March 25, 2010
Word of the day:Outeniqua
Pronunciation: OO-TEN-KNEE-KWAH
Means “they who bear honey”
The Disney guide book states that "perhaps the sweet view of these mountains inspired the Khoisan people who once dwelled in the region..."
"Masambene Baantu!"
We headed out on the bus from Cape Town to George. This is the start of our tour of the Garden Route.
We packed our bags the night before and left them by the door in the morning. Per Mouse Magic our bags were loaded on the bus and we did not have to lift a finger!!!
Before starting to talk about The Garden route I’m going to digress on a couple of things:
It hit me that morning how very blessed we were to be on this trip. I’m glad that the cyst went away. I’m really glad that I did not need surgery.
If John and I would of needed to cancel, the whole entire African adventure for March probably would have been canceled. Our tour group consisted of ten adults and two junior adventurers. Disney will usually cancel a tour if there is less than ten adults.
Yes, if we had needed to, we would of rescheduled. But we most likely would not of had the same experience with our fellow adventurers. We lucked out with this trip in that the group seemed to meld together quickly. We all quickly became friends and by the mid part of the adventure we were all family.
The whole time that we were in Africa I felt like that we were meant to be there. Like it had all been prearranged or preappointed. We were blessed, richly blessed on this trip.
By nature I’m conservative. I like to try new places but I’m hesitant. It took a few years for John to talk me into going on a cruise. I was quite nervous about going. Once on the cruise I absolutely loved it. Once you see the sun rise from your veranda at sea the world seems like a smaller special place. I was ready to travel the world at that point. After our first cruise in May 2008 is when we decided to go to Africa. John and I were busy looking at various travel groups that went to South Africa. Poof, just like magic, in August of 2008 ABD announced a South African trip.
I found out about the trip at work. I booked it with the early booking discount (woo hoo) and waited for the opportune time to surprise John with the news. I could not wait long though. I told him that night. He started to jump up and down and was screaming “Yeaaah!!!!”
We wanted to go in 2009 but I had to recertify for boards in October. Once that was out of the way I thought that we had the green light to go.
But then in February 2010, when I went to my doctor the cyst was found. He said that I needed surgery. John and I prayed like mad. Through it all I knew that everything was going to be OK. I just had that feeling of peace. When I went back in early March the cyst had mostly gone away on it’s own. My doc just kept saying over and over “I’ve never seen this before. This just does not happen. I can’t believe this.” I believed. Miracles happen everyday. We were blessed to go and be on this trip. It was meant to be.
Now for The Garden Route. Interestingly The Garden Route is not made of flowers or gardens. The Garden Route winds across the mountains and has, at certain places, panoramic views of the ocean. Cape Town and the Garden Path, I have heard, are quite similar to the Mediterranean.
Every day that we were in South Africa (except for one) the weather was beautiful. Craig would forecast the weather as 68 degrees and 30 percent of rain each morning.
South Africa just finished summer and the season is changing to the fall. Originally we had thought about going in December. This changed when we went to Jiko at Disney World. One of our servers was from Cape Town. She let us know that December was summertime in South Africa and that it was very hot then. She gave us the advice to book in March. We’re glad we did. “68 degrees and 30 percent chance of rain” each day.
We made our way through through the winding mountain roads and past the breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean. We have video and pictures of this but they don’t do it justice. To get the full beauty of the The Garden Path landscape you just have to be there!! (Big HINT to you all. Go on the South Africa Trip!!!)
The first town that we stopped at was Hermanus. This was a beautiful little upscale town overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. From July to November whales migrate around and near the town of Hermanus. There is a whale crier who blows his horn to let the people know that the whales are there. Apparently the whale crier has a different horn sound for each of the different whales that migrates past the area. The whale crier lets the town and surrounding areas know that the whales are migrating and which ones are coming past on that particular day.
So I said that the whales migrate from July to December right? So this would mean that the whale criers would only be available during that time as well? Remember we are on an ABD tour. Mouse Magic happens at each opportune moment.
When we pulled up to the ocean viewing area there was the whale crier with his horn!!! I was really excited to meet him. After group and family photos the whale crier let us take a try at blowing his horn. That was really fun!!!!!
The whale crier also gave us our pin for the day. Each and every day we were given a pin for our lanyard. The pin matched the theme of the day. By the end of the trip the lanyard was full. I’m planning on framing our lanyards.
After exploring the shops in Hermanus for a bit we got back on the bus and continued our journey to George along The Garden Route. While on the road to our lunch destination we were stopped by a road block for customs. They were stopping each bus and car for inspection. Craig went down to talk with the customs agents.
He quickly came back and told us that when they learned that we were with Adventures by Disney the customs agents told him that we could move through. Usually each person has to get off of the bus and be with his or her suitcase when the customs agents does the inspection.
It was the Power of the Mouse that got us off the hook on that one. When we were leaving the customs agents and police officers started to wave and smile at us through the bus windows. Have you ever had customs agents smile and wave at you??
On we journeyed to a small town called Swellendam. We ate at Roosje van De Kaap’s Restaurant. This was a small lovely country inspired restaurant. Ilzebet (prounounced Els-beth) and her staff made us home made pizzas. My favorite was the bacon with the avocado and spinach. Ilzebet showed John and I her pizza oven in her kitchen. That was really neat. Sadly, Ilzebet is closing the restaurant soon.
The oldest city in South Africa is Cape Town. See I was listening to our Itourguide. I actually learned stuff while on vacation. The second oldest is Stellenbosch. And the third oldest is Swellendam. Swellendam was founded in 1795.
After lunch we continued along The Garden Path. Between Cape Town and Hermanus we had sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean as we drove through the winding roads of the mountains. As we were driving through the mountains I thought that the landscape looked quite similar to many of the scenes from The Lord of the Rings. Just as I was thinking this, Craig said that J. R. R. Tolkien was from South Africa. Go figure!
A bit past Hermanus the road went inland. We did not see the ocean for quite a while until we reached Mossel Bay. We were instructed to close our eyes as we rounded the last corner of the inland part of the road. Suddenly we could see the sweeping views of the ocean again. Only this time we were now seeing the Indian Ocean. Later on the trip we actually got to touch the Indian Ocean!
It is not every day that you see both the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean in one day!!!!
We continued on our way to George. While on our way Tina offered us brochures on Elephant rides in Knysna and spa treatments in Kapama. She then prearranged for the Elephant rides and the spa treatments before we got to Knysna and Kapama respectively.
Tina also made sure that we got snacks and water on the bus at regular intervals. A full and watered traveler is a happy traveler!!! We all loved the white mints that she handed out. We always wanted more of those!!!
We arrived in George in the late afternoon. The first thing that we saw upon arriving in George was the Outeniqua Mountains.
Upon our arrival to the hotel we went into the lounge area. There we had champagne and spring rolls. Our room keys were already made and Tina handed them out. We then went over to our rooms. Our luggage was already by our doors (wow!). We then had a great time checking out the room and the balcony. We also had a lot of fun finding out which Adventurers were our neighbors.
We then had a little bit of time to unpack, relax and unwind. In our room was a cute paper cut out of a side view of Mickey's head. Yes, this will go into the scrapbook!!! The message on the paper said "Dear Renee and John Welcome to our Kingdom! Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy. We trust that you will have a MAGICAL time here with us! So sit back, relax as we sprinkle Magic on every aspect of your stay! See you Under our African Skies tonight!" From The CAST of Protea Hotel King George.
We laughed when we saw that they had signed the note as from the CAST. As in Cast members from Disney. We thought that was really neat!! Mickey and Donald cookies accompanied the note as did a wine bottle cover.
After our chill time it was time for dinner. We walked back over to the main building and went out to the veranda. There Chef Conrad had set up a beautiful spread of food for our Under the African Sky Dinner. It was as if we had gone over to to his house for dinner. Many of the recipes were handed down from his Grandmother.
Starters
Springbok and Ostrich Carpaccio
Maize (corn)
Biltong Samoosas (beef jerky)
Karoo Oysters (ground liver wrapped in goal)
Main Courses
Mqhusho (corn and beans)
Patupap and Marog (maize and spinach)
Steamed Cabbage
Caramelized Pumpkin and Sweet Potato
Beef Bobotie
Lamb Potjie
Chicken Pie
Paella
Dessert
Milk Tort
Koeksisters
Souskluitjies and Custard
Tipsy Tart
Amarula Panna Cotta
We tried a little bit of everything that night. We even tried the liver!!! We have not always been adventurous with what we eat. Back on our Honeymoon we canceled a dinner at Jiko (at the Animal Kingdome Lodge) because the food was too "exotic." A year later we went back and did try Jiko. Jiko has become our favorite restaurant on Disney property. We met Shellie at Jiko. She introduced us to Wine. (Thank You Shellie!!!!).
She also suggested that we try Party for the Senses during Food and Wine Festival. That is where we really started to build our palates. John and I would "double dog dare" each other to try everything (we tried Ostrich for the first time at PFTS). The rest we say is Foodie history.
John's favorites that night were the cabbage stew and the chicken pie. My favorites was the Bobotie. I was hoping that we would be able to taste Bobotie whilst on our trip. I had first began to love Bobotie when I tried this at Boma Restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. On subsequent trips to Boma I ate as much of the Bobotie that I could. Chef Conrad's Bobotie was excellent. I went back for seconds.
After dinner the guides took the Junior Adventurers off for some fun activities.
The adults went to the bar area to play pool and darts. I have never played darts before and I had a blast learning how to play. My first game was against Keith. He won by a land slide. This is because for my first several tries the dart hit either the empty cardboard boxes on the floor or the wood paneled wall below the dart board. If only I would of gotten points for those darts!!! Eveneeetually I started to hit the dart board. On my second game against David, I won. David is a gentleman though, so I'm sure that he let me win.
The other Adult Adventurers were playing pool. Brenda was doing a fantastic job of beating John and David at pool. Way to go Brenda!! Then Kereth started to play. He pretty much smoked the pool table!!!
Rose also got in on the action and challenged David to a game of darts. She, like me, had never played darts before. Her darts, at first, also belonged to "hit the empty boxes and hit the wood wall club". We were all laughing and having a great time. I laughed so much that night my side ached. That night was when the Adult Adventurers became a family.
After saying our good nights we headed off to bed for some Disney Dreams...
Next Up: In George by George!
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