Holiday Thursday - Cape Town – East London – Hogsback

Sitting on the tarmac in a 50 seater the week after an engine had dropped of a 737 at CPT was slightly nerve racking for one of the party, but the pilot assured us that planes can fly with only one engine as was witnessed the previous week. My particular solace was observing the various ‘business fashions’ we’d witnessed in the domestic terminal; safe to say South African Business men to tend to have a unique way of dressing. After a uneventful flight we came in for the landing of our lives caused by a particularly harsh crosswind blowing at East London airport. Nicky went white and I have to say that a little colour dropped out of me but it was fun all the same.


East London Airport

First stop after leaving the minuscule East London airport in out Nissan X-Trail was a destination recommended to me by our hair dresser Biancha - Hogsback. The forsight of renting a 4x4 was not to become apparent until later I the week but that’s another story.

Driving along the highway we turned into a road signed as Hogsback. It was raining and slowly as the elevation increased so did the fog and the brown water ominously using the road as a river bed. And then it happened the road turned from Tar to gravel – the first of many to come. Arriving in Hogsback was an eery experience, not being able to see more than a few hundred metres we knew we were in a forest and we knew there we houses set back from the road but not much more could be determined.


Picturesque Hogsback

Once we’d settled into the B&B with no water and a dripping roof we headed back out to explore some of the walks and waterfalls dotted around a very wet and misty Hogsback.


Slightly More View


The 'Truck'



All good fun. We had a pint in probably the smallest pub in the world and then went for dinner at the quietest hotel in Hogsback with a the Adams Family and their 2 Stafordshire Bull Terriers…Oh a note on dogs:

Here’s a tip for anyone owning a hotel or restaurant and has a persuasion for our canine friends: Not everyone likes dogs as much as you do. You might like them licking your plate, or sniffing your dinner or following you to the bog or drooling at you as you eat your dinner, but don’t assume your guests are going to be the same. 2 places where we ate in hogback had dogs, the B&B and the Hogs Back Inn both had dogs and both we’re a real pain. What made it all particularly annoying was when the owners seemed so blasé about keeping them behaved. Nicky got the brunt of Butch the Saffie for most of dinner but the owner and proprietor just kept calling him away rather than properly removing him. I felt like slipping each one of them a poisoned date like in Indiana Jones. I like dog’s just keep them in the fricking garden..

Oh and here’s one I forgot to mention – eating establishments aren’t that abundant on the road from East London to Hogsback – lunch today was at a Wimpy. This low standard if mid day eating was to continue.