South Africa Day 10

Wednesday morning, we got up early to hopefully arrive early at our next destination: the Phantom Forest Resort in Knysna. We started with a delicious breakfast at the guest house in Swellendam. Eggs were cooked to order and served with delicious juice, tomatoes, mushrooms, and bacon. Then we set out in the car. We stopped on the way at Mossel Bay, which is known for its prime surfing waves. We didn’t see the surfing areas (there were way too many rocks around for that), but we did see some impressive ocean power. There is no “right” place to put this, but South Africa has the world’s most amazing public restrooms. We’ve been in restrooms on the beach, in the city, in gas stations, in random national parks, and even in a parking garage. They have all (without a single exception) been immaculately clean, always with toilet paper, always with soap. I have never seen anything like it. Anyway, we finished the drive through to Knysna (or almost to Knysna) to our hotel. The hotel is an eco-friendly resort built high in the forest canopy. We parked our car at the bottom of the hill and were taken up to the resort in a jeep along a one-lane road. The hotel consists of 14 “tree suites” that were each built on the hillside in the forest in such a way that required the removal of no trees. The underbrush where the suites were built was removed by hand and replanted elsewhere. To get from one part of the resort to another, you walk along boardwalks that are raised off the forest floor. It was probably about a quarter mile from the reception to our suite around winding boardwalks. The front of the suite was completely unassuming, though the back was almost entirely windows, including in the shower. It was an amazing amount of luxury for how remote the hotel and its suites were. We were admonished, however, to be sure to keep our door closed when we weren’t in the suite since the vervet monkeys can be mischievous. We tried to grab some quick access to the Internet to chat with Maya, but it didn’t work at the lounge on top of the hill. Tim and I had planned on hiking down the hill through the forest anyway, and since wireless access was reportedly better there, we just put the computer in our backpack to take with us. We had a lovely stroll through the forest; it was really neat how the fauna changed as we descended. We saw several birds and a deer, but no monkeys. At the bottom, the Internet access was, in fact, quite good, so we called Audrey to hopefully set up a chatting time with Maya later. Tim then decided to hike back up the hill, but I rang for the jeep to come back to get me. Back at the top, I walked up the boardwalks the to the hotel’s “Chutzpah,” a Moroccan themed bar, pool, and lookout area. It had a lovely view across Knysna Lake. We then cleaned up for dinner; we did sit outside on our balcony and watch the stars come out before heading to the restaurant for dinner. This meal was, unexpectedly, our best dinner so far. We started in the bar, where we had a glass of wine and selected our menu for dinner. We all started with spicy spinach soup. If that sounds good to you multiply your impression by tenfold, if it does not sound good to you pretend that it does and then multiply what your impression would be by tenfold. I ordered four cheese soufflé, while Tim ordered calamari with a salad. The menu then included gin and tonic sorbet. I had grilled Kingclip (a South African whitefish) with caramelized leeks and smashed potatoes, and Tim had chili-glazed duck with sweet potato gnocchi. After the main course, we had a cheese course. For dessert, I had poached quince with oat topping and ice cream, and Tim had berry panna cotta with blueberry ice cream. With all of that, we had a bottle of a great South African wine called The Chocolate Block (which we have been informed we will be able to get in the US). To make a perfect evening even more perfect, after dinner, the wireless access worked in the bar, so we got to talk to Maya. It turned out we had the resort to ourselves, so there were significantly more staff than guests, which made for superb service for us.