Jeffreys bay to Tsitsikamma wolf Sanctuary
Happy Women’s Day!
While in the morning Brigit was met with an ever so slight bit of rain, the day quickly cleared up and it proved to be a most beautiful day, with little wind, some up and some downhills through farm areas with large herds of cows.
The bike ride from Jeffreys Bay to Tsitsikamma Wolf Sanctuary was 88km and 800m ascent.
The first 45 km where a bit slow because of some steep uphills with a heavy bike ridden by a 53 year old, not very fit founder. But then it was all rather easy.
The area is rather remote besides some large farms, which still seem to depend strongly on manual labor – a way to generate jobs. Once, just before the town Clarkson, which seemed to host mostly low income people, a cow and her calf blocked her way. She saw two groups of monkeys and many different birds and enjoyed the vegetation.
For many kilometres along her route she passed pine tree plantations owned by a multinational corporation. These trees, which are not indigenous to the area, are destroying the soil, simply for profit. As we are focusing on teaching about sustainability in our interdisciplinary assignments, we hope to give our students better choices.
Having arrived at Tsitsikamma Wolf Sanctuary, Brigit was met by the lovely Francette who showed her around and told her about the problems of wolves – an animal not native to South Africa – being bought as pets, but when the grow up, the owners can’t handle them. So they are either put down or end up in a sanctuary. Keeping wolves is perfectly legal in South Africa, as long as they have at least 5% dog – but how to prove that?
Later she was invited to dinner by the team of the Wolf Sanctuary and they asked her to call, if ever she encountered any problems. These ladies really care about the welfare of the animals and sustainability. They are growing indigenous trees and offer sustainable stays in cottages and as a campsite – in a beautiful setting and surrounded by wolves.
