Blogs from Mossel Bay, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa

Yesterday’s problem with our original accommodation being over booked and our ‘railroading’ to Battenburgs Guest House needed to be resolved this morning but we decided to leave it until we were asked for payment to see what might happen. We met a couple at breakfast from near Port Elizabeth who were going to Cape Town to fly and meet up with their family in Croatia. Their family have lived in Auckland for 20 years and the couple had visited NZ for the Rugby World Cup. They had retired to very small seaside place where they were 2 of 3 permanent residents and the closest town for shopping was 10km away. They said they enjoyed the isolation and freedom after living all their working lives in Johannesburg. A worker at the B&B had washed and cleaned our ... read more

Left villa at 10 to drive to Safari Park and discovered it was 5 hour drive instead of the 4 we thought. At this stage we wondered how we ever thought this was good idea. The Honda packed up with no view from rear window due to suitcases. Eventually arrived just after 3.30 only to discover we were too late for afternoon drive. However, place is lovely as is our luxury "tented" accommodation. Went for a wee snooze then went down for dinner which was definitely 5 star. In bed by 10 as will get alarm call at 5.15 to be ready for pick up at 5.45am. Forgot to mention that to get to our tent we have to cross a wee river and we do this by going on a pontoon bridge which is a ... read more

Hello again! Nach unserer tollen Zeit in Capetown ging's weiter ins Weingebiet, genauer gesagt nach Stellenbosch. In einer Weinsafari mit dem Range Rover gings quer durch die Weinberge und natürlich durfte auch eine ausgiebige Verkostung nicht fehlen. Sehr zu empfehlen, seitdem trinken wir jeden Abend ein Flascherl ;) Prost! Danach verbrachten wir noch zwei sehr stürmische Tage in Mossel Bay aber das absolute Highlight bis jetzt begann erst heute: Gondwana Game Reserve Es ist so schön, dass es nur schwer in Worte zu fassen ist, aber ich versuche es trotzdem: wir wohnen in einem riesigen Haus mit 3 Schlafzimmern und 3 Badezimmern mitten in der afrikanischen Savanne, das Essen ist wunderbar, die Game Drives auch! Heute konnten wir bereits Nashörner, Hippos, Zebras, Kudus, Impalas und Springböcke in freier Wildbahn beobachten. Und angeblich gibt's es hier wirklich ... read more

Jonas and Felix (the two German guys) were kind enough to give me a lift to Mossel Bay. Awesome! But first on our way out of Knysna we went to visit “the Heads.” It was a lovely view point where the sea met the lagoon where the town of Knysna rested. We also went through the town of Wilderness with the aim of enjoying the best pizza on the Garden Route! Well that wasn’t open til 1 and it was only noon so we kept on. Arriving in Mossel Bay the weather was gorgeous. Being on the sea we had a lunch of fresh seafood while looking over the bay at one of those little restaurants in the harbor. Yuuuuuuum…and then we found a sweet backpackers called Mile Crunchers. Seems appropriate for us! So there we ... read more

Arrived in the late afternoon at the Mossel Bay backpackers, we had a very nice supper at Kaai 4 with our French friends. A little authentic African restaurant at the waterfront which is adviced in the lonely planet. The next day we woke up early and left for a tree hours horse ride in the bushes, dunes and on the beach. Surrounded by the magic of the nature this ride was an amazing experience for both of us. Florence, who already could ride, had the pleasure to gallop with the horse on the beach. While Helene rode a horse maybe twice in her life finally found her balance after the tree hours. Mossel Bay was a short stop and the last stop of the Garden route.... read more