#Parks

I’m back in Joburg after a month-long trip to the U.S. – my second American journey in 2023. I spent most of this trip dealing with administrative and family issues, spending time in the same places I normally go: Maryland (and a little time in Washington, D.C.), South Carolina, and New York. But I also squeezed in a short trip to Rhode Island with my sister.

Read Quirky South Africa Part 1, about padstals, and Quirky South Africa Part 2, about Bethulie and the Gariep Dam.

I was talking to some South African friends about my visit to the Garden Route recently, and one of them said: “Maybe this is a dumb question. But what is the Garden Route, exactly?” And I realized that even though I’ve been there multiple times I did not exactly know.

Before reading this post, read Part 1 of the Blogitects’ Excellent (Mis)adventures.

Thorsten and I woke up early on Friday morning, eager to explore the Kosi Mouth beach and estuary. Amangwane Camp sits right beside the entrance to the nature reserve, run by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, and the beach is about ten minutes’ drive down a steep, sandy forest road.

I hadn’t planned to blog about the cosmos flowers in Delta Park this year. I’ve already done so multiple times: Once during my #Gauteng52 series and once (very memorably) right before South Africa’s covid-19 lockdown began two years ago. But I went to see the cosmos twice this week and they are so freaking spectacular this year…Or maybe they’re equally spectacular every year and I just forget. Either way, this annual autumn explosion is too good not to blog about again.

I visited Cape Town for the first time more than 11 years ago, with my mother. During that trip, Mom and I attempted to climb Table Mountain in a hilariously foolish way – I’ll let you read about it yourself in the blog post I wrote back then, called How Not to Climb Table Mountain. We ultimately turned back and took the cable car to the top instead.

Last Sunday Thorsten and I went hiking in the Kloofendal Nature Reserve, which is in Roodepoort on Johannesburg’s West Rand. I last hiked in Kloofendal nearly 11 years ago; I know I enjoyed it because I wrote a blog post back then, too. But Kloofendal is even more delightful than I remembered. I also realized this time that Kloofendal has the most spectacular collection of proteas I’ve seen in Joburg.