Wow, what an awesome day!
Day one on the reserve and we're already completely engulfed in the magnificence of this landscape. It's pretty baron and dry right now, as the land awaits the rainy season, but it still in no way lacks beauty.
I was awoken by The Goose and her little lamb frolicking about on the bed. both of them squealing like little girls, which I admit was rather nice - it sure beats the usual alarm noises. After a fine spot of brekkie, consisting of bacon, creamy scrambled eggs, fresh onions, hot toast and Starbucks Instant Coffee (quite nice actually, who'd thunk it??), The Goose and I mounted our trusty steed and set off to Clanwilliam to gather supplies. Pakhuis Pass is just gorgeous. The rock formations are reminiscent of how Jane Fonda would look now had she not had all that plastic surgery and aerobics videos. It's the 'white trash' of mountains; jagged, edgy, dry and angry, with very little fashion sense.
Clanwilliam was a hive of activity, with all the locals out and about, shopping for the weekenders supplies. They're quite a short bunch, this lot. I hardly saw a tall person. Must be something in the water.
A couple hours later we were on the quad bikes and racing up the mountainside, for a guided tour of the reserve by our excited host, Alfie Horton. I think he simply loves having us here, so he can finally show us this beautiful place he keeps bragging about!
The Goose was thoroughly enjoying riding on her own, whilst I trailed behind her, drifting in to the corners, wheel spinning from take-off, and climbing the smaller rocks (you can do that with AWD quads, mega-yay!). Alfie, The Goose and myself spent a good few hours cruising around, checking out the space before returning to base camp for dinner. I think the images speak for themselves.
There's quite an array of insects and bugs here, all of which tend to be rather large. Ofcourse, I am loving this, as I am always fascinated by creatures of all types, sizes and species. Mind you, flies irritate the bejesus outta me, as do mosquitoes. I'm still trying to figure out their purpose on this fine planet.
The evening was a chillaxed one, hanging out by the fire place, a few drinks, some critter spotting, a little fun with Sheeba (farm pooch), a late-night quad bike ride (guess I better start saving, The Goose is gonna expect one for her birthday!), and a fairly early bed time.
Signal here is not the greatest, and this goes especially for interweb. This took me the best part of the day to draw up, most of which was spent waiting for the pics to upload, hence this being Saturdays' notes. I'll try do today's log later tonight or first thing in the morning.
I'll sign off this entry with a few more pics...
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