2009-09-29 – rolling on the river

It was finally time to do some river rafting, and it was going to be a nice sunny day for it. We started with a quick oatmeal porridge breakfast, and got all our stuff packed (since we were leaving for Franschhoek after the rafting tour) and our stuff that we needed for the rafting tour stuffed into the waterproof bag that was given to us to use for the tour. After signing the indemnity forms (a very South African thing; even they joke about them) and getting our life jackets, we drove out to a river bank where we would start the tour. Kevin was our guide; he gave us some quick instructions on how to paddle and how things were going to be along the tour, and then we were off!

The tour itself was pretty relaxing. There were some rapids in some places, but nothing heavy duty; only level one. However, there was one spot where we all had to get out of our rafts to move them past a barrier. While getting out of the raft, Ms. Penguin stumbled on the wet rocks and banged her knee. It was only right before getting back into the raft and Kevin asking “are you OK?” that she realized that there was a good-sized cut on her knee. Hmmf. So that had to be dealt with – some antiseptic wash and some ointment and a bandage. No big deal. And then we were off again...

We took two breaks; the first one was for some water and cookies. There were a bunch of cows grazing in that area, and didn't seem very happy about the intrusion. The next stop was for lunch. We got sandwiches and pieces of fried chicken and vegetables and a hard boiled egg, as well as a piece of chocolate. Lots of food. We couldn't finish ours, so we saved it for later on, and ended up eating it on the way to Franschhoek.

There are nice things to see along the river. The best thing was a pair of barn owls that we saw underneath a bridge. They were so cute; first one of them had a look at the freaks in the raft, and then another one came to have a look. They looked at us for a little while, and then hid themselves again. Sneaky owls. We also saw (and heard) a fish eagle, and spotted its nest high up in a treetop. There were also lots of cormorants and ducks and geese, including one goose that flew away from the raft, pretending to have a broken wing, in order to distract us from its family. Other birds included a kingfisher, swallows, and weaverbirds and red bishops in the reeds.

After the tour, we headed back to the backpackers, rinsed ourselves in the shower, got all our stuff packed into the car, and headed out to Franschhoek. We made a quick stop at Graham Beck to taste their wine, and buy a bottle of Brut, and made a couple of quick stops to take photos (not the best light though, and too much haze, hmmf, we'll see how they turn out), and finally got to Franschhoek in the late afternoon. After getting settled into our accommodation (Otter's Bend Lodge), we took a much needed nap...