Chapter 2 - Week 4

January 24th: I'm in my fourth week. Lots of stuff happened since the last Blog. Last week the family (which includes me now) went for a day at the beach to celebrate Edda's birthday. The beaches are beautiful here. We went to a beach near Knysna a toursit town east of George. It was my first time in the Indian Ocean.

There are signs everywhere reminding of the drought.

Water was very pleasant...around 24 celecus.

Sasha swims in a pool...with the pounding surf in the background.

I often see plants just like around Ojai.

Edda and I also went to Knysna mainly to visit their friend Pieter and his drum shop. On Fridays he has a drum jam...and it was pretty great. Probably around 10 participants at any given time.

Pieter makes the drums himself. I told him about Alden and Cali's Hurdy Gurdies and he wants one. Pieter is also Brus' stunt riding partner and does fire dances. You can see a video I just edited with Pieters performance at Brus' "The Knight's Tale" show held the end of December. Click Here to view.

I took a fall about a week ago. I'm gradually getting "back in the saddle" and back on the riding roster. Here are some pix of me.

Here I'm riding the newly restored Western Saddle!

And here I'm not back in the saddle at all.

Last weekend the family headed to the Cango Wilderness Ranch which is north of George on the other side of the mountains. The pass was impressive for sure and as soon as we crossed to the north side everything changed.

Looking back towards George from the summit.

The valley to the north where Cango is is very much like the southern central valley in California. Hot, dry and very little growth.

Cango is just out of a town called Oudtshoorn. It's a fascinating town and I'd like to spend more time there. It clearly has the influence of early settlers with the old buildings and houses.

Cango Wildlife Ranch is a relatively small beautifully put together park. Their main gate is awesome! The grounds are delightfully laid out.

They have a diversity of animals, mostly are native to some part of South Africa. The displays are nicely designed and there seems to be a very high respect for the animals. Sasha and Megan become very popular among the beautiful birds...with the help of a little nectar the staff provided.

A Cape Buzzard

These were the largest bats I've ever seen. Probably 2 feet in length (as they slept.)


There was a very nice outdoor restaurant where we had lunch. It's kept cool by a mist of water being sprayed from the ceiling. Look hard!

And this afternoon Sasha, Megan and Arian practiced Polo/LaCross in the back pasture.

This is an active place. Edda and Megan take off Tuesday for a two week trip. So Brus and I are batching it with the kids. I'm teaching Megan's lessons while she's gone, making them into South African cowboys.