Wed Nov 14 - Lost in Africa - Bucket List South Africa

Wed Nov 14 - Lost in Africa

We started the day with a visit to the Diaz museum which tells the history of the Portuguese in this part of SA. I have a photo below of a replica of the ship in which de Gama circumnavigated the earth, it took him 3 years. After the visit we drove 80km to Albertinia where we had a visit to an all things aloe store. We started our cycling in Albertinia about noon so the day was very long since we did not arrive at our accommodation until 6PM. The cause for the delay was our fault because we made a wrong turn despite checking the directions several times. Please note we were not alone, 8 of the 11 of us made the same mistake. Anyway we sorted ourselves out but the end result was an additional 14km so days total was 68km instead of 52km and we had 1100m/3600ft of climbing. Being stubborn as I am I refused to get in the bus even though I know I can’t ride the 90kms tomorrow. Today was a point of pride. We are now in Richardson SA at another wonderful guest house. Tonight’s meal for us was simple since we had lunch at 4PM but nonetheless very good and reasonable. Most importantly the beer was great as was the rosé that we had with dinner.

Our hotel from up on the lighthouse hill.

A spotted yellow thick kneed bird, a truly rare sighting.

The beach back towards town with early surfers.

Testing out this old penny farthing atbthe musem.

A beautiful stained glass window in the museum.

A morning snack of a macaroon for all of $0.70 each.

Some aloe plants and a pit where they dry the leaves before extracting the juice that is boiled down to make the aloe.

At the end of the ride we had to navigate our way through a large herd of very big dairy cows on their way to be milked.

An exact replica that was built to celebrate the 500th anniversay of Vasco de Gama’s discovery of this part of SA and the journey that took him to India.

Our rosé that we had with dinner I am going to try to bring a bottle home.

Our room was the last on the right. In the AM we saw lots of cyclists going out early for a ride.

A painting depicting the spice route to India that was the nain reason for sailing there from Europe.

Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 310 km (193 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	2
Comment on this entry	Comment	4

Hilary JaegerA couple of great days behind you; fantastic photos! But 90 km on a mountain bike? Yikes, that’s about 6 hours of butt time...
Reply to this comment
5 years ago

Margaret KavanaghThat is not happening for me. I am going to start in the van and end the day riding. Tim will do it all but he has a motor.
Reply to this comment
5 years ago

Hilary JaegerTo Margaret KavanaghA sound plan.
Reply to this comment
5 years ago

Gail JohnsonFirst of all what are those Dassises? Never seen them before. Are they like a ground hog? Love the macaroons, bring them on. Unlike Hilary I LOVE coconut!
Way to make your way around the cows on the way in. Sounds like a long day but looks like you ended up at a lovely place to stay.
Can you imagine riding a penny farthing on those roads? Not me!
Smart move to take your time and not do the 90k.
BTW, one is never lost, only misplaced for awhile.
Reply to this comment
5 years ago