South Africa – Tsitsikama / Plettenburg 南非普莱藤堡 12/2018 Stop 29 站

27-28/12/2018. From Mossel Bay, I moved on to Tsitsikamma, on the Garden Route, popular mainly for its many activity-based attractions. But the nagging rain that kept coming totally washed out my day. I decided to move back to Plettenberg the next day, just an hour away.

Traveling alone was particularly thorny, since I did not have my own car. On hearing my predicament, a couple of German girls offered to take me with them. These girls just had their car ransacked by burglars the night before and were with no clothes to change into and were walking around with bare feet in the cold and wet weather. I received a lot of help from the Germans on this trip, mostly young people. Their mothers taught them well. Okay, maybe their fathers played a small part, too.

The next day, the sky brightened up. A great day to be at one with nature. A hike around the Robberg Nature Reserve, Plettenberg’s main attraction, would be just the right time and place. This was a narrow peninsular. For much of the time, I was hiking on the shoulder of a mountain, glancing at the sheer drops mere inches away. I walked on the ridges; the sky ahead of me, and the sea below. There was no crowd to hurry me; I took time to enjoy every breath and every step. From this elevation, I could see into the wide-open space. Nothing obstructed my view, not my hair, not the crowd, no structure; even the vegetation remain stunted like scrubs. High above me, the sky was dyed azure, but gradually become baby blue as it joined the sea. As it approached the shore, the sea became, at first pear, then lime green, rolling onshore in waves of pearly white. There were no menacing animals, only the stinky seal colonies, because they didn’t have a proper toilet facility. At the tip of the peninsular, I found myself rock climbing with my four limbs on nearly vertical rock faces, awkwardly like a monkey up a fat tree trunk, with not a soul around. That was scary. The route took five hours, covering 11 kilometers.

Men often create places that wow us, like The Man-made Wonders of the World. There are things that are best left alone by men. This is just such a place.

27-28/12/2018从摩梭湾 (Mossel) 我移师翠西卡玛 (Tsitsikama), 花园路线往东下一站。这一天连连不断的雨水，只能第二天转移目标，到一小时外的另一花园路线景点普莱藤堡 (Plettenburg)。个人自游，没自己的车，寸步难行。在住宿前台听到我困境后，两位德国女孩主动邀我搭她们顺风车；上车后才知她们的车昨晚给洗劫一空，今天赤着脚，也没更换的衣服，还有心情援手相助。此行多国多次得到德国小伙的相助，心怀之大，使人惭愧。在普莱藤贝格用餐后老板亲自把我送回住宿。难中见情，难忘非洲。

第二天阳光绽放，我抓住机会到罗贝格自然保护区 (Robberg Nature Reserve) 徒步爬山，全程十一公里，大约五小时。今天光芒四射，趴在山顶走在山脊，在腰高的树丛走出小道，眼前眼下，一目了然。海阔天空，不同层次的蓝，形成一幅完美蓝图。脚底下近岸绿水冲成层层白浪，是个空中花园。这里没猛兽，只有臭气熏天的海豹聚居地。但这不是悠闲徒步，到半岛角尖处没预料还要惊险攀岩，周围空无一人，有惊有险，需要过人胆魄和年轻心态。

这是享受南非独有的大自然。很开怀。