March 17 Summerstrand

 After super crepes for breakfast and a final adieu to Trish, our wonderful host and the reason we have come to South AFrica, we are heading back east to a southern suburb of Port Elizabeth, a huge port and automobile construction centre in the Eastern Cape. 

  Back through Tsitsikamma National Forest, we are amazed at the deep ravines forming the Storms River Canyon but don’t venture down to the outflow of the river at the Indian Ocean. 

  We stop off at very pretty St.Francis Bay peppered by white cape Dutch cottages with beautiful thatch roves abound. But there are signs of disaster in this little paradise from homes destroyed by fire a couple of years back and still standing like skeletons on the horizon. Sea birds call and huge waves thrash the shore in this upscale and scenic resort town. 

  From there, it’s an easy drive into and around Port Elizabeth to the southern resort town of Summerstrand, where we will spend the next 3 days at the lovely  boutique hotel Brighton Lodge. Hostess Chantelle cannot do enough for us to make us feel at home and offer great tips on what to do in the area. We have our own little patio outside our room and no stone has been left unturned to perform title miracles for their guests. Soft fluffy towels tied in ribbons with wooden initials BL, coffee tray with everything you could want and individual cookies wrapped in cello with the Brighton Lodge sticker.  A plunger coffee maker and wee packets of real coffee. Lovely roiboos tea, a beautiful Victorian house with masses of fresh rose arrangements everywhere. A lovely garden and pool in a nice residential area safe walking distance to several nice restaurants.

  First night we walk to Blue Water Cafe on the beach overlooking the busy swimming beach and pier for great fish and chocolate mousse with coffee ice cream. We walk back in the dark with no problems about the walk to unpack and head to bed early.

  We are plagued by power cuts or “loaf shedding” but it doesn’t affect us much at all. Our laundry is done by a day by the very efficient staff. Only the second time we’ve done real laundry in our 1.5 months here!!