PORT ELIZABETH
After three days in Colchester/Addo we travelled first to Port Elizabeth.
This city is one of the major seaports in South Africa, and it is the southernmost large city on the African continent – with about 300 000 inhabitants.
We visited the city primarily to ask the car rental agency Thrifty to change our rental car. The air-conditioning did not work properly. The agency did not have the same type of car – and we ended up with a Mercedes until they had fixed the AC. They would call us when it was ready, and we said we would stay in the area for a couple of days.
JEFFREYS BAY
We ended up in Jeffreys Bay, about one hours drive from the city. The town is famous for surfing, white sandy beaches and an abundance of sea shells.
The town became popular with surfers after the 1966 movie “Endless Summer”
Accommodation
We got two rooms at the Sea Whisper B&B. One of the rooms was spacious, with a terrace and close to the swimming pool.
The place was within walking distance from beautiful beaches.
Dolphin Beach
The next day it was beach time! The Dolphin beach is long white sandy beach near the town centre and it is safe for swimming and water sports.
It was lovely with a swim in the sea – and Stine and I collected sea shells.
Restaurants
Several pleasant cafes for lunch in the little downtown area.
There were also some nice restaurant options for dinner in the evening – one of them was De Viswijf (the Fish Wife). It is a seafront restaurant, located by the beach and a lighthouse. We really enjoyed this place, both the interior, the food – and the view!
The following day we left Jeffrey Bay (still with the Mercedes..:-) and travelled westward on N2 along the coast. Many of the places we visited are part of the famous Garden Route.
THE GARDEN ROUTE
The Garden route is one of the most scenic drives in South Africa. This coastal drive stretches from Storms River Mouth in the Eastern Cape to Mossel Bay in the Western Cape . This coastline is called “Garden Route” because of its spectacular natural beauty. It features lakes, rivers, lagoons, mountains, tall indigenous forests and golden beaches.
This area offers plenty of opportunities of activities – from hiking, watersports, whale watching and exploring caves and deserted sandy beaches.
Some of these places we also visited at our first visit to South Africa in 1993.
TSITSIKAMMA
We stopped at Tsitsikamma – and tried to find Tsitsikamma Lodge where we celebrated Christmas Eve in 1993! We thought we found the right location but it was now completely different. We stayed in some kind of timber cottages back then. I read at their website that in 1994, the year after our stay, they decided to replace the old buildings. A well-known architect, Martin Rattray, was called in to design unique accommodation. He suggested designing the rooms as period colonial houses about a Village Square. His proposal was accepted and all the old rooms were replaced and new ones added, incorporating the original stables. Twenty-two bedrooms were built around the Village Square and the hotel was renamed as The Old Village Inn. The name was later changed to Tsitsikamma Village Inn.
So that was the reason we did not recognize it!
This time we did not visit the Tsitsikamma National Park – now a part of Garden Route National Park. But we visited in 2014, which I will tell you more about here: Tsitsikamma National Park (comming..)
PLETTENBERG BAY
We travelled further west to the resort town Plettenberg Bay.
The Plettenberg Bay town center is located on a hilltop with amazing view of the river mouth, the lagoon and the beach:
Because of Plettenberg Bay’s lovely pristine beaches and many leisure activities – it has become South Africa’s most popular tourist town for both local and foreign visitors. Many South Africans have holiday homes is this area.
Even though there are many different accommodation options in the town, it was not easy to find a place that had available rooms. This town was definitely a popular place to stay! I recommend booking accommodations in advance before traveling to the Garden Route area! 🙂
We ended up at a place east of the town centre – and got a two bedrooms unit at “The Whaling Station B&B” by the Goose Valley Golf Estate.
The units were situated in a one floor building with a big lawn and a pool just outside.
We had dinner at the “Lookout Deck Restaurant” just outside centre of town, right by the sea. Wooden tables and chairs, informal and lively atmosphere. Tasty food at reasonable prices. And the view from the outdoors deck is spectacular. In the winter season it is possible to see whales in the bay. It is also common to see dolphins.
We have visited Plettenberg Bay on later occasions, and been on activities like “dolphin and whale safari”. That was amazing. You can read more of this here –
KNYSNA
It was a little rainy the next day, so we decided to move on. As we approached the town Knysna the traffic almost stopped. Long queues of cars – Knysna is a popular town on the Garden Route.
The charming town of Knysna is surrounded by the Outeniqua Mountain range, ancient forests and the protected 21 square kilometre marine reserve, locally better known as the ‘Lagoon’. The Lagoon is known for oyster farming – and is popular for boating and water sports. The activities on the lagoon are regulated, which ensures the protection of, and creates a sanctuary for, the threatened Seahorse which breeds in the estuary.
Because of the heavy traffic towards downtown Knysna, we took the George Rex Drive along the east side of the lagoon. Asked for accommodation some places- but we did not find anything nice that was available. We headed back to Knysna, but still a lot of traffic towards the centre. We took another route and travelled about 30 km to the next little town – Sedgefield.
Sedgefield seemed to be a sleepy little village. We tried to find a restaurant for lunch, not many options. Ended up in a kind of pub/ restaurant where we had a light meal before we headed on.
WILDERNESS
We travelled another 30 km to Wilderness where we wanted to stay for some days. Luckily we got two rooms at Protea Hotel Wilderness, now known as The Wilderness Hotel. Nice rooms with balconies – we booked them for 3 nights.
I have been told that this is one of the Garden Route’s oldest and best-loved hotels. It was rather a large property; a two story building with 150 bedrooms, a beauty spa, two swimming pools, a bowling green, tennis- and squashcourts, and banqueting halls!
Wilderness beach
Kilometers of sand, unspoiled and beautiful. Great for long walks, but because of powerful waves and rip currents along this coastline – only a few spots are safe for swimming. One of these spots is at the beach entrance just off the N2 as you arrive in Wilderness, near the mouth of the lagoon. So it was this part of the beach we visited on our first day in Wilderness.
But is was a very windy, and even near the lagoon it was too windy and unpleasant to either swim or for Stine to play. Instead we ended up by the pool at the hotel, which was much better under these circumstances.
Milkwood evening market
In the afternoon we visited a local market, called the Milkwood evening market, where many of the Wilderness artists and crafters display their wares.
We enjoyed live music while browsing around the arts and crafts, and tasting some delicious local food.
The market is open every Friday evening.
Wilderness section of – The Garden Route National Park.
The second day at Wilderness we visited the Wilderness National Park. It was cloudy, and an excellent choice instead of going to the beach.
Wilderness National park is now called the Wilderness section of The Garden Route National Park, which also include Tsitsikamma National Park and the Knysna Lake Area.
This park is situated close to the N2 highway and Wilderness village, and stretches from the Touw River mouth to the Swartvlei estuary and beyond, linking with the Goukamma Nature Reserve.
This is a nature reserve and has a fascinating combination of rivers, lakes, estuaries and beaches, with lush forests and imposing mountains in the background.
The area has diverse habitats for wonderful birdlife, and an ideal place for bird watching. Visitors can spot five types of Kingfisher, the Grey Heron and Little Egret and the brightly coloured Knysna Loerie in the forrest. This area is also known for the Knysna Seahorse and Pansy Shell.
A popular activity besides birding is hiking – as there are several great walks and hiking trails. Canoeing, boating and fishing are also popular. If you want to stay overnight it is possible to go camping at the restcamp Ebb and Flow.
We had a drive through the park, not a long distance, but we stopped a couple of places. Walked along one of the walking paths. We also stopped by one of the bird hides by a lake, spotted three different kind of seabirds.
I cannot find any of my photos from this park..,but here is a map of
Wilderness National Park:
MOSSEL BAY
We left Wilderness in rain the next day, followed N2 and next stop was Mossel Bay. Mossel Bay is also a popular tourist destination, known for its beautiful beaches.
We were thinking of staying there for a few days. After a lunch break we had a look around the town, and also visited the Diaz Beach which is the longest and most beautiful beach in Mossel Bay. Nearby there were many tall hotels and large apartment blocks, both private and for holiday rental. It was not as idyllic as we expected.
We decided to travel on to OUDTSHOORN – “the Ostrich capital of the World”. Follow us on the next route :
