Sudwala Caves - Thursday

Cara, my Tour Director, arrived promptly at 12:30 pm as she had threatened. I say threatened because Santi and I went out for a little bit on Wednesday, that turned out to be longer than expected. Nothing new when we wander :) So off we were in Cara, "4 wheel drive" VW, (we'll get back to that later in the blog).

We drove for a couple hours in the country and arrived at Sudwala Caves and Dinosaur Park in the late afternoon. The caves are nestled high on a mountain, a difficult road for Cara's little VW! The roads leading into the area are steep and once you turn off of the main road you are on dirt roads that are worn from the rains. There are potholes and places in the road where it has had ridges worn into it from the rains. Cara had to transverse these roads and she did it with great skill! Personally, I wouldn't have taken her little economy car up those roads! Cara is just plain brave is all I know! She does make a good point in that if something happens, it's not like it's a brand new pretty car! Anyway, there is a photo on the Picasa album of the road and how steep it is AND the pathway up to the entrance to the caves! It's not like it's a very long way UP but it is most definitely UP! Cara is younger than I am and she was still happily taking a break going up there! Of course, we didn't say we were taking a breathing break, we were looking at the scenery!

Although the day was hazy (we stayed in Hazyview by the way) there was a beautiful view across the valley to another mountain. Even as we crawled up the steps to the entrance of the cave, the path was lovely, with shades of green and lush foliage along the way. When we finally found the top of the path the view as more than worth the effort of climbing the steps! The foliage around the mouth of the cave was to die for! There were so many varieties of trees and vines up there to see. Of course the area around the caves are well maintained since it is a tourist attraction, the natural beauty of the area has also been preserved. Again, words fail me as I try to describe what I saw there, I can only suggest you view the folder, Sudwala Caves, at the Piscasa album to get an idea of what I saw up there. It is unfortunate that the camera cannot capture the colors and vivid detail that the eye sees.

Since our tour didn't begin for several minutes, Cara and I wandered around inside the mouth of the cave and had a seat inside of the cave. Here are a few quick facts about the caves. They are estimated to be 2 million years old and prehistoric people used the caves as a retreat during the years of tribal was and it's named after a Swazi officer names Sudwala. There is a constant flow of fresh air in the caves, but no one really knows where it is coming from. Inside of the cave it is cool and feels wonderful, almost like air conditioning. The further into the caves you go, the more humid it is though. Unfortunately trying to use a camera with "night" settings is more than difficult, there are only a few photos that turned out well. If you want more information on the caves you can go to www.sudwalacaves.co.za . There is a lot of history in those caves and one of these days I'll have to go through those notes in my head and get even more information down before it slips away.

I don't know what was more work, crawling up or down those steps! Many years ago, about the time that the dinosaurs roamed the planet, I played tennis in high school. Of course, being young and dumb, and not having the information on sports medicine as we do today, I would continue to play injured or not wait long enough after an injury to go back to playing, my poor knees are paying the price now! Since I work at a computer for 14+ hours a day, it is a safe assumption that I'm not in the best shape I could be in... so the climb up was a workout on those muscles that I haven't used in years and the climb back down was wearing on my knees! I'm sure you'll hear more whining about the fact that there is NO flat country here, only up and down! LOL

Moving away from the caves we drove to our accommodations for the evening. South Africa is a beautiful country and the landscape can change in just a few miles of traveling (that up and down thing again :) During the drive we passes banana plantations with acres and acres of banana trees. Cara explained that they put bags over the fruit to keep the birds and insects from damaging the crop. Then, when you thought it was safe, she shared information about the banana spiders in the fields! She indicated with her hands, the size of these spiders...does everyone know what a baseball looks like? There are photos of the "baby" at:

http://www.photographersdirect.com/stockimages/b/banana_spider.asp

Needless to say, we elected NOT to tour the banana farm in search of this spider! No, I didn't see one and for some reason that didn't bother me much!

We arrived at our destination and again, if you look at the photos, you will see the dirt road that Cara had to navigate to get us there, but be aware, that photo doesn't do the condition of the road justice! It looks pretty good in that photo! The guest farm we stayed at is located not far from the Kruger National Park and there are many like it in the area for visitors to the area. This is a very popular area to visit for both International tourists and South Africans. The farm itself appears as though in years past it was a working farm but now it's more of a Bed and Breakfast. The main house appears older but well kept and the. The rondavel (which we would consider more of a "cabin" in the States) is round with a thatched roof.

Once we were in and settled, we sat outside for a while and just enjoyed the view. There was a large tree with very large leaves that the table and chairs sat under and the leaves as they fell made a "plop" sound as they hit the ground. I mention this for a reason, so read on... It wasn't long before it was time to end the day and get ready for Friday. Just after we laid down, we found a very large moth in the room, it was about the size of a hummingbird. Seriously. It wasn't dangerous, just annoying as it flapped around the rondavel. Cara grabbed the trash bucket and a piece of paper and went on her own safari in the room. It took a few attempts but she was able to capture it in the bucket and take it outside! We were laughing and I finally got the camera out to prove she isn't afraid of moths! I decided to go out for one last smoke (I know, I know.) and as I passed the window I saw a grasshopper on the curtains. I grabbed the bucket and paper and went on a safari of my own. (Cara doesn't like grasshoppers.) My prey was much easier to capture and release outside as I was on my way. I stood by the door with my smoke in hand, listening to the the sounds outside. I heard several of those large leaves as they hit the ground and then all of the sudden, there was a much larger noise out there. I decided that it was time to come in and go to bed! I have no idea what it was, but I wasn't inclined to stand there and see if I could find it! Cara thought it might be an owl, but I don't think owls fall out of trees often!

And so the first day of our adventure ended...