a strong 4 hours before we were met by some of the members of the Rotary Club of Knysna (pronounced Nie-S-Nuh), the wonderful woman heading the Knysna AIDS Council and 14 of the vulnerable children her program provides for (only the 14 were around this time of year as most of the children supported by the program were with extended families and caregivers for the holidays).

The kids were absolutely precious and it was so much fun to talk to them and play a bit as we all walked through the town together. As before, it was great to see the kids and be reminded of the purpose of this long trek across South Africa and why we’re all here. It was hard to leave these beautiful children behind in Knysna, but we’ve got a long way left to go and only a few days to hike it.

It was a beautiful day as we hiked through the ostrich farms of George and Knysna. At a few points, the road became quite dangerous, however. As Keegan and Ruan hiked out of Knysna, there was 2 kilometers of road with no safe space to walk. A gorgeous stretch of highway, the sheer rock face of the cliffs rises two feet from the edge of the road. On the other side, the road immediately falls away to the water of the bay. A beautiful, winding road to drive…you would be hard pressed to find more unsafe hiking conditions. Ruan and Keegan had no choice but to hike on the road itself, trying to stick as close to the cliff face as possible as the cars rushed past less than a foot from their bodies. Thirty minutes and a lot of nervous energy later, they made it through that stretch and were very happy to be back on regular roads.

As we all hiked towards George, a dozen paragliders flew overhead and the most beautiful dark blue waves were crashing pure white into the sand in the distance. The ocean is stunning here and in places, the rocks of the cliffs bank down onto the beach and into the water…it’s absolutely beautiful.

Hiking up and around a massive hill, we were surprised to find six large adult baboons walking only a few yards away. All of the “WARNING – Feeding the Baboons is Prohibited” signs we’d seen since entering the Western Cape now made sense. It’s a good thing the baboons didn’t know how much tuna, fruit and peanut butter we’re stashing in the van to get us through the hike…if they had, none of the hikers would have been safe!

Fortunately, we made it past without incident, attack or any unrequited baboon love interest.

As we came into town, we were met by members of the George Rotary Club. The daughter of one of the club members had brought along her pet rabbit and Jacob quickly became attached and we weren’t sure if the poor girl would ever get her bunny back!

We’ve been lucky to see a lot of absolutely gorgeous architecture from the road…especially some of the old Cape Dutch houses and churches. In George, there’s a breathtaking, historic Dutch Reform Church…when we came upon it, it was flanked by ominous dark gray clouds and you could almost smell the brimstone of a century of Calvinist sermons.

We had slightly different sleeping arrangements in George. Ruan’s aunt and uncle live there, so Ruan and Keegan stayed with them to help celebrate his cousin’s birthday. It was a great time, although the guys were worn out from the day of hiking and had to head to bed 6 hours before the party ended. The rest of the gang – Ryan, Kelly and Jacob – stayed with members of the George Rotary Club and had an excellent braai that evening!

Most importantly…we’re all really excited to be getting Ikumi back! After struggling with the incompetent bureaucracy of the Department of Home Affairs for two days to try to work out her visa issues, she’s taking a 17-hour bus ride to catch up to us. She should be arriving at the bus station tomorrow morning around 9am…barring any unexpected breakdowns of the bus. It’s been a tough five days without her (emotionally and physically). Ikumi has an amazingly calming influence on the group and it just hasn’t felt the same without her. Her absence has also meant we have to hike, on average, an extra 24 km each day…so having her back will be a blessing for our feet as well as our spirits! COME HOME IKUMI!