Today has been an easy, and happy, day in our Walk 4 SOS Huskies journey to Cape Town. Although it’s not my birthday today (that’s on 14 August, in case you’re wondering) I received a present from Rogz – the worlds coolest pet gear brand on planet earth!
Dad (that’s my adopted human Dad, Desmond, aka The Fossil) had kept it secret so I was kinda confused when we left the Elephant Hide of Knysna Guest Lodge early this morning and drove the Mahindra PIKUP to George. I kept thinking; “that’s nearly nearly 62km from Knysna and we’re supposed to walk there, so why is he driving? What about fundraising for my Husky family?”
Well, we arrived in George an hour later and pulled in at the Fancourt Hotel where Dad left me in the PIKUP and rushed off to reception. After the big secret was revealed, it turns out that Delray at Saviors Of Siberians in Cape Town had asked Rogz to support my fundraising cause by sponsoring a padded Explore Harness. Rogz agreed to provide not one, but two harnesses! One for me and the other for my bro’s and sis’s that Delray rescues or delivers to foster homes just about every day.
Above is the “Good Luck” card from my Rogz family that came with the harness. It’s pictured with the vinyl sign that the Fossil wants to attach to the harness. I couldn’t wait to wear it, so he led me to the hotel’s pet-friendly outdoor restaurant to adjust the harness while he had a coffee. Below is a pic of me wearing it on our walk around Knysna lagoon later in the day.
At Monet’s (that’s the restaurant overlooking Fancourts’ golf course) there’s a bowl of water below a sign that reads ‘Pet Area – For Residents Only’. “That’s weird,” I thought. “So visitors’ dogs can’t drink the water?” Anyway, the patrons were really nice people. One family even gave up their table so we could sit there ’cause Monet’s only has two tables reserved for patrons with pets. The Fossil gave them one of my fundraising leaflets and they made a donation on the spot! In fact, we received two donations today. R100 from the Abrahams Family and R500 from Mike at Faircape Group. Thank You!
Anyway, back to Knynsa and day two of my Walk 4 SOS Huskies journey. The Fossil and I arrived at Knysna Heads just in time to watch a yacht exiting the lagoon mouth to the open sea beyond. I watched for a while but the smells were far more interesting.
From there, we walked down the winding road and along George Rex Drive to the Leisure Isle turnoff – and back to the Heads again!
“At this rate, we’ll have walk double the distance around the lagoon,” grumbled the Fossil. The reason for his grumbling being that our vehicle backup driver couldn’t join us for this journey. This means that we have to ask our overnight pet-friendly accommodation hosts to collect us at the end of each day. And last nights host, Ryan at Elephant Hide of Knysna Guest Lodge had to leave early for an extended trip so he couldn’t help.
Talking about pet-friendly accommodation, The Turbine Hotel on Thesen Island had kindly agreed to hosting for tonight and Sunday night. But when we arrived there to check-in around midday (Des wanted to leave the car there before continuing our walk) the receptionist said “Sorry, no dogs allowed in the Hotel”. Somehow, they thought that I’m a Homo Sapien! In fact, there are notices posted at most of the Thesen Island restaurants stating that no dogs are allowed. Apparently, the local municipality has passed a by-law prohibiting pets from food preparation establishments. What? It’s not like we dogs pass viruses around like humans do! So why the discrimination?
Anyway, we continued the drive/walk procedure around the Knysna lagoon. At one point there’s an old railway line that crosses over the lagoon and the Fossil wanted to walk across it. The pedestrian walkway alongside the railway lines is made of steel grids with holes big enough for my paws to slip through. Is this yet another example of the local municipalities lack of consideration for animal rights? Hmph!
Well, we walked on and ended the day just after Turtle Creek at an old decaying pier with a danger sign. At least this sign isn’t aimed at dogs only! By then, the time was just after 4pm and the Fossil would normally have called our host to collect us. Except we didn’t have one for tonight.
Thankfully, Andre and Laurette Botha, the pet loving owners of Lakeside Accommodation Knysna were happy to host us. I’ll tell you all about Lakeside in tomorrows post – right now, I need some sleep!
That’s all for now human folks. BTW: if you happen to be anywhere along our walking route between Plettenberg Bay and Cape Town during late July to mid-August 2021, look out for us (we’ll be walking along the beach, or on a hiking trail, or along the side a main road) and come over to say “Howzit Husky Boy!” and “Fossil Man” if you want.
Wanna talk to us? WhatsApp the tall fossil hanging onto my leash. Here’s his number: +27 (0)82 374 7260.
JAXX
PS. That extra X on the end of my name is supposed to be a kiss (yeah, I know it’s soppy).
