April 27, 2016
*Note: This post is truncated due to length. Please click on “read more” below to see the rest of the post!
This was a jam-packed day! We got up very early at about 5:30 AM and got ready by candlelight. I had to fumble around a bit to light a match in order to light the candles in my loft so I could see enough to get ready. Our host had left us yogurt and cheese made right on the farm, so we had that for breakfast under the candlelit chandelier. As we were getting in the car to leave, the owner/host of the cottage came to greet us. We had to be in Port Elizabeth to meet my sister and friends by 8:40, so we didn’t get to talk to him very long.
We arrived in Port Elizabeth shortly after 8:40. We had arranged to meet my sister and friends at St. George’s Park, but had difficulty finding them due to some confusion on the color of their car (my sister had told my dad the car was gold-colored, but my dad forgot and instead told us it was either orange or yellow). After over an hour, we finally found them. We walked through the park with them and saw the large war memorial and fountain and went through the conservatory, a huge atrium. The atrium was gorgeous and full of various plants.
We then went to a different section of Port Elizabeth. We visited Donkin Lighthouse. We had planned to go up into the lighthouse, but it was unexpectedly closed due to a public holiday that day. We were able to see it from the outside though.
From there, we headed to the coast near Port Elizabeth to hike the Sacramento Hiking Trail. The hike is very pretty, and goes along the beach, which gorgeous views. On our way back, however, we must have gotten on the wrong trail. What was supposedly a 1 1/2 hour hike became a 2 1/2 hour hike. We ended up having to go over the “trail” (which clearly was not the trail we were supposed to be on) and go through the bush for a ways in order to get back to our car. That was slightly scary, but we didn’t encounter any animals, so we were okay.
Because the hike took longer than expected, we were a bit behind schedule for the day, so we grabbed a quick lunch at a place right near the trail. We then drove about an hour out of Port Elizabeth to the Kwantu Elephant Sanctuary.
We made it to Kwantu just in time to ride and feed the elephants there before it closed. The elephants are so huge! We took a ride through the reserve, which also had other safari animals. After we rode the elephants, we got to feed them.
From there, I headed back to Port Elizabeth with my parents, while my sister and her friend headed back to Grahamstown, where she goes to school. We checked into our airbnb apartment and then went to Stanley Street to eat a Mediterranean restaurant. My dad and I both ordered lamb, but different dishes- my dad’s was amazing, but mine was more like lamb meatballs (not the best). After dinner, we showered and went to bed pretty early.
The Oke Den 