Our 16 day road trip covered 1,222 km and included the 200 km Garden Route section through the Western Cape between Mossel Bay and Storms River. The scenery is incredibly diverse ranging from ancient forests to beaches, mountain passes and miles upon miles of farmland. We thoroughly enjoyed the diversity of the country that we encountered on this journey.
Hermanus (two nights) is not considered part of the Garden Route but it was our first destination after leaving Franschhoek. The town is well known for its Southern Right whale watching during winter and spring but we’re here in the fall so we did not see any whales. The day we arrived was overcast and lightly raining so there was not much to do other than have lunch and wander around the town center. The next day we awoke to clear blue skies so we headed out for a 7 km walk along the cliff path recommended by our host. We do love a good ocean view!! Lunch was at La Pentola right on the waterfront and we agreed it was the best meal we have had in a very long time, their crayfish special was incredible, as were the king prawns we added to our feast. The restaurant was even kind enough to split our order on to two plates. For our post lunch walk we headed the other direction to Fick’s Pool for a drink overlooking the ocean. (click on any photo to enlarge)
Cape Agulhas (one night) was somewhere we wanted to stop so we could visit the cairn marking the southernmost point of the African continent. Not only is this the southernmost point, it is also the traditional dividing line between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Inland from the cairn is a huge stone map of Africa that you can walk on, we easily noticed the location of Victoria Falls. The sea off Cape Agulhas is notorious for winter storms and mammoth waves which can sink even large ships. Over the years it became known as the Graveyard of Ships. It is estimated that around 150 ships have sunk around Agulhas and because of this a lighthouse was built in 1849. Not far away from the lighthouse is a popular photo stop, the wreck of the Meisho Maru 38 which ran aground in November 1982.
Mossel Bay (one night) is considered the western gateway to the Garden Route and is another very popular whale watching destination, but not at this time of year. Mossel Bay is also famous for having the longest over-the-ocean zipline in the world. We seriously considered giving it a go, but it was very windy and the zipline was not operating the day we were there. Instead, we climbed the stairs to the base of the Cape St. Blaize lighthouse, built in 1864. Most of our time in Mossel Bay was spent enjoying the incredible views we had from our guesthouse.
Knysna (three nights) is a popular town on the Garden Route overlooking a lagoon dotted with sailboats, its also a culinary hotspot famous for its Oyster Festival in late June. Our apartment was situated in the heart of Knysna Quays with numerous restaurants and shops right around the corner. We didn’t get up to much aside from walking around the quays, going to the gym, walking to Thesen Island and enjoying the fresh seafood at the local restaurants.
Plettenberg Bay (three nights) was without a doubt our favorite stop because of the incredible beaches to walk, and the views from our apartment. It’s only an hour east of Knysna but a more appealing stop to those of us who love beach walking. The waters here teem year round with migrating whales and dolphins…and great white sharks! But we didn’t see anything 🤷♀️ Plettenberg was the first place we have seen a ‘shark bite kit’ on the beach. Not sure what was in there that would help in the event one was bitten by a great white, but it’s a nice idea. We did not venture into the water!! Instead, we enjoyed daily walks along the beach, timing them for low tide so we had the widest expanse of beach to walk.
We also went on a little game drive while we were in Plettenberg. I had been lamenting the fact that during our Tanzanian safari that I did not see a rhinoceros up close so we decided to give Plett Game Reserve a try. It was not perfect and they don’t have all the animals they advertise on their website, but hey, I got to see a white rhinoceros. The poor guy’s horn did not look in great shape and sadly the reserve had a female and baby but when the baby died the mother became very aggressive and they had to put her down. A new sighting for us was the Chapman’s zebra, different from the ones we saw in Tanzania by the color of their stripes. Chapman’s have brown ‘shadow’ stripes in between the black ones. We accepted the reserve for what it was and enjoyed what we did see without expectations, but its not a place we would recommend, unless you have never been on a safari and just want to see a few animals. A two hour game drive cost 990 Rand (USD $53.10) each.
Oudtshoorn (two nights) is not considered part of the Garden Route but is situated on Route 62, a well known alternative for the return trip towards Cape Town. Oudtshoorn is considered the ostrich capital of the world with many ostrich breeding farms in the area. I am not a fan of red meat but Blair has been enjoying some ostrich meat during our travels and I have tried some, its pretty tasty. But, the main reason we stopped here was to visit Cango Caves, South Africa’s oldest tourist attraction. We have visited a few caves over the years and this one is worth visiting. The colors inside the caves and the age of some of the formations is incredible. Sadly with the current drought conditions in South Africa the cave is slowly dying. We took the ‘standard route’ tour which takes about an hour and there is an ‘adventure tour’ where you go deeper into the cave system and must squeeze through openings as small as 30 cm high. Not for me!!! There is a model by the ticket office of the small spaces you must fit through so you know ahead of time if you can do it. Our guide told us of one tourist who was stuck for 11 hours before being rescued 😲 I recommend sticking to the regular tour which cost 180 Rand (USD $9.65) each.
When we asked our host what else there was to do nearby she recommended going to Chandelier Game Lodge to feed the giraffes. Well, that sounded like a pretty fun activity so off we went to meet Sheila and Shorty. We paid 50 Rand (USD $2.65) each for a bucket of branches to feed the giraffes and it was fabulous.
We also went on another game drive to the Botlierskop Private Game Reserve, an hour south of Oudtshoorn. We tried to book this when we were in Mossel Bay, because it’s really close to there, but there was no availability so Oudtshoorn was the closest we would be during the rest of our road trip. Once again, it was not a great game drive. They advertise many animals on the reserve but our guide had a variety of excuses why we were not seeing anything ☹️ We booked this game drive before our Plett experience so I could see a rhinoceros and once again I got to see a couple but the rest of the drive was sorely lacking. I know that the safari guides refer to games reserves as a ‘zoo’ and I tend to agree. The animals are confined by fences so it does not feel anything like the real experience we had in Tanzania of spotting free roaming animals in their natural habitat. I think we have been spoiled by the fantastic experience we had in Tanzania!
Barrydale (two nights) was a short drive from Oudtshoorn and is a quaint little town on Route 62. We booked a cute little cottage attached to a boutique sheep farm. All About Sheep makes small batch cheese, yoghurt, kefir, butter, cream and sheep’s milk. Route 62 has beautiful mountain scenery and while none of the passes around here are high, the scenery makes for a spectacular drive.
There is very little to do in Barrydale and I get the feeling it’s a lunch stop for people on their way to Cape Town. There are loads of restaurants, but they all close at 5pm so going out for dinner was a challenge. Fortunately our host told us that MUD Modern serves dinner as does the Karoo Lodge. The one full day we had to explore was spent visiting the Joubert Tradauw winery for a tasting, the Joseph Barry Distillery for a brandy tasting (turns out neither of likes brandy), then out on the highway to Ronnies Sex Shop for a drink, this place has an interesting story about how it got its name, and I think we got to chat with Ronnie. Leaving Barrydale we drove the scenic Tradou Pass before joining the main highway towards Cape Town.
Prior to planning this road trip we read a lot regarding the safety of driving in South Africa and I have to say the roads along the route we took were in fantastic condition, rivaling any highways in Canada. If we were ever unsure of what route to take we asked our hosts for the safest way and if there were any places we should avoid, we did not have any problems at all. We did pay attention to the warning that gas stations can be hit and miss in some small towns so we always made sure we had lots of gas. Overall we never felt unsafe and would recommend this route to anyone wanting to do a road trip.
Before returning to Cape Town we had one last stop, the Stellenbosch wine region…..