Along the Garden Route

The Garden Route runs along the southern coast from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, and it is known for its amazing views and landscapes. We traveled the Garden Route for about a week, and it was beautiful. As you drive along the Route, you go from dramatic mountains covered in clouds, to brilliant greens hills and farms (think bucolic), to seashore bays with waves crashing against the rocks, to lakes surrounded by evergreen forests, to flatland plains, to fynbos! So much to see. If you are wondering what fynbos is, it’s a special type of floral kingdom, and the only place on Earth you find it is along the southern coast of South Africa.

Well, we did a road trip along the Route. Day one, we traveled past Langa in Cape Town, a very poor township. In Langa, tin shacks are practically on top of one another, and they seem to go on for kilometers. These homes do have electricity, but you should see the wires connected everywhere, and with the power outages in SA right now, electricity is not dependable. Langa is in sharp contrast to the casinos and malls and boutiques you also find in Cape Town. South Africa is definitely a place of contrasts. As we left Cape Town, we headed over the Overburg mountains, said goodbye to Table Mountain. We stopped for lunch at the lovely town of Swellendam, where we saw part of the Cape Epic Mountain Bike Race and had a lovely lunch by the river. Here, I tried Lamb Bobotie, a Cape Malay dish that is popular in the region, and it was delicious, kind of sweet with subtle spices. Next, stop Mossel Bay. Mossel Bay is a beach place, but the water was too cold for swimming (at least for me), but I did have a nice walk along the shore. Also, Mossel Bay is home to a large Milkwood Tree that was the first “post office” in the area. Back in the 1500s, sailors used to leave messages and posts in a boot tied to the tree and messages could be shared this way. Today, you can still post letters there from the tree. I sent some post cards, but I am told it will take 6-8 weeks for you to get them!

Day two, we drove along the coast to Wilderness, where we tried to find a boat to rent, but ended up taking a rest and catching some rays by the river instead. Then, we headed to Knysna (Nyz na), another coastal town and had lunch in the harbor. Along the route, imagine sparkling deep blue lakes and green forests. We also, stopped at Victoria Bay, a beach and camping spot which seemed popular. It was foggy along the beach, but people were still splashing in the ocean (Indian Ocean), so I thought, finally some beach time. I put one foot in the water and have a new respect for the people here; freezing is the word, I felt the cold travel from my feet to my spine. Do you know how diet soda has an after taste? Well, this cold water had an after shock For those who know me, I can and will get in fairly cool water for a swim, but this was ridiculous. No beach today.

Day three, we headed along the road to Plettenburg (Plett) for some seafood and the sea views of waves crashing against the rocks. We also hoped for a bit of luxury and a heated pool, but the pool was the size of a large Jacuzzi and it was “solar heated”, so unless the sun was directly on the pool and weather was 100 degrees, the pool is cold. No luck, so we headed along the Garden for better prospects, and good thing we did; we ended up in Storms River by the indigenous forests of Tsitsikamma Park. We passed over the bridge with the largest bungi jump in the world; I looked, but no bungi jumping for me. We ended up at a lovely cottage inn for a good night’s rest.

Day four was a bit damp and cool, but we went on to the Tsitsikamma forest for the canopy tree tour where you harness up and zipline through the trees. SO MUCH FUN!!! I thought it would be scary, but it was like the best swing/ride ever. Traveling through the forest 30 meters off the ground was so cool. Afterwards, we headed to Monkeyland, a reserve area for monkeys. Very fun! I saw all sorts of monkeys and lemurs, and had a great time. The animals roam free on the reserve, so monkeys are literally hanging on the trees around you. That night we had dinner at the inn which was fantastic, some lovely South African wine, a warm fire, and very nice guests. I tried Thai Pumpkin soup which was so good I got the recipe, and Cape Malay Curry, a popular regional dish that differs from the curry found on the eastern part of SA in Durban.

Day five, we headed to Little Karoo and Outdshorn and its famous ostrich farms. We took a tour of an ostrich farm, and learned that ostrich eggs can withstand a lot of weight. You can stand on them, jump on them, and they won’t break. We also saw a feather palace, one of the grand homes built by ostrich farm owners in the early 1900s during the feather boom. The feather boom happened when ostrich feathers were in great demand largely because of ladies fashion, particularly ostrich feathers were needed for hats. However, the popularity of automobiles brought about a change in fashion ( no ostrich feathers flying about as you drive down the road) and also wartime caused a change, and ostrich feathers dropped drastic ally in value. In the last couple of decades, ostrich farms have found a new market. Ostrich meat is very lean, low in fat and cholesterol and delicious; also, eggs are sold for omelets etc, and the shells are painted or carved. I bought a pretty egg carved with a scene of lions under the trees. Later on, I took a bike ride and watched a beautiful sunset with mountains to one side, farmland and plains on the other.

Day Six, I woke up 5 am. Why? Meerkats, of course. We drove out and met a small tour (just 6 of us and the scientist/expert on meerkats). We went to a private reserve that has been saved for the meerkats. Meerkats do not migrate or re-habituate very well, so it is very important that there habitat be saved. We walked out before sunrise and waited for them to wake up. The first peeked out of the burrow, “the weather forecaster”, and it goes back to the burrow to let the others know everything’s ok. After sitting very still, the weather forecaster must of given the others the ok, because 19 meerkats popped up to greet the sun. When they emerge from the burrow they face the sun and bask, this is thermoregulation. Once they are all warmed up , the leader, a female meerkat leads the way to food. We followed along, and because of the work of the scientists here, they were unconcerned about us, and played all around us. We followed them for a couple of hours watching them play-fight and feed, as we learned a lot about meerkat behaviors and myths. For example, there is not just 1 meerkat on guard at a time, all of the meerkats would be on guard every few minutes or so. If a meerkat gets more food or is more full, it will often be on guard more than others, but all participate and help out. It was a great morning! Meerkats are very cool. After a bit of breakfast, we were on the road again, heading back towards the Cape. We ended stopping at Caledon, home to a Casino/Spa/Hotel with hot springs. Swimming for me at last! (OK on this day I should note, that the inevitable road trip tensions came about and the car ride was decidedly un-fun, thankfully a swim and room service relieved the tensions of the day for me). We decided to spend the next day relaxing and swimming at the spa, before heading back to Cape Town.

Our last day in Cape Town, we took our towels and books and went for a day of sunbathing (water still too cold) at the beach, and that night headed back to the Waterfront Harbor for some excellent seafood.

All in all, it was a great trip, and I hope to get back here in the winter for a weekend of whale-watching and more seafood.