The Garden Route

Before we left Cape Town for our next project, we took a few days to drive in a clapped-out Toyota Tazz along the famous Garden Route, which stretches for about 120 miles along the south coast of S Africa. It's famed for its magnificent forests watered by the rivers that tumble down from the mountain ranges in the north to the Indian Ocean. In total we drove nearly 900 miles & the scenery was fantastic all the way - whether mountains,sandy beaches, lagoons, surf, rocks, feynbos, woodlands, fields .......

Our accommodation was varied. In Mossel Bay we stayed on the Santos Express in a converted railway carriage with our own little balcony & swing seat on the edge of a north-facing (difficult to get used to idea that north-facing is a good thing!) palm-lined beach with dolphins swimming in the bay. At Storms River Mouth, in the Tsitsikamma National park, we stayed in a hut in a forest clearing just yards from the surf crashing onto the rocky shoreline. In Knysna we were based for 2 nights in a beautiful modern house perched on a hillside with panoramic views over the Knysna lagoon.

The hiking trails we took were all fabulous, if often challenging in the baking sunshine (& once in the pouring rain). In Mossel Bay, we walked part of the St Blaize Trail, along cliffs & past a cave where it's amazing to realise that people lived, up until the 19th C., for possibly up to 100,000 years.

In Tsitsikamma N P we followed part of the Otter Trail, scrambling through forests & over rocks for 3 miles along the shoreline to swim in a pool between the ocean & the foot of a 50 metre waterfall. In Tsitsikamma, too, we walked over a suspension bridge across the Storm River mouth & took a boat trip up into the Storms River canyon, which was dramatic & eerie. (It would have been even more atmospheric if 3 German tourists hadn't decided this was the moment for shouting & laughing long & loud!!) Damp green cliffs, dotted with caves which were home to colonies of bats with 18" wing spans, rise up from the peaty water. The boat trip is very dependent on weather conditions. At times there can be a 6-7 meter sea swell and when there is a storm, the river becomes a raging torrent.

At Plettenberg Bay we had our toughest walk on the wild side, out on the Robberg peninsula. We clambered along more cliffs, ploughed through sand dunes & slithered over rocks. The weather was hot, overcast & humid to start with - & then the heavens opened. We struggled to get back to the car through drenching rain & thick mist.

At Knysna we followed the Jubilee Creek in the Goudweld Forest, past abandoned goldmine works, to a beautiful pool where we washed off mud & sweat by skinny-dipping in the shade of the yellowwoods.(Yes, we were quick & discrete!) We also walked in the Diepwalle Forest through the lush Valley of the Ferns, a jungle of ancient tree ferns arching over us. Although we were miles from civilisation, we managed to gate-crash a wedding there! Picnic rugs & hampers were scattered over the grass. Women in pastel outfits & big hats drifted past as we clomped over the rose petals, scattered along a path decorated with flowers & ribbons, in our hiking boots & shorts! It was a tad surreal!

We had another surreal experience in Knysna when we crossed over a causeway from the Waterfront to Thesen Island Harbour Town. We felt as if we had wandered into the set of Jim Carrey's "The Truman Show". It felt like a newly constructed ghost town - very weird! We resisted the temptation to dine in the "baroque zen" restaurant - not sure what that might mean & now may never know ........ We wanted to escape back to reality as fast as we could.