Monday Feb 15, 2010, Knysna, South Africa

We spent Valentine's Day driving from Cape Town to Knysna along the Garden Route, so named because of it's beauty and garden-like look.
The Westin Hotel in Cape Town was lovely and we had such a great view from the top floor where we enjoyed breakfast each morning.  We were sad to leave such luxury.

Gabriel and Sarah at the top of the Westin hotel in Cape Town.  We had a lovely view of Table Mountain while we ate breakfast during our stay there.

On our way to Knysna, we stopped for a lovely lunch at The Milestone Restaurant in Swellendam.  The tables were all set up in the front yard of a 100 year old home and the food was delicious! 

The restaurant was just lovely and was a nice place for Valentine's Day lunch.

Sarah, Gabriel and Alex enjoying their favorite soda... Cream Soda.  Yes, it is bright green!

The next day we set out for our first full day of adventures.  We started by doing a tree-top canopy tour along 10 different zip-lines through the Tzitzicama Forrest.  It was amazing!  Being afraid of heights where I have to stand up, it was quite a challenge at first, but the beauty of the forrest quickly won me over.  Some of the lines were very long and others VERY high.  We were tethered in at 3 different places and felt very safe the whole time.  The group was very professional and their equipment was first class!  I would highly recommend this for the fun and excitement!  We had a great time!

Gabriel, Alex, Sarah and Marci listening to last minute instructions.

Gabriel zip-lining like he was made for it... actually, he was!

Some of the lines were really HIGH!  This is Alex heading across.

After zip-lining, we went to an elephant sanctuary where they take in rescued elephants that had been trapped illegally.  We learned lots about elephants and then we each got to "take an elephant for a walk".

Sarah "walking" her elephant.  The elephant puts his trunk in your open hand and off you walk together.  In the end, you have a handful of elephant snot.  I'm not kidding!

The trainers took us in groups of 2-3 people to walk around the elephant while teaching us more about elephants.  Alex and Gabriel are learning that the tusks are actually teeth and are used to dig.  Both male and female African elephants have tusks.

After walking with everyone, the elephants get fruit and veggies as a treat.  We all had a chance to feed them.  You may notice that there are no fences in view.  The sanctuary is very large and we never saw the edge of the property.  The elephants have lots of space to roam around and they seemed very well cared for.