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Day 4: Plettenberg Bay

Previously....Port Elizabeth and the Kwandwe Game Reserve :-)
Experience South Africa ! Safari, wine & golf...

Back on the road...240 km to go to reach Plettenberg Bay...Once we went through Port Elizabeth again, we finally reach the garden route, one of the most beautiful road in the world...For those who spent some time in Ireland, the landscape will seem to be quite similar.... unspoiled flora, mountains, wetlands and lagoons, forests of unsurpassed beauty and always at every corner a view on the Indian Ocean...absolutely stunning...Wish we had more time to stop on the way and go for some excursions or extreme sports bungee jumping is a specialty over there)

And then here you are…The view open up and unveil Plettenberg Bay with its miles of golden sand and impressive waves that break on the beach.
We stayed at the Plettenger, a lovely Relais & Chateaux built on a rocky headland with breathtaking vistas of the sea, mountains and beach.
We went for the "traditional" lunch: oysters and sauvignon blanc!! seated next to the swimming pool enjoying THE view...
Plettenberg in itself was very calm, not much tourists in February and thus as any coastal city that count meanly on them, most of the shops were closed already...anyway, what a pleasure walking on the sea side and have it nearly all for you...

After a lazy, pleasurable evening we went for nice glass of Shiraz at the Plettenberg bar, a very design & cozy bar.

Day 5 & 6: Knysna & George - let's play golf!

The next morning, we were back on the road again, direction Fancourt for an other epicurean experience but first let's go for a 18 holes....

Pezula golf located in Knysna is one of the jewels of South Africa with its breathtaking views of ocean and majestic cliffs. An experience in itself and a place that no golfer wants to miss...

Getting closer to Cape Town...Fancourt is our fourth stop on the garden route...located near Georges, this luxury hotel is mostly well known for its golf courses and most especially for its Links. It is without doubt the most impressive piece of golf design and construction ever in South Africa and has hosted the 2003 Presidents Cup, Women’s World Cup of Golf and this year will host the SAA Open, the world’s second-oldest national Open championship, after The Open Championship.
After a more than welcomed night of sleep, and a very early wake up we were ready to start the 18 holes...unfortunately, the rain was here too...(remember what I said about Ireland...well the other common point between those two countries is the weather...quite unpredictable...)
this course was the most extreme one I ever played on and after few holes where I spent more time looking for my balls and trying to keep my golf clubs dry (mission impossible...as on the top of rain there was wind too...) than actually playing golf....As far as I am concerned, I guess I will need few more years of practice before starting to be able to really enjoying this stunning golf course....

So, it is all wet that we went back on the road....direction Hermanus and an other Relais & Chateau: The Marine.
Perched on a cliff this is an other outstanding piece of architecture with an outstanding breath taking view over Hermanus Bay.
Lovely food and truly charming room, one of the places we would like to come back to in few years....

One of the high light of our trip was supposed to be the shark cage diving...unfortunately for us, huge forest fires had just started, covering the whole area leading to the right spot and cutting the road....not much we could do but cancel the dive and hope for this beautiful region that they can stop those fires before they do any more damages...

Km: from Pletenberg - 440 km

Our final stop was Cape Town and the Stellenbosch wine region....more to come...(soon....)

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