Ho Hum. Another day spent on the backseat of the Mahindra PIKUP. And so our Walk 4 SOS Huskies fundraising journey continues.
So, here’s how our day went. We left our pet-friendly hosts Cheetah Lodge Mossel Bay at 9am and drove down the R328 to Mossel Bay.
Approaching Mossel Bay we saw a huge bank of sea mist covering the town. “That’s OK,” the Fossil said. “We’ll take the N2 motorway around the town and miss it”. Just as well, I thought, we wouldn’t see anything with all that fog around anyway!
Eventually the Fossil (aka Des) turned off the N2 and headed for Vleesbaai. I knew we’d arrived ’cause there’s a big sign where the road ends at a circle that says so. “That’s so odd. Looks like it’s an entrance to a housing estate,” said the Fossil. In fact, we tried to drive around but all the roads lead to residential estates with no public access to the beach (well, not that the Fossil could find, anyway). So we gave up and headed for another weird sounding place called Fransmanshoek.
The road sign here reads “Welcome to our conservancy” so we carried on until another sign read “No Dogs Allowed”! Seeing as Mossel Bay doesn’t consider dogs to be worth conserving, we turned back to see if the beach is more pet-friendly.
Looking over the ocean towards Vleesbaai, I really hoped we’d be able to walk along the beach. But, when we got there, a sign read that anyone can swim at their own risk as long as they don’t have a braai, litter the beach, have a dog, or a jet-ski, or pitch a tent, or drink ‘n dive!
Disgruntled at having come all this way only to be “doggy-banned” again, we headed for Stillbaai (Still Bay) along a dirt road that carried on forever. So forever, in fact, that the Fossil had to make two pee-stops for me before we got there.
Finally, we arrived at Stilbaai. Nowhere did it say ‘Still Bay’ but I guessed it must be the same place ’cause the sign claimed that it’s the ‘Bay of the Sleeping Beauty’. “Should have been named ‘Slaapbaai’ then,” commented Des. He drove us all over the ‘baai’ looking for the sleeping beauty but couldn’t find her. Then we heard that it’s a long-weekend so maybe she went to Cape Town with her dog where everything is pet-friendly.
Anyway, I planned to enjoy my visit, especially when we got to the beach and there were no “No Dogs Allowed” signs anywhere (on this side of the estuary anyway – ’cause the other side’s not so pet-friendly). In fact, the whole of Still Bay isn’t pet-friendly when it comes to accommodation.
The Fossil phoned all the hotels and guesthouses and none of them would host a handsome Husky. By now, it was late afternoon and we had to find somewhere to spend the night so we settled next to a well hidden public toilet building just off the doggy-can-go beach access road.
Seeing as this is where humans have to go to do their doo-doo, you’d think it would be well maintained. No way! There’s no water in the building taps, urinals, or toilets. And yet, the floor of both the his and hers sections are flooded with water – and trash! But at least it didn’t stink (according to the Fossil – I could smell it!). Anyway, we’re going to sleep next to the car – not in the building.
Above is the view from the beach access pathway to our overnight Lootel. Can you see our car? No way – not even from the road on the other side. And besides, no humans are going to use broken toilets, so we’ll sleep undisturbed under the stars tonight.
That’s all for now Husky lovers. Wanna talk to us? WhatsApp the tall fossil hanging onto my leash. Here’s Des’s number: +27 (0)82 374 7260. We’d love to hear from you!
JAXX
PS. That extra X on the end of my name is supposed to be a kiss (yeah, I know it’s soppy).
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 not), or on a hiking trail (unlikely), or along the side a main road. Come over to say “Howzit Husky Boy!” (and ” Hello Fossil Man” if you want).
