My South African Adventure: The Garden Route

I know it is Kerala that is revered as God’s Own Land but one trip to South Africa and you will be willingly sharing the sobriquet between the two. It all started when my husband moved to the African land on business a few moon ago and I, like any wife, was more than glad to visit him that too in a destination I had not known before. So what I had imagined to be a romantic holiday, surprisingly also turned out to be the biggest adventure of my life!

Heita Aafrika!

True to my spirit, I packed well in time and was jumping with excitement as I boarded the 15-hour long connecting flight from Delhi to Cape Town via Dubai. Well, it was an exhausting journey but all my tiredness disappeared completely as I set sights outside the window. South Africa (SA) was absolutely gorgeous! The usual trend for most first time international travellers is to flock to either Europe or parts of South East Asia. I am so glad we didn’t because SA is more beautiful than I or you could ever imagine. Most of us are oblivious to the fact that in Cape Town, the second most populated city in SA, itself there are more than 1,100 species of indigenous plants, at least 250 species of birds and different types of terrains that your camera will be spoilt for choice.

Cape of Good Hope

I cannot begin to fathom what locales like Durban, Sun City, Johannesberg, Kruger, Kenya and others have to offer! These are in our bucket list though.

Okay, lets travel back in time to June 7, 2013 when we kick started our vacation with a moonlit night at the CUBE Guest House at Hout Bay, a coastal suburb of Cape Town. Tucked in a corner surrounded by lush green trees, was our li’l wooden cottage with a private pool. It’s a pity that June is a winter month here or we would have definitely taken a dip in the pool.

Garden Route – Highway to Heaven

Early next morning started with a hearty breakfast prepared by the caretaker at CUBE. The delicious fare comprising of jams, eggs, breads, cheese and juices charged us up plenty for the 500 kilometres drive we were going to undertake. That’s how we started out for Knysna, a town that falls on the famous Garden Route.

Garden Route stretch "Best destination for 2012 by Tripadvisor"

With infinite shades of green and brown, the Garden Route boasts of small and quaint countryside houses, extensive golf courses, evergreen forests, stunning green landscapes, countless types of flora and fauna, spectacular bridges, cliffs, valleys and coastal towns. The best of Mother Nature is enclosed in this Highway to Heaven.

You have plenty of destinations to sightsee in this part of Cape Town and one could perhaps spend days or weeks exploring the -

Vineyards – Presenting you a variety of wines to taste ranging from red, white and rose wines, Jakkalsvlei Vineyards in the Langeberg Mountains, Bramon Wine Estate in The Crags and Herold Wine in George are the popular choices.

      Nature reserves – Plethora of options are available for wild life and nature lovers on this stretch. Top choices are Birds of Eden, Featherbed Nature Reserve, Garden Route National Park, Knysna Elephant Park, Oyster Bay Reserve, Tsitsikamma National Park and countless others.

   

    Ostrich farms –Oudtshoorn is the best bet for seeing the biggest ostrich farms in SA. The highlight at this place -the ostrich rides @ more than 70 kmph. Highly recommended!

      

           White sand beaches – Port Elizabeth, St. Francis Bay, Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay boast of white sand beaches, perfect for long walks and relaxing.

Adventure activities - There is no end to the adventure sports you can enjoy on Garden route. I could go on and on but the not-to-miss ones are bungee jumping from Bloukrans Bridge, deep sea diving at Mossel Bay & Plettenberg Bay, skydiving at Plettenberg Bay, whale watching at Hermanus and shark cage diving at Gansbaai.

Fine dining restaurants/eateries – You can explore so many fine dining places on different destinations along the Garden Route stretch. You might want to try a new place for each meal here ...Slurp.. Bomo Terrace at Plettenberg Bay, The 5^th Season and The Rose on York Restaurant at George, Dine in Style at Wilderness, The Lighthouse Restaurant at Mossel Bay, Jazzbury’s at Mossel Bay, Vaaljapie Station restaurant at Little Brak ... the list is endless...

But this was just the beginning. There’s more to go. Presenting Venice of SA in my next.