Cape Town: Day 4

Read Time:4 Minute, 0 Second

Inverdoorn – A Drive on the Wildside

A day that will live long in the memories. A very early start this morning as we were bring picked up for a 2.5 hour trip to Inverdoorn so we could (hopefully) see some of the Big 5 … and zebra.

Our driver, Richard, was asking if anyone had a fear of the mountains. A little puzzled, but thought he meant fear of heights. No-one said anything otherwise so we headed off. It was pitch black as we headed out of Cape Town, but very soon, the mountain ranges ahead we being silhouetted by the sunrise. Just stunning.

We headed towards Paarl and then through wine country up to the Bainskloof Pass. Those in the back were pretty relieved that the windowed were fogged up … although Jon had a pretty good view from the front seat. Very steep drops but the views were stunning. A couple of the mountain tops were covered in snow … Jon and Callum were in shorts and were perhaps beginning to regret their choice of dress.

After a quick pit stop in Ceres for a coffee and loo break, our driver, Richard, pointed out the long queues at the ATMs. Being Saturday, it was the only day that the farm workers could come into town, withdraw money (ATMs were new technology to them so took them a while to figure out how to use them!).

The road eventually turned into a dirt track for the last 15 mins into Inverdoorn. We’d arrived … no animal sightings so far. Would we see anything? All would be revealed later this morning. A very strong cup of coffee and coconut biscuit later, we were loaded into our trucks and headed into the Game Reserve.

First sighting – flamingos, and then the Lions the centre had rescued. These were lions rescued from people just breeding lions to shoot; they had no sense or ability of how to kill so would not survive in the wild so had been brought to Inverdoorn to be looked after in the Conservation Park.

After Lions we seemed to drive around for ages at speed on the bumpy dirt tracks trying to track animals. The very prickly bushes (huge long thorns!) were everywhere and scraped along the side of the jeep (and you if you were hanging over the edge!). What we saw was just amazing.

Giraffe, springbok, eland, buffalo, wildebeest, hippos (well hidden in the grass), elephant, then after a bit of trekking from the driver, (droppings and scent!), we saw three Rhino. Last stop before we went back to base camp, the cheetahs. So lucky to see all the animals … and saw more than the other truck (they didn’t get to see the rhino).

Lunch was a buffet, although not much food left by the time we got there! The Italians were heading up for seconds before most of our party had arrived. Lamb stew, lemon chicken and salad – it looked good but only had a mouthful each.

There was time for a quick wander around the resort before starting the drive back to Cape Town. This time we took the main roads back and headed through winelands and lost count of the wineries we passed. A lot were closed whether because it was the weekend or winter we didn’t know. Shame there wasn’t time to stop!

The approach to Cape Town was amazing. We picked up the shape of table mountain about 40km out and watched it get bigger and bigger until it loomed large straight ahead. It was huge and dominated the skyline more so than it does from the Cape Town side. Traffic was heavy once we hit Cape Town as roads were closed so it took us about 40 mins to reach our hotel … and a well deserved beer / glass of wine / milkshake!

Sunset wasn’t too far off (17.57) so we stayed outside on the terrace enjoying the view utnil the sun slipped below the ocean, plunging Cape Town into darkness.

Callum said he was tired and asked if we could eat at Tobagos (the restaurant at the hotel). It was warm enough for us to eat outside (although the lady in charge was trying to persuade us otherwise!). Food was really good. Jon chose the Thai Chicken Soup and Malay Curry, Callum the mussels and the Chicken and Bacon burger and I had the Pulled Ostrich and KingKlip (local fish). Lovely!