To wake up to the view that I had this morning is nothing shy of a dream- overlooking acres of flowering wild brush, fynbos, and the largest stretch of ocean I have ever seen, made me only climb out of bed to open up the large glass sliding doors to invite the cool air and the spectacular view more in. While Sam slept in, he hasn't had much time to rest and relax, I enjoyed the view followed by a hot bath that had the same view.
After breakfast in our little cottage Sam and I went on a hike around a trail that goes through the reserve. We read up on the 4 different kinds of Fynbos from the twiggy tall grasses to the small flowering ground cover to the Cone Flower with it's waxy leaves,.... We spotted a Bushbok- huge antelope and some small little critters and birds as well as swarms of bees that we not only saw but could hear along our hike,working hard to help pollenate the area.
We enjoyed visiting with some of our new lady friends on the porch after our hike. They were from CT and had gone out whale watching this morning. They said many people got sick and they were so cold. Thanks for the heads up! I went back and got Sam and I extra layers, I popped two Dramamine and chose not to eat lunch. Thank heavens for running into them! It paid great rewards being more prepared.
First off, if I hadn't taken those Dramamine I think I probably would have died...honestly. The waves were huge, swells were BIG and we were out on the water almost 3 full hours. Thankfully by nothing shy of a miracle I didn't get sick and I could totally enjoy the pods of whales that looked like they were everywhere. We saw one breach, a couple rubbed right up next to us on the boat and kept swimming under the boat. We saw them bob around, traveling in groups of 4 and 3 and 2 and alone, but all right within the same area. We also went by the boat where they were doing shark diving. So glad we chose not to do that. It was very cold out and going into near freezing water to stick your head under water and hold your breath to see the sharks, not worth it for me. We were able to see one of the Great White Sharks circling around and going down and up around where they were chumming the water. We saw an island of seals, literally. At first glance what looked like medium sized boulders were all seals! We spotted a flock of penguins swimming away from the island. It was an awesome outing, far exceeded my expectations.
This evening I have been sitting by the fire in our place following our great meal- again Sam being so adventurous and eating lamb kidneys....sorry Nate, I had to pass. Can't upset my stomach too soon, especially after surviving the boating outing today ;)
After breakfast in our little cottage Sam and I went on a hike around a trail that goes through the reserve. We read up on the 4 different kinds of Fynbos from the twiggy tall grasses to the small flowering ground cover to the Cone Flower with it's waxy leaves,.... We spotted a Bushbok- huge antelope and some small little critters and birds as well as swarms of bees that we not only saw but could hear along our hike,working hard to help pollenate the area.
We enjoyed visiting with some of our new lady friends on the porch after our hike. They were from CT and had gone out whale watching this morning. They said many people got sick and they were so cold. Thanks for the heads up! I went back and got Sam and I extra layers, I popped two Dramamine and chose not to eat lunch. Thank heavens for running into them! It paid great rewards being more prepared.
First off, if I hadn't taken those Dramamine I think I probably would have died...honestly. The waves were huge, swells were BIG and we were out on the water almost 3 full hours. Thankfully by nothing shy of a miracle I didn't get sick and I could totally enjoy the pods of whales that looked like they were everywhere. We saw one breach, a couple rubbed right up next to us on the boat and kept swimming under the boat. We saw them bob around, traveling in groups of 4 and 3 and 2 and alone, but all right within the same area. We also went by the boat where they were doing shark diving. So glad we chose not to do that. It was very cold out and going into near freezing water to stick your head under water and hold your breath to see the sharks, not worth it for me. We were able to see one of the Great White Sharks circling around and going down and up around where they were chumming the water. We saw an island of seals, literally. At first glance what looked like medium sized boulders were all seals! We spotted a flock of penguins swimming away from the island. It was an awesome outing, far exceeded my expectations.
This evening I have been sitting by the fire in our place following our great meal- again Sam being so adventurous and eating lamb kidneys....sorry Nate, I had to pass. Can't upset my stomach too soon, especially after surviving the boating outing today ;)
Tomorrow we head to church in Hermanus, a town about 30 mins away and then back to Cape Town. What a great visit. We made the most of our time here and the spectacular lodge and accommodations.
Proteia, some of the flowering species of Fynbos
Coming back towards our Forest Lodge at Grootbos Natural Reserve after our hike
Rare Milkwood Forest sdat the Nature Reserve
Checking out the sharks on the shark dive
Right Whales
What look like lumps on the rocks, those are all seals
No comments:
Post a Comment