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Day 22 and I hated to leave Cradock and the Karoo area. I could stay here until the plane leaves as there are a hundred stories to tell, but this is not my vacation and animals await our arrival in other areas. I was standing in the lobby of the Victoria Manor telling everyone goodbye when Sandra, the owner, noted that I had written down Somerset East on my pad. "Are you going to Somerset East, then you must take the road of the pass. It is dirt but the last time I drove it was in great shape" she said. So she started to tell me how to find the road and Disarray started searching for a map behind the counter. Sandra said "never mind, just let me know when you leave and I will lead you to road in my car." To get to the road, you cross the Fish River, turn left go to the second and road turn on the right, the first being the dump, so I don't think I could confuse it. Not hard to find, but her willingness to lead us there is just one example how great a host she is and most of the people of Cradock we found to be the same way.
sandra
vicki and lambart. lambart and his friend sam are a great story and some day i will try and fit it in.
cradock
We say our goodbyes and hit the road. The road of the pass was in good shape and things were going well until I decided it is time for "any left turn" and we turned left. No idea where this road goes or if it even goes anywhere. Sabie, the great GPS, says it will circle back to the main road. The road started well, but deteriorated badly in spots but our Toyota Corolla "ATV" performed nicely. Half way on the loop we came across some farm workers and they confirmed the road did indeed loop around to the main. Vicki sighed in relief as she knows when I get in the adventure mode there is no telling where we will end up.
in and out of the road had one of these. just pull up and it opens. those are tv cameras on the poles. no idea what that was about
this i have an idea what it means
all most some where
Our destination is the Addo Elephant Reserve and the Elephant House were we have a room in the stables....seriously. About 6 Km from our destination we see a large herd of elephants in the bush and the a beautiful field of wild flowers. Vicki was in animal heaven. I was in "ok, we have seen the elephants we can go back to the Karoo". Didn't work.
We checked into the Elephant House were first they squeezed us some great fresh orange juice. Just forgot the Vodka. Then they showed us to our room in the "stables". I had seen them when we drove in and since they were much cheaper than the main house, I thought there would be two rooms to a "stable" but I was surprised each "stable" was a huge single room and huge bathroom. I looked at the rooms in the house and I still cannot understand the price difference.
the stables
Directions to Elephant house:
By Helicopter: Land in Horse Paddock in front of Elephant House GPS: 33° : 30' : 5" South 25° : 41' : 5" East
We settled in and had a cheese and smoked Kudu salami from our traveling stores for dinner and then I sat on the porch reading watching a beautiful sight and sound show of a thunderstorm in the dark, until the rain arrived and drove me inside. The show went on well into the night.
