Hanging out with Riffraff, continued....

Our five days of S. African riding was centered on the Stanford/Hermanus/Gasbaai area. According to the Farm 215 website, Hermanus hosts the only traffic light in the entire Overberg region, and that is NOT meant as a compliment to Hermanus.

Between Hermanus and Gansbaai is a beautiful stretch of sandy shore that is a nature reserve. Howard's company is allowed access to the reserve for riding. On our first day, that beach was our destination, with our minds on a wild beach gallop to test our horse/rider partnerships, and our nerves.

A plan that was made without regard for the WIND. It was howling off the ocean that day (this is spring in S. Africa, and the weather tends towards the psychotically changeable). As we trudged through the dunes edging closer to the shore, the wind grew stronger and stronger, picking up more and more of that fine white sand. We struggled to find things to wrap around our faces, going for that Lawrence of Arabia-meets-Hidalgo look, managed a few minutes actually on the beach, and then retreated, joking about how we hadn't been told about the free micro-dermabrasion treatments included in the safari.

From there, we trekked to a beautiful self-catering guesthouse behind the dunes, which came complete with a herd of eland outside, satellite TV inside. Inside Sven, the mainstay of the safari support effort, was putting out the sour-cream-and-onion flavored potato chips and cooking pasta, also uncorking a nice bottle of S. African red (all the best stuff stays in the country, very selfish of them). 

Howard's wife and daughter were also there to greet us, along with their brand new puppy. I wish I could tell you her name, but each time I asked, I got a different answer...Chewy and Panda are the two I remember.