We wanted to spend a night at the hot springs in Aliwal North, but they were not open due to renovations in progress. The rest of the town seemed to have very limited options and appeared run-down and dirty. When we spotted The Pantry, a local restaurant and deli, we decided to have lunch before moving on. The food and friendly service was well worth it. The two sisters, Nicolette & Lizelle, have certainly created a little gem in the middle of such a drab-looking town.
Golden Gate is South Africa’s only grassland national park and is situated in the western foothills of the Maluti Mountains, close to the Lesotho border. We love going there so planned to spend two nights. The drive was pleasant and the landscape beautifully green.
We no sooner arrived when we heard a fellow camper complain about the baboons. They had broken into their locked tent by tearing the side wall and stole food items, amongst others their sugar. They had sewn up the tent, but now still had no sugar for their morning coffee and the Park Shop had none. I know the feeling when morning coffee pleasure is threatened! Luckily we still had some sugar in Ufudu which we gladly donated; after all, we don’t use that stuff any longer…
Our mission for this visit was to find the elusive (for us) Ground Woodpecker so we were up early and went for a hike along the Echo Ravine trail. We saw birds, and beautiful flowers, but no woodpeckers, and eventually had to return to camp for breakfast; empty-handed.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the loops in the park, having lunch at a Farm Stall just outside the park gate, and going to the hide at the Vulture Restaurant. Sadly, there were no vultures due to a lack of menu items. We later asked the Park Manager about it and his response was that they are dependent on farmers for donations, which they have not had for a long time.
The next morning saw us up early once again and this time we took breakfast with us. We decided on the Mushroom Rock trail and voila!, there they were! Sitting on a rock, two Ground Woodpeckers basking in the sun. Mission accomplished.
After watching them for some time we took a leisurely walk up the path and stopped at the Dripping Wall for breakfast.
Back at camp we packed up and left the park. We wanted to go and explore Clarens.
We popped into all the art shops around the ‘square’, had lunch at ‘The Posthouse Restaurant’, and ultimately ended up at the Clarens Brewery. A visit to the brewery was not planned, but as we came up to it, there was a sudden downpour. What better place to take shelter than in a brewery?
It did not take much to persuade us to do a tasting; Roger did the beers and I joined by tasting the ciders. We ended up buying a variety of beers, 2 ciders, and 2 apricot liqueurs. We were back on the road by 3 pm for the last leg of this trip.
We arrived home at about 8 pm on the 23rd. Sadly, another year’s leave over and done with…
