Jelly fish and posh nights out

Sunday we all went walking  – 3 women, 2 children and 2 Rhodesian ridgebacks.   We started on the Buffalo Pass which is narrow and winding and goes through lots of scrubby vegetation and trees.      It’s also quite hilly – not just one hill but first an uphill and then a downhill and then the same again.  The weather was mild and cloudy when we set out, with rain predicted, so we weren’t expecting the sun to shine as robustly as it did.  I hadn’t even brought a hat.  And Tanya was carrying a massive mother’s burden on her back which consisted of all the things you think two young children might need on a walk, plus a back carrier for the younger child, plus the younger child sitting in the back carrier from time to time.  

The pass leads out onto the beaches so the last half of the walk was easier.  Wind blowing off the sea and waves for the children to rush around in.  The Goukamma Reserve beaches round Knysna are stunning.  Long stretches of golden sand and almost deserted – even on a Sunday.  No photos due to a camera malfunction but lots of strange sea creatures seen.  English beaches usually yield empty sea shells, but here the seashells were busily slithering about on single jelly like feet.   There was also a very strange jelly fish which had been washed up  -  a round purple coil with vertical black stripes up its sides.  We did tell Aidan not to go and poke it but…   However, sometimes practical lessons are the best ones and he won’t do that again.  I looked it up on Google later and it’s called a Purple Striped Jelly Fish.

  

In the evening Tanya and I dressed up  and went to eat at the Phantom Forest Eco Reserve.  The only posh thing I brought on the trip was a cream jacket which you can shove on over a black teeshirt and trousers so that had to do.    Tanya seldom leaves her children so this was a very rare trip out for her.   

The Phantom Forest is a truly stunning place – constantly voted Africa’s best green hotel and set in the forest over Knysna.  We had to drive the car to the car park and then wait to be taken by 4 x 4 up the steep hills to the reception area.    A mixed bunch of rather stupid guinea fowl preceded us .  The driver honked his horn from time to time to try to persuade the birds to step aside but the several adults and assorted chicks just rushed more and more frantically up the road in front of us.

   

Once inside, we sat in a beautifully decorated lounge with lots of window space overlooking Knysna but very very high up sipping gin and tonics while they showed us menus and then got our dinner ready. The Phantom’s Boma restaurant has a mixture of windows and blinds around.  On fine nights you get to have your coffee or after dinner drink round a fire outside.  But it did start to rain while we were there so that didn’t happen.   This was honestly a special night and I would recommend it to anyone.  And at something like £25 a head for multiple courses of beautifully cooked food plus extra for drink it wasn’t exorbitant.   If  you’re in the Knysna area - go.        

The hadeda ibis have just flown over shouting loudly.  Why the ancient Egyptians chose to venerate  a bird that screeches like a demented donkey is totally mysterious.