After 10 days on the Cape coast it was time to turn inland again. We could have stayed on the Garden Route (one of our favourite places in the whole world) for a long time, but there were more places to see...
We drove through Knysna (no stopping, unfortunately) and then headed for the mountains. The plan was for us to pass over the Prince Alfred's Pass, but we had to divert as the steep, narrow, gravel road was not suitable for our vehicle. Bummer.
In stead we passed through a valley of incredible scenery, hugging the Keurbooms River, which made up for the lack of mountain...
Now we were in the Karoo. Another of our favourite places. We stayed over at Elandsheuwel, a guest farm belonging to Chris and Alicia van Schalkwyk. I 'met' Alicia a while ago when she sent me an email enquiring about the Namaqua 301. She found my blog post about it and we started an email friendship, chatting about hiking, life, children and all things we women talk about. But we've never set eyes on each other. So we decided to stay over at their place and get acquainted. We had a great time and we left as friends. Thank you Chris and Alicia.
Our next stop was Jansenville, a small town in the Eastern Cape Karoo and the heartland of Angora (mohair) farming. We stopped at a quaint coffee shop where I met Tannie Louise. Her garden is decorated with enamel coffee pots, mugs, kettles and... chickens! We were chatting in the kitchen while we waited for the kettle to boil, and she told me about her late husband and their life together.
She reminded me of my mother.
I planted a flower in her coffee pot garden.
If you ever pass through Jansenville, please stop and smell the coffee.
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