Addo: 11 December '08

   

We are really looking forward to visiting the 'Snake man' at the reptile centre..and have the opportunity to hold "Sludge" the resident Snouted Cobra (Egyptian Cobra), or "Sydney" their very mellow Boomslang or maybe even "Shorty" the not so friendly "Puff Adder"…

 

The drive to Addo from Plettenberg Bay was nothing but amazing! We drove through the Tsitsikamma Forest which was covered with a light rain, this rain made everything smell so much sweeter and the haziness of the air made the forest seem more mystical!

Addo is a very rural area, and hearing the lions roaring from what seemed to be coming from the other side of the fence, was a little dodgy. We were knackered when we got to Addo Backpackers, and i was not quite sure how i was going to make it for a gig, my vocals had taken a knock from previous nights.

John greeted us on arrival, and showed us to our bamboo huts, inside the private little huts were tents with beds. I personally never found out how comfy the beds were, as my campervan's bed seemed alot less hassle to fall into after the gigs.

After speaking to John, he was SO keen on an 'unplugged fire-side jam session outside' and we were SO happy to not have another 'sound checking session' - it suited us all perfectly! ...

We had a fab time at the Orange Elephant, John and his staff made us feel like part of the family there!

NIGHT II at ADDO

As it was such a sweet night, we decided to rather take all the sound equipment outside and set up everything nearby the campfire where we had played the night before...there were some wooden benches around, and logs were out. The paraffin lanterns they set out, and the camp fire burning fiercly made a really cozy atmosphere for us to jam in! There were visitors from UK, SA, Ireland and other unknown places, they danced, sang along where they can. And after the gig, yet again, we all gathered around the campfire, some of them shared their talents with us too!

(An Irish theatrical poet recited some of his work to us, and others just jammed together! i digged that so much!)

We were all stoked that Justin could make it to this gig. He's an old musical buddy we know from our home town. He is working as a conservationist in the area, and is a african drummer of note! He brought his own djembe (african drum), and joined us during the gig, and after!

The full moon was in the sky, the lions were roaring nearby, and our crowd of music makers were partying good! :)

The following day we went to visit ADDO RAPTOR & REPTILE CENTRE, to see the local 'Snake man' -

The performance the night before was to raise awareness of this project and we were taken on a tour of the facilities! Wow, did we learn alot - like how NOT TO BE AFRAID of snakes, crocs and birds of prey....mmm...i'm still a little nervous of the crocs! One of the snakes, an albeno puff adder, was getting kind of 'frisky' with all of us - it was hysterical and we got some cool pics out of it! We had a great time there, and each had a chance to get up close and personal with some of the scaled residents there! All the excitement aside, what this guy is doing in this area, and how he is rehabilitating and caring for these reptiles and birds, is just so inspiring! It takes a SPECIAL kinda guy to take on that project, and how rad it is to meet someone who is doing what he is passionate about, no matter what the cost!

We have some fantastic photos - check them out !

Love Heather