Oudtshoorn

 The next stop along the Garden Route for me was Oudtshoorn (prounced "oats-horn") which is up over the mountains away from the ocean. This town is even more quaint than Stellenbosch and was truly lovely. The reason I came to Oudtshoorn in the first place was to visit Cango Caves because everyone here who discovers that I am a geologists asks me, "Have you visited Cango Caves yet?!" I figured I should go.

The guide is putting his head in the opening
that we needed to crawl up through

The cave was really warm
and humid!

I met two awesome Norwegian girls, Hannah and Maria, at this backpackers (Backpackers Paradise) and we ended up spending the whole day together doing activities. We took the backpackers's shuttle up the mountain to Cango Caves then rode bikes back down (about 30 km) while stopping at different places along the way. We opted to do the adventure tour of the caves which is definitely worth it! We went in really small places and climbed up through small places that I'd never begin to think I could fit through in the first place. I always wonder who the crazy person was who thought, I wonder if i can fit through that small space without getting stuck. I guess I'll try it. If I get stuck, I'll call for someone to grab the soap! Adventurous people...crazy people. Let me just say, that none of this would happen in the States like it did here. We didn't have to wear helmets and we went barefoot as suggested by the guide.

You can stand on an ostrich
egg and it wont break!

The next stop was the Ostrich Farm, but let me say that the ride there was beautiful. Parts of the ride reminded me of parts of Montana that I did field camp in last summer. We took a tour of the Ostrich Farm and got to feed the Ostriches! They are crazy; their necks freak me out! They can seriously turn their head 360 degrees...crazy! They all look so grumpy too. We were given the chance to ride an ostrich, but the way they did it seemed so mean, so the three of us opted not to. On our final ride back to the backpackers, my bike got a flat tire...flat, flat tire. We tried repairing it on the side of the road, but we couldn't find the leak, so we walked the last 1.5 km back. I was happy to walk, though, because my butt was so sore!! That night the backpackers had a braai (similar to a BBQ)...so good!

Maria, Me, and Hannah near the top of the Mountain Pass.