Garden Route Trip part 2

Second half of our trip to the Garden Route in South Africa.



The drive from Mossel Bay to Plettensberg Bay was once again not disappointing.  For someone like me who does not enjoy car rides, I would drive the Garden Route willingly every day.  The farther east we went the hills turned into mountains, there were beautiful views of the ocean, and lush gardens all around.

On the 2 hour drive we stopped half way in the town of Knysna to see the Knysna Heads which are two mountains/cliffs that have spectacular views of the town and the ocean from the top.



 It was great to have viewpoints designated that
would show you both sides and it is astonishing that boats can even make it through the narrow waters between the heads.

After viewing the sights from the Knysna Heads we went down to the waterfront area for lunch.  Another lovely seaside town and great fish to eat but sadly that was the extent of our visit to Knysna.

  

 Only a 30 minute drive east and we arrived at the house we rented in town in Plettensberg Bay and it came complete with a playground.

Since the weather was still a bit overcast we could not enjoy any of the outside activities.  One thing I did not plan for but should have expected since we have lived in South Africa for over 2 years is that lots of the businesses and restaurants would not be open on Sunday afternoons.  We strolled down the main street of Plettensberg Bay, stopping into any open  store to brows as we could not find any indoor activity to take the kids too.  Thankfully the sun came out and we spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach.






Plettensberg Bay Central Beach actually has sand unlike all the other beaches we have been at with only shells.  Grant loved running his hands through it and making marks in the sand with his stick.  Adalyn loved playing in the waves, often time turning her back to them and then would be surprised when the waves would rush into her and drench her clothing.

She had the biggest smile on her face the entire time, I only wished we had brought her swimsuit to the beach but I figured the water would be too cold and she would not want to get in.

We took a break from the beach and had another great seafood dinner, then it was back to the beach for more play.













The next morning we checked out of our house and went to Birds of Eden to visit the largest free flight aviary in the world, who knew it would be in this tiny seaside town.

I was shocked by how well maintained the aviary was and the variety of birds.  The kids loved walking the paths to view the birds, though Grant was not happy he could not touch them.  Adalyn enjoyed taking pictures of the birds with my phone and did a great job.






 After 1.5 hours of viewing all the birds we headed to the airport in Port Elizabeth to catch our flight back to Johannesburg.  Thankfully this time South African Airlines allowed us to have the seats that we previously booked and paid for.

It was a great vacation, and Mark and I agree we actually prefer the Garden Route to a single visit to Cape Town as we felt there was more to see and do.  We were surprised by how safe we felt, hardly ever seeing any security fences in all the towns.  No one spoke to us in Afrikaans, people just naturally assumed we were tourists. We would have loved to spend more time in each of the towns but glad we got to see so many of them.  

Garden Route, Part 1

Mark and I never thought we would have the desire to drive the Garden Route in southern South Africa, but since we are on a quest to see as much of this country as possible before we have to leave, we decided to add it to the list.


 It took some planning with flights out of different airports, multiple hotels, and deciding on which towns to visit, but I think we picked some great places and I am glad they all worked out.  Thankfully there is so much to do and see we only ended up driving at the most 3 hours in a day broken up with stops at attractions.

We were suppose to fly to Cape Town to start our journey early on Thursday morning but upon arrival at the airport a South African Airlines attendant told us that our flight was overbooked by 28 people and we had been bumped from the flight.  I was shocked that the airline would provide such bad customer service with no compensation but thankful that we were able to get on the next flight 1.5 hours later.



We arrived in Cape Town, loaded up our rental car and headed 1 hour down R44 to Betty's Bay where Stoney Point and a huge 3,600 penguin colony is located.  We spent about 45 minutes walking along the boardwalk viewing the penguins.




It was amazing how many there were, they just looked like dots on the rocks from a distance, but when you got up close we could see hundreds of them.  

The kids enjoyed the penguins and we even captured a family photo.



The drive from Betty's Bay to Hermanus where our next stop was located was breathtaking.  It reminded us of the Pacific Coast Highway, driving along the cliffs with the Indian Ocean on the other side.  An hour later we arrived at the house we rented in Hermanus.  It was a charming 3 bedroom with an amazing view from the back garden.









I loved hearing the waves crash into the rocks and seeing the water flying up.  The kids enjoyed playing on the rocks and exploring.  Adalyn began her seashell collection and was not afraid to adventure out on her own.



The entire "beach" was sea shells so we now have quite the assortment.  Adalyn said exploring on the rocks was her favorite part of our trip.

Hermanus also gave us the opportunity on our second night there to see a whale jumping about 8 times out of the water during dinner.  We dined at Bientang's Cave in downtown Hermanus which is basically a restaurant located in a cave on the cliff of the Indian Ocean.


A whale happened to be in the cove and provided awesome entertainment.







 Mark was also able to go shark diving to see Great White Sharks up close from the safety of inside a shark cage in Gansbaai, South Africa.



 Sadly the weather had taken a turn for the worse and I was not able to go as the company thought it would be too unsafe to take their boat out.

We had extra time after Mark's shark diving adventure so we took a hike
and captured this picturesque view of Hermanus.

On our last morning in Hermanus we enjoyed the rocks and sea some more then packed up and headed to Swellendam, South Africa, to eat some lunch.  It was quaint little town right off the highway about 1.5 hours into our drive.



We stopped for a pizza lunch and would have loved to explore the little town a bit more but needed to get back on the road to make our next overnight stop in Mossel Bay.  The drive really lived up to the Garden Route name as there were rolling green hills and valleys which made the drive quite enjoyable.

Since I did not get to shark dive the day before, I was hoping to in Mossel Bay, South Africa, but they were fully booked.  We then decided to do a boat cruise and go out to see the seal colony on an island but again the dreary weather and low tide made it unsafe for boats to go out again.  Never had I realized how a simple change in weather from sunny to gloomy and a little rain would affect the sea and change our plans. So we spent our time in Mossel Bay on the beach, collecting more shells and enjoying the surfers.  We were lucky enough to sport some dolphins jumping in the ocean right off our balcony.







We enjoyed our one night in Mossel Bay, although we did not get to do much due to weather, the apartment we stayed had a lovely ocean view, the food was good at the restaurant down below and the kids enjoyed more beach time.





I loved the little village we stayed in complete with their different colorful homes lining the beach.  We headed out early the next morning to drive to Plettensberg Bay, South Africa, which was our next overnight stop.