The Garden Route...Recap

So after Cape Town, Simon's Town, Boulders Beach and the Cape of Good Hope, I had finally almost made it to the start of the Garden Route.  The Garden Route is South Africa's version of California's Pacific Coast Highway - it starts in Mossel Bay and ends in Port Elizabeth – about 500 miles.   And if you think of PCH, think how many places you could stop and spend the day looking at tide pools, rocky shores and beautiful beaches.  Well, basically that's what I'm doing.  

Mossel Bay - I arrived late (about 8 pm) due to ongoing road repair, and I was tired and stressed. Well thank goodness I had a room reserved.  Wrong!  I pull up to the B&B I had reserved and the sign in front says full.  Oh, no I think, I hope they didn't give my room away.  I pull up an insanely steep driveway – (stick shift remember...)  and the place is locked up tight.  I ring the bell and no one answers.  I walk completely around the building, trying all the doors and window and the place is locked up tight.  There is no one anywhere to be found – no guests, no proprietors, no one.  I was tired, cranky and hadn't eaten for hours and this was the first time on my trip that I had felt sorry for myself.   I took a deep breath and decided to drive on around the neighborhood and wouldn't you know it, one block over  - The Mossel Bay Guest House.  The light was on, I knocked and they welcomed me in.  It was so nice I stayed for two days.  I met the nicest couple from Seattle – BC and Lisa  (If you guys are reading this, please friend me on Facebook, I want to see the rest of  your pictures!)
 

Angels run this place!



From Mossel Bay I drove inland to a town called Oudtshoorn.  The drive to Oudtshoorn was beautiful, through scenic mountain passes.  Oudtshoorn is know as the Ostrich Capital of South Africa, (maybe the world).  Ostriches are farmed here and you can almost always find ostrich on a menu.  You know how pork is called the “other” white meat?  Well I guess ostrich is the other “other” white meat – it's really lean meat.  I tried it but I didn't really like it.  Anyway, Oudtshoorn has lots of ostrich farm and has a place called Cango Caves.   Now that was really cool.  I did the adventure tour where you have to crawl through parts of the caves.  These pictures don't do the caves justice.  They were huge caverns, insanely dark but lit with weird spot lights. 



The adventure tour was fun.  I had to slide/crawl/wiggle through a space shown above.  This was called the Letterbox.      I stayed the night in a B&B in Oudtshoorn.  It was called Riverside B&B and I was in this huge room with really ornate antiques.  I felt out of place but I picked it b/c it was the only place I found that had free Wi-Fi.



 Internet access can be hard to come by at some places.  I've noticed that places that advertise Wi-Fi may have had it for the Soccer World Cup in 2010 but don't have it anymore.  I've sat down at a cafe with a Wi-Fi sign and ordered and only then found out that they don't have it.  Now I ask before I”m seated.  Live and Learn.

The next day I left Oudtshoorn and headed back to the Coast – past George, on to Knysa and Plettenberg Bay.   These were adorable little beach towns, with really amazing wilderness areas surrounding them.  I spent the night and the entire next day there. 

Tsitsikamma National Park - I really lucked out!  I got a cabin right on the beach in the national park for the night.  This is Storms River mouth.  I took a zodiac boat ride up the storm river and I jumped on the suspension bridge.


Here's my cabin.  It was worth avoiding baboons for! 


Weather here has been hot one day, overcast the next.  So you never quite know what to wear.  But I do guarantee you need to wear sunblock and mosquito repellent.  I've been in a few places that are Malaria Free but for the most part Malaria is endemic here in South Africa.   I've lost count of the number of bites I've received since I got to Africa - easily 100+ from all sorts of bugs I don't recognize!






Sunset from cabin at Tsitsikamma National Park

I did a zip line Tree Canopy tour while I was at Tsitsikamma.  It was fun.  They fit you with a harness and you zip line from platform to platform up in the Tree Canopy.  I did it with a local family of 4 from Jeffrey's Bay and a couple from Germany.  I still owe Harald a video of him in mid-air! 

I can't say it enough how beautiful South Africa is.  They are blessed with beautiful coastlines and very  fine sand beaches.   It is relatively easy traveling because English is spoken most everywhere.  I have only met a handful  of Americans on holiday however.  Most of my time is spent with Dutch, German and English folks on holiday.

Next stop... Addo Elephant Park, Cape St. Francis and Jeffrey's Bay.  Then I'll be caught up on picture posting!
Shari