The Garden Route-Part 2
Once in Port Elizabeth, we drove straight to our hostel "King's Lodge Backbackers". We got settled in and then went in search of groceries for dinner. At our hostel, we met a group of Danish students who were studying in Cape Town. They were pretty funny! Since we had an early start the next day, we headed to bed early.
Friday, September 9th: We left the hostel by 6:20am to head north toward Johannesburg. Our flight to London was on Saturday at 8:00pm, so we had about a day and a half to get there. We decided to do one last "vacation" thing before our two days of driving, so we stopped at Addo Elephant Park for some final animal sightings. We didn't see as many animals as we were used to, but we saw some elephants, giraffe, antelope, etc. Unfortunately, we didn't see any predators. The park was so green and the foliage was so thick that it made it very difficult to spot animals, unless they were right by the road. We left Addo and headed north on the N10 to the N9 and then finally on to the N1 to get to our hostel for the night. Our hostel was pretty interesting! It was called Navel Hill Backpackers in Bloemfontein, and it was converted from an old water pump station. The rooms were divided by sheets of metal, and there weren't any ceilings, so you could hear EVERYTHING! I was the only girl in the whole place, so that was kind of weird. It wasn't very clean, but it served its purpose. The worst part was driving up the steep driveway. It was all torn up so they had cement slabs lined up to make a trail up the hill. Unfortunately, this trail was for wider vehicles, so I had to get out and direct Jeff up the driveway, so that we didn't pop a tire. We hadn't eaten dinner, but after the ordeal of getting up the driveway, we settled for buying dinner from the hostel. It was actually pretty good: mashed potatoes and sausage with mixed veggies. Not too expensive either. After repacking our suitcases and cleaning out the car, we got some sleep in preparation for our last day and remaining drive to the airport.
Saturday, September 10th: We were all packed and ready to leave by 8:30am. Our last challenge was making it back down the driveway. Luckily, we made it without any incidents and were on our way. Since we had minimal delays on our drive to Johannesburg, we decided to stop at the Apartheid Museum for a few hours to kill time. It was interesting, as well as a little sad. I learned a lot about Nelson Mandela, as well as some history of South Africa. Afterward, we headed to the airport to return our rental car and get checked into our flight.
Thankfully, we made it 5 weeks around southern Africa without any accidents, flat tires, emergencies, etc. We were so blessed to have such an amazing trip with few inconveniences or mishaps! Jeff did a great job planning things out, as well as being the chauffeur for the 5,800 miles. Thanks, babe!
Friday, September 9th: We left the hostel by 6:20am to head north toward Johannesburg. Our flight to London was on Saturday at 8:00pm, so we had about a day and a half to get there. We decided to do one last "vacation" thing before our two days of driving, so we stopped at Addo Elephant Park for some final animal sightings. We didn't see as many animals as we were used to, but we saw some elephants, giraffe, antelope, etc. Unfortunately, we didn't see any predators. The park was so green and the foliage was so thick that it made it very difficult to spot animals, unless they were right by the road. We left Addo and headed north on the N10 to the N9 and then finally on to the N1 to get to our hostel for the night. Our hostel was pretty interesting! It was called Navel Hill Backpackers in Bloemfontein, and it was converted from an old water pump station. The rooms were divided by sheets of metal, and there weren't any ceilings, so you could hear EVERYTHING! I was the only girl in the whole place, so that was kind of weird. It wasn't very clean, but it served its purpose. The worst part was driving up the steep driveway. It was all torn up so they had cement slabs lined up to make a trail up the hill. Unfortunately, this trail was for wider vehicles, so I had to get out and direct Jeff up the driveway, so that we didn't pop a tire. We hadn't eaten dinner, but after the ordeal of getting up the driveway, we settled for buying dinner from the hostel. It was actually pretty good: mashed potatoes and sausage with mixed veggies. Not too expensive either. After repacking our suitcases and cleaning out the car, we got some sleep in preparation for our last day and remaining drive to the airport.
Saturday, September 10th: We were all packed and ready to leave by 8:30am. Our last challenge was making it back down the driveway. Luckily, we made it without any incidents and were on our way. Since we had minimal delays on our drive to Johannesburg, we decided to stop at the Apartheid Museum for a few hours to kill time. It was interesting, as well as a little sad. I learned a lot about Nelson Mandela, as well as some history of South Africa. Afterward, we headed to the airport to return our rental car and get checked into our flight.
Thankfully, we made it 5 weeks around southern Africa without any accidents, flat tires, emergencies, etc. We were so blessed to have such an amazing trip with few inconveniences or mishaps! Jeff did a great job planning things out, as well as being the chauffeur for the 5,800 miles. Thanks, babe!
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