South Africa – The Garden Route and Beyond

When we were planning our 2 week South Africa itinerary and told friends and family that we were planning to do a road trip in South Africa, we were met with raised eyebrows and mild reproach. Why South Africa? Is it really safe? Why are you doing it?

Simply because the Garden Route and South Africa’s southern coast are among the world’s most stunning places. The kind that makes you wonder why it isn’t celebrated and chosen by travelers more (and feel selfishly grateful that it isn’t).

You must, of course, take reasonable precautions. It is not safe to wander around after dark alone or in small groups, especially in cities like Johannesburg. Stick to main highways while driving, and aim to reach your destination before dark. Your car rental company can usually give you a map of areas to avoid. Don’t carry flashy accessories or expensive luggage. Use only authorized taxis for travel. With these basics squared away, let's get to planning a trip.

We landed in Gqbehra ( a.k.a Port Elizabeth) from Jo’berg and picked up our pre-reserved car from the airport. The coastal city is a hub of commerce, and while there are plenty of things to do here, like the Addo Elephant Park, beaches and a public art walk, we spent just a few hours on a rainy afternoon here. We had a leisurely brunch at GrassRoof, a wonderful farm-to-table restaurant that also sells produce and quirky knick-knacks. The restaurant sits in the middle of a sea of cultivated land, and the inventive menu is an ode to South Africa inspired global cuisine.

Bloukrans Bridge – An hour before you hit the town of Knysna, is the World’s Highest Bungee Jump from a Bridge. There are three activities available here – First is a bridge walk, where you walk up to the highest point of the bridge at 216 mts, braving a ferocious, rabid wind with the view of lush green depths of a gorge for company. Second, where you jump off from the bridge, secured safely to a bungee cord. And third, if you are less adventurously inclined, is to enjoy a hot cup of coffee or a cold bottle of cider at the small café facing the bridge, while watching/listening to brave souls bungee jump.

Knysna

Knysna is one of the most popular spots along the garden route, famous for its lagoons, sandstone cliffs and nature reserves.

Knysna Waterfront, feels like Pier 39 in San Francisco.  Yachts casually parked in the marina, small boutique stores, sea food restaurants. Thesen island, which is a10 minute ride away from the waterfront is another option, stacked with good coffee /brunch spots.

The quality of food in South Africa deserves its own paragraph. It’s cuisine is influenced by many cultures that landed in the country voluntarily/involuntarily and through the years, what has evolved is a unique goodness. From the classic Cape Malay bobotie, to a tradition of braii it is not just the recipes that are magic, but the quality of ingredients – everything is juicy, fresh, clean. The reason for that is a highly regulated production for fruit and vegetables meat and seafood, a reliance on local sourcing, and a landscape that supports free-range, clean and sustainable farming.

Coming back to Knysna, a unique draw here, is the seahorses! The warm-water estuaries are perfect habitats for these creatures, and you can book seahorse spotting tours. A guaranteed way to spot atleast a few, is the educational display tank (ie aquarium) at the Sanparks office in Thesen Island.

Knysna has several breathtaking view points, all within a short drive from the center of town, most famous for the Eastern Head Viewpoint. These twin cliffs – Eastern and Western Head - frame the narrow, notoriously treacherous channel where the Knysna Lagoon meets the Indian Ocean. The viewpoint overlooking the Eastern head offers some gloriously uninterrupted views of sparkling water and sandstone bluffs. The Western Head is the site of the privately-owned Featherbed Nature Reserve, which offers guided hikes (free-roam hikes aren’t possible) which need to be booked in advance and tend to be steeply priced. Other noteworthy view points are Margaret’s view and Fountain View.

Hessequa Art Route 

If you’re interested in Art, as you’re driving along the Garden Route, explore the HSQA Art Route. A loose collaboration between small galleries throughout this route, it attempts to make local art more visible. We stopped at one of the nodes – the Old Jail at Riversdale. An old jail converted into a coffee shop/art and antique store, and it was such a wonderful find!

Hermanus

Next stop - Gaansbai, a small village/town on the outskirts of Hermanus.

Hermanus is most famous for whale watching. Our Airbnb hosts proclaimed that on quiet summer ( meaning December) days, you can even HEAR them right from the coast. We had no such luck, and neither where we able to spot them when we went whale spotting. The Marine Big 5 tour, organized by Marine Dynamics is efficient. Sharks, dolphins, the African penguin, seals and (an attempt to find) whales are on the list, along with dozens of marine birds. We also tried shark cage diving – which was a less than recommendable experience. You are lowered in a wetsuit in a cage, and sharks are lured with chum, to swim around the cages. The trouble is all the ‘bait’ makes the water very cloudy, and given the high volume of visitors, you cannot see the creatures too clearly.

The town of Hermanus is a clean, manicured community, that will remind you of California. In fact, barring the presence of the lions, ALL of South Africa feels like California. Our stay coincided with Christmas, so we got to try a wonderful Christmas eve dinner at a local pub in Gaansbai, and a fancy Christmas dinner at an upscale restaurant in Hermanus high street.

Block half a day to walk to Hermanus cliff path, a 12 km long stretch of board-walked/gravel-packed pathways, running along the rocky coast line of this beautiful town. The route ensures a permanent view of crashing waves, dramatic cliff faces and wildflowers interspersed with fynbos along the way.

Cape Town

Cape Town is one my favourite places in the whole world – a city packed with beaches, a vibrant culture, music scenes, all under the shadow of the gorgeous Table town Mountain, neatly draped in a thin, rolling cover of clouds aptly nicknamed the Table Cloth. The perennially windy city, turns into a glittering paradise at night, due to a uniquely turbulent atmosphere.

When in CapeTown particularly over weekends, keep an eye out for community street gatherings - certain roads in the Central Business District are blocked off to traffic, and nearby restaurants bring a selection of their menu right to the streets. Expect music, day drinking and plenty of socializing.

Bo Kaap : the neighbourhood that’s a living rainbow, was established to house ‘workers’ from South East Asia in the 1700s by the Dutch. Over the years, as SA embraced equality and freedom, ownership of the houses changed hands to its original Malay occupants.  The colours, as popular legends go, believed to be symbolic of this freedom. We enjoyed a walking tour with Geoff, from the Free Walking Tours Cape Town!

Camps Bay Beach :This urban beach has white sands, icy cold waters and a unique backdrop of the 12 Apostles sandstone hill-like structures. Right across the beach, is a lively strip of restaurants that make for a wonderful spot as the road turns into a runway for expensive luxury cars during weekends.

V&A Waterfront: What began as a gritty harbour of coal stores, cranes and warehouses has evolved into one of Cape Town’s snazziest localities over the past century – of luxury resorts, old warehouses now housing galleries and restaurants, high-end stores, malls and several restored historic landmarks. It’s ideal for late lunches and evening drinks

Farmers Markets – Cape Town has a wonderful outlet to celebrate local farmers and artisans in the form of its weekend farmers markets. We spent half a day at the Oranjezeicht Market. Built to look like a cozy wooden barn, carpeted with wooden chips, the market has some wonderful pop-up restaurants with rotating menus.

While you can never run out of things to do in Cape Town, there are several day trips worth your time to places just outside the heart of the city. Boulder beach is a great place for a quick swim or to spot little gangs of penguins. The wine country of Stellenbosch is packed with several vineyards of Dutch colonial origin, and boutique restaurants and galleries. Because betting is no illegal, SA has some large resort-casinos, one of which -The Grand West- is just outside Cape Town

Krueger National Park

No trip to South Africa is complete without a visit to the National Parks. We booked our safaris through Moafrika and found them to be very efficient. They offer pick-up from Johannesburg, right from the airport. Krueger has a very interesting setup – when the park was formed in 1926, many adjacent lands continued to be privately owned, and were not integrated into the park itself. These lands grew into private reserves, with eco lodges, which offer their own safaris. Consequently, most tour operated safaris include two kinds of visits. One to the actual Krueger National Park, an expansive grassland of 20000 sq km home to Giraffe Elephants, Big 5 etc. The second are private national parks – smaller, denser areas, higher chance of spotting the cats. We had the pleasure of a leisurely encounter with a young male lion, and one a particularly lazy cheetah, in addition to the usual troupe of deer, giraffes, elephants and a rare sighting of painted wild-dogs.

Johannesberg

The economic capital of South Africa ( wrongly believed to be one of the country’s three main capital cities), is the richest city of the country. Our highlight here, was being able to go on a walking tour of Soweto

Soweto – or South -Western Townships form one of the most diverse community areas in Johannesburg. Originally mushrooming as shantytowns and slums occupied by Black and Non-white laborers during WWI and WWII, Soweto came into the spotlight in 1976 during the Soweto Uprising. Fueled by young student protestors, the protests against planned changes in the education system, ultimately contributed to the end of apartheid and the beginning of democracy in SA. A walking tour of the Township, takes you through some of the most impoverished parts of the community, through the iconic street that once housed two Novel laureates – Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, and tell the story of South Africa’s crusades towards democracy.

South Africa is a remarkable destination, one that is equal parts history and future. Its tumultuous history and settler colonialization have created a society that is visibly different in socio-economic identity and access. Nevertheless, to an outsider, the country presents a bountiful display of freshness. It’s not the best of everything, but a little bit of all the best things. An experience that is waiting to be lived, and retold.