Another pleasantly lazy morning. Millie is finally understanding our family culture of laying around and doing nothing. This morning she got into bed with us and scratched my back until it was time to get up. We have come so far from her previous habit of waking up and yelling at our sleeping corpses “I want breakfast!!”

When we finally left, our first stop was the Garden of Eden trail, just 15 minutes away. This was a very short hike around the forest, but was interesting to see what the area was like before it was all cut down by loggers. It also set the scene well for the elephants. There is one elephant left in these forests, and he only gets spotted once every few years. I didn’t understand how that was possible until I saw how dense the trees were.

Millie had a scavenger hunt which kept her busy.

We drove another 15 minutes to the Knysna Elephant Park, a rescue facility where other elephants live. We paid our entry fee and bought two buckets of food.

We were among about 20 other tourists there, almost all of them from the Middle East. I know at least two of the families were from Saudi Arabia. This has been the case all over South Africa. My takeaway is that gone are the days of the stereotypes of all tourists being Japanese or German. There is so much money everywhere. In Turkey, all the tourists were Russian. Here they are Saudi. My other takeaway? Saudi men wear SO MUCH COLOGNE.

Anyway… from the reception we took a short ride, pulled by a tractor, to where the elephants were hanging out. The first thing we did was feed them. Millie was scared, as she always is.

It was incredible to see their trunks up close, especially the dexterity they have to pick small things up with them.

After we fed them, a guide walked us close to them for photo ops. Each group posed with the elephant. It felt a little cheesy, like the whole point was to get a good shot for instagram. But it was also cool to see them so close. I wonder what they think of the constant parade of people.

Unrelated: wow we really are getting our money’s worth with these outfits.

There were also zebras nearby and we took this selfie with one right as it was pooping.

After our elephant experience, we stopped in at the vineyard next door for some lunch. There was a large group having an 80th birthday and giving toasts to the birthday girl. It was very sweet. Millie drew and drew and drew.

We got in the car and she drew some more. I was impressed by this one she did of Moana’s family today.

We headed to Plettenberg Bay hoping to join an afternoon whale watching boat, but they were cancelled due to weather. Millie ran around on the beach for a while and Nick and I watched the surfers.

We drove back to Knysna and picked up meat on the way because our hosts offered to help us braai (barbecue). The braai culture is so intense here, and I love it.

They lit us multiple fires, poured us wine, and invited us up to their roof deck to watch the sunset. We had a great night getting to know them and talking about South African politics and history.

We ate outside and then roasted some marshmallows as the nightcap.