Saturday, 19 February 2011

Stilbaai and Swellendam

 Stilbaai, is also known as the Bay of Sleeping Beauty, it is part of the Garden Route. It is quite isolated because it is 26 km away from the N2 main road between Mossel Bay and Riversdale at an estuary where the Goukou river meets the Indian Ocean.
Stilbaai is far larger than we were expecting. It has plenty of beaches and there is safe swimming. A first for us was watching a children's swimming class in the river. I ventured into the sea, but only got wet because it it so gently sloping I would be half way to Antarctica before I was up to my neck.
Stilbaai Beach                                            Stilbaai Harbour
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Adagio – our excellent accommodation – 150 metres from the beach
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BBQ on our apartment balcony at Adagio
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Palinggat Homestead – home of the Stilbaai Tourist Office
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By the Tourist Office there is a pond where the staff hand feed eels daily on chicken livers. At the time of our visit there were loads of tadpoles in the pond and so the eels were reluctant to come out to be fed because it was like living in a fast food outlet.
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Kite surfing – Stilbaai                                    Seen by the beach
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Our next venue was Swellendam – a place we have visited before, as it was en-route it seemed a good place to stay for a couple of days. Boy were we wrong! This is the biggest mistake I have made in accommodation. Tripadvisor.com show some excellent reviews, but the people who made them must have been taking d*%$gs or something similar. The only saving grace was the nearby cafe/restaurant, Mattson’s, where we had tea, coffee and meals and a lovely couple we met at the backpackers.
Mattson’s cafe                                                   Mountains behind Swellendam
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Housing Swellendam – not our place                      Drostdy Museum                  


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Drostdy Museum – smithy                             Round the evening campfire
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The next bit is x-rated it is the kitchen at Swellendam Backpackers


Kitchen – outside                                           Kitchen - inside
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