Road Trippin' South Africa: the amazing Garden Route

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I could see why everyone kept saying "you have to do the Garden Route". It's simply stunning. After my bungy jump experience in Bloukrans Bridge I kept driving west. It was a short drive to my next stop and the first one of the Garden Route: Nature's Valley.



The place I stayed in was one of the best I've stayed in so far in SA; "Wild Spirit". It's a big property with a very rustic feel to it. There are a free walks that can be done within the property, they have good food and the owners are excellent hosts; Jenny & Earl, who've had the place since the 70's. At the time there was also a Spanish couple, Alex and María who were very friendly people.

As a side note: the owner of the "Wild Lubanzi" backpackers in which I stayed in (Lubanzi, Wild Coast) is Jenny's son.



There's also a wide range of things to do around, such as adventure sports, National Parks, hikes, animal parks, etc.

After spending my first night there I went to do a circular walk which is quite popular and takes about 5 hours doing it at a slow pace and taking photos. There was a German couple (Henning & Claudia) that were also doing the walk, so the 3 of us went together. We left the hostel just past 10am and had a short drive to the start of the trail.



The first part of the trail was flat, with good views towards the ocean and a river mouth. After that it was all downhill and when we got to the bottom, we followed a narrow river which went through a forest by the side of the road. We saw some amazing trees there. Sometimes it's possible to see baboons which are very common in that area.

After the forest we arrived at the edge of the town of Nature's Valley. We stopped for a while on some benches by the side of a small lake. We then continued until we got to the beach, just a few hundred meters away. The walk along the beach was excellent. It's clean and wide and it's a few km long.





At the end of the beach we went into the town (which runs parallel to te beach) and there we stopped at a souvenir/convenience store - restaurant for lunch. The place is one of the few restaurants in town. It has a tree in which people that have finished a multi-day trail called "Otter Trail" will hang their shoes and leave them there.



After a good lunch and a beer we still had about half way to go. The next part of the trail goes over rocks along the coast, just where the waves are breaking. With bad weather, it's sometimes not possible to cross it. But we had a nice day and conditions were good.



We arrived at a beach, continued the trail up a hill and from there arrived at the "Salt River" mouth. It's a small, quiet and secluded beach in a bay.

The last part of the trail took us up another hill and then we had about 30 minutes more of walking on flat terrain. It's worth doing this walk; the landscapes are really pretty and varied.



That evening, back at the lodge I met 4 people that were part of a hiking club from Port Elizabeth (Voetsac Hiking Club). All four unrelated and from different age groups. Two guys about my age (Buddy and Laurence) and 2 people in their 60's (Dawn and Andre). I ended up hanging around with them the following night as well. We stayed in the bonfire area talking and having drinks and other people that were staying in the hostel joined in as well.



The next day I decided to stay an extra night there, but during the day I grabbed the car and drove to check out Plettenberg Bay and Knysna.



I went to Knysna first because it was the furthest. My first stop there was to a viewpoint from where I had a good view of "The Heads". These are two cliffs that face each other and in between them is the entrance to a natural lagoon, which is where Kysna is built around. Then I drove down the hill and went to see the cliffs from the beach. Another excellent spot for walking around and taking photos.

After that place I drove around an island in the middle of the lagoon (Leisure Island), which is a residencial area and that was also a good drive. Kysna in general has beautiful houses and some nice mansions, especially near the viewpoint area.



By that time I was getting hungry and decided to go to Plettenberg Bay to have a look around and to find a place to eat.

Plett Bay is also a nice town, with good hotels and awesome houses. There's a well known skyding company there as well. I arrived in the main street, parked the car and started looking for restaurants. There weren't many people around and a lot of the places were closed (it could've been a Sunday, I can't remember). I ended up eating in a restaurant called "Europa" (I think), which is a chain of restaurants and it was good to have different food for a change, as I had been self-catering for most of the two months.



After a great lunch wich included steak, chips, good coffee and dessert I got on the car again, did a bit more driving around and then back to Nature's Valley.

That evening I had the dinner that the hostel had (lamb stew with vegetables and a great dessert) with most of the people that were staying in the hostel. After dinner, more drinks in the bonfire. Good times.



In the morning I drove to Wilderness, another stop along the Garden Route I had heard about. I stayed in a place called "Wild Farm", which was alright. I liked the place, but the people working there seemed like they were minding their own business. Still, the place was on top of a hill and it had a great view towards the ocean.



In wilderness I specifically wanted to do a walk along an old railway track. I had heard about this from some Israelis that I met in Nelspruit (near Kruger Park). They also told me about a guy named Clifford who lived in a cave, but I had no idea where the cave was (I'll get to that later).



I drove the car from the lodge to the bottom of the hill, past the town of Wilderness, crossed the highway and got to the end of a road where there was a parking lot.

I started the walk from there. The railway goes along the coast, over bridges and through tunnels. People usually walk to a small bay called "Victoria Bay" (a popular hidden bay which is famous for the surfing).



As I passed the first tunnel I stumbled upon a place which looked inhabited. It was a cave. And then I remembered about the man the Israelis had told me about.

This place used to be a restaurant constructed inside a cave. All thar remains now is the floorboard, a terrace over the cliffs and a small toilet building. I can't remember the whole story, but I think Clifford found the place abandoned about 7 years ago and decided to take over it. He's now turned the cave into his home, building everything himself and with the help of volunteers (often people that walk by and stay with him for a while). Inside, the cave is a maze with corridors, a lot of rooms, shells hanging everywhere and random decorations (including paintings with Egyptian motifs), etc. It's certainly a unique place. There was a German couple walking there as well and Clifford gave the three of us a tour of his home. He does this in exchange for small donations.



After this bizarre place I walked along the railway to Vic Bay and then back. I totally recommend this walk, it's excellent. Especially when I was walking on the bridge, it reminded me of the movie "Stand by me", when the kids cross the bridge and make it just as a train crosses it.



I stayed one more night in Wilderness and the next morning I drove to my last stop in the Garden Route: Oudtshoorn. I was between going there and going to Mossel Bay. As I was going to go to Gaasbai and Hermanus, I skipped Mossel Bay and went to Oudtshoorn, mostly on a hunch as I didn't really know what to expect.



After I arrived in Oudtshoorn I drove around looking for a place to stay and ended up in "Lodge 96", which was a good choice. Well located and the owner Matt was friendly and helpful. I arrived there at around lunch time and took Matt's advice and went walking to a bakery that, besides having great bread, also had pies and olives. And across the street there was a Belgian chocolaterie with awesome home made chocolates.



I went back to the lodge, had an excellent lunch with the food that I bought. Then I grabbed the car and drove to the "Cango Caves". These caves were discovered in 1780 and have been a tourist attraction for over one hundred years. There are several chambers in the caves containing stalactites, stalagmites, columns (the joining of a stalagmite and a stalactite) and stone walls (they look like waterfalls made of stone). The caves are impresive. In the biggest one, there used to be classical music concerts held for about 30 years (last one was in 1994), but they had to cancel them due to people vandalizing them.



There are two tours: the "normal" one and the "adventure tour". I opted for the adventure tour without great expectations and ended up really enjoying it. After visiting the larger chambers, you start going through tunnels that get narrower and narrower until you get to points in which you wonder how you're going to get through (best example is "the chimney"). Certainly not suitable for claustrophobics. It was really good. After the tour was over, that was pretty muh the end of my day, as it was getting dark.



The second day I went for a drive around the area and did several things. My first stop was in an Ostrich Farm. As you drive around in the area, instead of cattle and sheep, you'll see Ostriches by the side of the road (behind fences of course). It's strange at times if you're not used to the sight.



Well, I went to an Ostrich Farm that had tours and it was Ok. It was only 3 of us in the group; myself and 2 Japanese. The guide explained some facts about the birds and then we went to different "stations". The first one was a "dwarf ostrich" that was quite used to people and you could feed it by hand. In each "station" we stopped to take photos of us interacting with the birds.



The next ostrich we saw, we took turns hugging it and taking more photos. Then we saw emus (Australian ostrich) and then we went to a pen in which they had ostriches people can get on and ride (there are guys that participate in ostrich races, which are really cool to watch). Problem is that the weight limit is 75kgs to get on them, so I couldn't get on (by far). I still saw the Japanese guy get on one and it was just funny seeing his face.

The last stop was a group of ostriches with which we took turns approaching them holding a bucket of food. You stood with your back to them while holding the bucket in front of you and get their necks around you and all over your face as they feed.

The whole tour is about 30 minutes and even though you get some cool photos, it feels too much like a rehearsed routine: "come here, do this, photo, next". But it was still worth it.



After that I drove to a waterfall called Meiringspoort Waterfall. It costs about 40 ZAR to get in with the car and see it. It's also worth the trip. It's about 80 meters and the place is really nice. This time of year it was a bit cold, but in the summer it must be espectacular to go there and swim.



And continuing my drive I went to the Swartberg pass. And that is a spectacular drive. It's a mountain pass and the landscapes are awesome. The side trail is pretty narrow and has to be driven slowly. But it's meant to be a drive to be done slowly, stopping and taking in the sights.



At the bottom of the pass I got to a highway and had to drive it to go back to Oustshoorn, doing a circular drive which takes in all, about 6 hours with stops included. As I was driving I saw something in the distance that looked like a rock in the middle of the road. As I got nearer I realized it was a big tortoise crossing the road. I stopped and took some great photos while it crossed, which took it a few minutes. I got close to it at some point and it immediately hid under its shell and made a loud hissing noise.



Along the way I stopped by another waterfall (Rust En Vrede). It's not as impressive as the first one I saw, but still worth having a look. It was very crowded with a big highschool group, so I didn't stay there long.

A few km along the road I stopped to have the lunch I had brought with me.



When I arrived back to Oudtshoorn it was still early so I drove in the direction of the Cango Caves to check out a local wineyard and local brewery, but it was closed. So I backtracked to a place called "Buffelsdrift", a game reserve that has good accommodation and a restaurant.

I had been told that you could see a good sunset in the lake that they have and also see hippos there.

I sat in the restaurant for a few hours (which is by the side of the lake), having coffee and reading a book. A good way to end the day.



And thus it was the end of my drive along the Garden Route. Next stop: Hermanus.

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Photos

Nature's Valley
With Henning & Claudia