Twists and Turns

One bad thing about travel-schooling is that Saturday is the same as every other day.  Today was no different as we started with a bit of math and reading immediately followed by the pack-up and move  on routine which is becoming old hat for us.  This was a travel day for the RTW Adventure Family as we headed from Hermanus to Oudtshoorn.

The drive was a four and one-half hour journey up, through, and down a mountainous region. The roads were as striking as they were twisting.  At times, we were literally on the edge of the mountain with no guard rails and little margin for error.  It was a fabulous ride and Bob loved every second behind the wheel.  Roman and Mabret spent time playing their iPods in the backseat.  Kathy occupied herself by wringing her hands and breathing deeply. 

Views from the road.

We found a very nice spot for an outdoor lunch and some rest from the twists and turns of the road.   The view made it hard to leave once lunch was finished.

As the road unfolded in front of us, there was no alternative but to put on some Bruce.  Bob found himself putting together a list of the 5 best Springsteen road trip songs.   Of course, there could be separate daytime and nighttime lists as well as singalong lists versus contemplative lists. We sampled some of the contenders and began listing and eliminating. For today at least, the list is as follows:

5.  Darlington County

4.  Cadillac Ranch

3.  Racing in the Street

2.  Born to Run

1.  Thunder road 

We rolled into Oudtshoorn at approximately 4pm with 2 sleeping adventurers in the backseat.

The town of Oudtshoorn is in the Klein Karoo Region between the Swartberg and Outeniqua mountains. Oudtshoorn is the ostrich capital of the world. The world's biggest bird is just one of the many attractions in this area of beauty. 

Oudtshoorn is also home to the Cango Caves, Africa's largest show cave system which is an ecological hotspot.  We are told that the tour in not for the faint of heart as crawling on one's stomach is required to squeeze through some of the passages.

Tomorrow we visit the Cango Caves and an ostrich farm. We will report back with a recap and photos. Although darkness has now fallen as I write this post, below is a picture from the patio of our room at the Hlangaga Lodge in Oudtshoorn.

Talk to you all tomorrow.