[Note: I apologize for the delay in postings. I’ve been busy and distracted. And if anyone told you that retirement meant that you had lots of free time, they were either misinformed or not talking about me. We’ll start up again with this post and continue every third day.]
By now you’re probably tired of reading about how what we were seeing was not particularly evocative of Africa. But it’s true, and the rugged coast we saw in the Garden Route National Park could have easily been along the California coast, or various places in Europe. By this, I don’t mean to say that Africa is, even in its coast, just like California. It’s more a statement that coasts in many places are more alike than dissimilar. Or, to put it another way, there is more to draw us together than to separate us. This shouldn’t be all that strange a concept. After all, 99.9% of all human DNA from person to person is identical. All that makes each of us a little different from the next person is that 1/10th of one percent. Yes, we’re only a little bit different from each other.
The section of the Garden Route National Park that we’re enjoying is right along the coast, as, for that matter, the Garden Route itself is – a thin strip between mountains to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south. And the coast is very dramatic. It was winter (late August so roughly corresponding to late February here in the Northern Hemisphere. And roughly 34 degrees south, well within the temperate region. (By comparison San Francisco is 37 degrees north.)
Waves are strong here, with nicely blowing winds as well.
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| Waves Along the Garden Route Coast |
The rust color on the rocks here appears to be lichen.
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| Rust Colored Lichen |
And right along the coast here there are nice coves where the water is somewhat calmer.
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| Cove |
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| Cove |
Along the trail there’s even a very peaceful little waterfall, if you want to give it that majestic a name.
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| "Waterfall" |
Part of the reason for stopping at this section of the park was to hike out to the suspension bridges. Much of the trail was along boards to protect the fragile ground and to keep us safe along unstable footing with steep dropoffs. And, as you can see, the trail was very scenic among the trees and bush.
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| Along Trail |
And then you get your first view of the suspension bridge.
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| Suspension Bridge - 1st View |
Somewhat daunting to a person like me, I’ll freely admit. Besides, we don’t really need to get to the other side since our van is back the way we came.
Facing the bridge itself does little to reduce my anxiety level, although it does seem to be pretty well constructed and maintained.
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| Facing the Bridge |
There is a sign letting you know this bridge has been here a long time and has been maintained. And they even have figured out its carrying capacity.
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| Bridge Signs |
And they don’t have to worry about me jumping on the bridge. There’s still an open question as to whether I’ll go onto it.
But eventually, recognizing that I’ve travelled some 11,000 miles to get to this spot, I figure going out at least part way for a photo op is doable. And I do check to make sure 24 others are not already out there.
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| On the Bridge |
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