Garden Route

We spent the last week driving the Garden Route, one of South Africa's most famous drives along the coast (it's not really a specific route, but rather a collection of nice beach towns). We broke the drive up into five stops, then retraced our route back to Cape Town yesterday.

Day 1: Gordon's Bay & Betty's Bay

Alex and I started the day with maybe the best breakfast we’ve had in South Africa: a home-cooked meal prepared at our somewhat quirky accommodation, The Chocolate House. After taking a quick Uber to the rental car office we were appalled that Dollar Thrifty managed to mess up our reservation yet again, despite multiple email confirmations and Alex’s in-person confirmation last week. We had to wait three hours for the city location to fetch a car from the airport location but we decided to pass the time wandering around the craft market at the V&A Waterfront - it was a beautiful morning and I even found a nice blouse...so the delay wasn't a total bust! (Plus they gave us a really nice car again - an Infinity Q50 - so we can't complain!)

The drive to Gordon's Bay only took 45 minutes from downtown Cape Town but the timing was perfect for lunch by the water. We dined on fresh fish, walked along the beach for a bit, then continued on to Betty's Bay, about an hour further along the coast.

The beach at Gordon's Bay.

The view of Rooi-Els as we drove along the beautiful coast.

We saw a shark-spotting station just off the road. Apparently the black flag means low risk, but poor visibility...so be careful!

The views of the ocean were stunning - Alex had to make sure to keep his eyes on the road! - and we stopped several times to snap some pictures. It reminds us so much of California and Australia!

When we arrived at our B&B in Betty's Bay, our host explained that not much was open (because it was Sunday) so rather than getting greasy fish & chips from the one restaurant that was open, we decided to head to a grocery store to pick up some meats and cheeses. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at the B&B, catching up on some blog posts and enjoying the beautiful views of the ocean.

Day 2: Hermanus

As the smell of sizzling bacon called to us from our bed, Alex and I woke around 8am for breakfast at our B&B. Knowing the nearby botanical gardens had a handful of hiking trails, we ate a hearty breakfast, packed up and headed out for the day.

I had researched the hike we wanted to do – the Zig Zag Trail – but was nervous as the description noted it could take anywhere from 4 – 8 hours roundtrip. However, after our grueling hike up Table Mountain we figured we could handle it!

We were relieved that the hike was not as strenuous as advertised. We made it up high enough for these views after only 15 minutes!

A little further up we traded places and I took a few pictures of Alex.

The waterfall at the end of the hike. We rested here for half an hour before retracing our steps down the mountain.

Great views as we hiked down the trail.

There were tons of lizards around but this one let us get the closest without running away.

We were back in our rental car two hours after we started the hike. I think there should be some uniformity to the hiking-difficulty-scale - we finished the Table Mountain hike in almost exactly the time the park suggested we allow; we finished this one in half of the shortest recommended time!

The drive from Betty’s Bay to Hermanus was only 45 minutes, so I decided to test my left-side-of-the-road navigation skills and help out with some of the driving! We checked in at our next B&B and asked our host for a recommendation for the rest of the afternoon. She suggested we check out Creation Wines for their wine tasting, which is paired with food. I'd actually heard about this before but once our host confirmed it, we headed straight over to Creation.

We tasted ten (!) different wines – small pours I swear - accompanied by small “bites” and enjoyed a delicious meal as well as a great lesson in wine pairing. South Africa has one of the highest concentrations of wineries in the world and we have definitely been able to sample some of the most delicious wines and see some of the most beautiful vineyards during our time here.

Adequate view from our table at Creation Wines.

Full from our 3-hour wine pairing, we grabbed a few snacks – and the bottles we purchased – and headed to our guesthouse to watch the sun set over Hermanus. Reminded of Montauk, we settled in to enjoy another beautiful evening in South Africa.

The tide was out at sunset, exposing these rocks and allowing us to walk out to get a good view.

Waves breaking on the rocks.

High surf at sunset.

Day 3: Knysna

Our gracious host in Hermanus drew out a map for us before we left on Tuesday morning so we wouldn't get lost on the drive to Knysna. We mispronounced it the first time we told her that's where we were heading next (you drop the "K," FYI) so I think she thought we were totally clueless. Fortunately the drive couldn't have been much easier - there aren't many roads around these parts!

One last view of the B&B before we took off - I could get used to waking up to this!

Our first stop for the day was Cape Agulhas, the southern most point on the continent. Many tourists mischaracterize the Cape of Good Hope as the southernmost point of Africa, but it falls about 300km short of Cape Agulhas. We parked the car at the famous lighthouse then walked the last kilometer to the tip to take some pictures.

We saw a fisherman among the rocks on our walk to the tip.

Obligatory shot.

From here we spent most of the rest of the day driving. We stopped in Mossel Bay for lunch, then I took over the driving for the rest of the journey to Knysna. When we arrived we checked in with our B&B and watched the sunset from our balcony - a great way to end the day!

The view from our balcony - hello Knysna!

Another beautiful sunset along the Garden Route.

We headed to town for a late, but delicious, dinner then headed back to get some sleep. We both underestimated the amount of driving today...but by getting most of it out of the way today, we only have a half an hour drive tomorrow!

Days 4 & 5: Plettenberg Bay

Before heading to Plettenberg Bay on Wednesday morning, we explored Knysna for a couple hours. The town surrounds a lagoon, which creates some of the interesting topography we had a view of last night. There's also a beach not far from town, but technically that's a separate village called Brenton On Sea (fitting name...).

The beach at Brenton On Sea.

The weather started to clear up as we drove to Plettenberg Bay so we decided to change at our guest house and do one more hike before the clouds rolled back in. Our hosts, and my research on TripAdvisor, suggested that Robberg Nature Reserve would offer the best views in the area. We definitely agree! The hiking wasn't strenuous at all (compared to what we've done recently at least!) and the views were amazing - a must-do if you're in Plettenberg Bay.

"The Island" at Robberg.

The tide was out which created these cool looking pools by the rocks.

The high wind caution sign was 100% necessary - we had to concentrate to keep our balance on the rocks because the gusts were so forceful!

One more beautiful view from the end of our hike.

Hot, sweaty and wind-blown we returned to our guest house to shower before dinner. Our hosts inundated us with recommendations when we arrived and we had bookings at two seafood restaurants in only a few minutes. For dinner tonight we ate at Seafood at The Plettenberg, one of the nicest hotels in town. The views of the bay were great and the food was amazing - it was a bit of a "splurge" by South African standards, but definitely worth it!

Seafood platter for two? Yes, please!

The great weather we've had on our trip down the Garden Route had to come to an end, eventually. We woke up Thursday to a gloomy, overcast day with some drizzle here and there. We took the opportunity to catch up on some blog posts and run some errands (Alex even got a haircut!). We ate lunch at Bramon Wines, which had great food (especially the bread) but only average wine. Oh well - still a great way to pass the time on a rainy afternoon. Dinner tonight was at The Fat Fish. This restaurant had a decidedly more casual feel than SeaFood, but our meal was still fantastic.

Plettenberg Bay was our last stop on the Garden Route, and (basically) the last place on our South African itinerary. We drove back to Cape Town on Friday, which took almost the whole day, then packed up this morning to go to the airport. We had an excellent time here and would highly recommend a visit to all of our friends - it's a loooong flight from New York, but definitely worth it!

Table Mountain

We woke up on Saturday, said our goodbyes to Dana, then set out on an epic hike up Table Mountain. We had read that the Platteklip Trail, also known as the “highway” up Table Mountain, would be more challenging than our hike up Lion’s Head but we had a perfect, clear day and were feeling ambitious. Not wanting to hike on an empty stomach, we went back to Liquorice & Lime for lunch then began the long walk up.

We managed to get ourselves off the path at one point, though this detour only cost us 20 minutes or so. Other than that, it was smooth sailing to the top. And by smooth sailing I mean one of the hardest hikes we’ve ever done. I don’t know how we were able to do it in only two hours, but once we got to the top we were both exhausted. Fortunately the views were stunning and there was a great café with lots of water (and maybe a beer) for us to rehydrate!

Our reward for the long hike up Table Mountain.

We got another hiker to take our photo at the top – I think he was happy to find another couple that had struggled through the hike since most of the people at the top had just taken the gondola up (weaklings!).

Sunset from Table Mountain.

Looking down the peninsula toward the Cape of Good Hope.

Cape Town at dusk.

Like everyone else on the mountain after dark, we waited in line patiently for the gondola down to the road the ride only took about a minute vs. our two hour hike up! We found a Greek restaurant on the way home and had a hearty dinner before we passed out at our hotel. The hike was super challenging but we both felt a huge sense of accomplishment after we’d finished – definitely a must-do when visiting Cape Town!

Cape of Good Hope

Our wine tour guide, Elle, warned us that the drive to Cape Point and back can take “over seven hours” to complete. We didn’t believe her entirely, but we still decided to get a relatively early start to the day so we wouldn’t feel rushed. We were happy to hit the road early Friday morning though because we had a perfect day for the picturesque drive (though it would probably still be pretty amazing if the weather didn’t cooperate). Our first stop was Muizenberg to marvel at the scenery and the famous colorful beach houses (we all thought they were more like beach huts than beach houses, but they were still beautiful!).

Great view of the Cape of Good Hope from Muizenberg!

Muizenberg’s famous beach houses.

After stretching our legs and checking out the views, we drove a little further down the road to Boulders Beach. This area is known for its penguins – it’s a protected breeding ground for the endangered African Penguin and we were able to walk up very close to the little guys in their natural habitat. The welcome sign describes the area accurately: “The easiest place in the world to make the acquaintance of an African Penguin.”

The penguins picked a breeding ground with a great view!

This picture doesn’t do it justice, but they look so awkward when "walking" on land. The penguin in the middle waddled from the dunes to the water like a toddler just taking his first steps…but then began swimming like a champ once he hit the ocean.

From here is was only a short drive to the entrance to Cape Point National Park, but we decided to stop for a quick bite to eat before continuing south. Unfortunately there weren’t many options around – we’d gotten to a pretty remote part of the peninsula! – so we ate ostrich at Cape Point Ostrich Farm located across the street from the park entrance. It was a bit strange to eat an ostrich burger while starting at pair of them just outside the window…but at least it was tasty!

It didn’t take long to get to the trailheads in the park after lunch. We decided on an hour and a half long hike to see the Cape of Good Hope. The trail was very well maintained (most of it was a boardwalk, actually) and the views were stunning – no wonder so many visitors to Cape Town make the trek down here!

Sarah taking in the views.

Cape Point.

We got another tourist to take a picture of the three of us. Can you tell how windy it was?!?

The ladies at Cape Point.

After a couple hours of taking pictures and trying to make sure we didn’t lose our sunglasses in the wind, we got back in the car and continued the drive around the peninsula. The final stop on our roadtrip was Chapman’s Peak, a great spot to overlook Hout Bay below. We stopped to take in the view then got back in the car to finish the drive.

Hout Bay from Chapman’s Peak.

Chapman’s Peak or Big Sur? We thought the views were very similar!

We still had a little time before needing to return the rental car so we stopped at The Bungalow for a drink and to watch the sun begin to set. We didn’t have a very comfortable seat though, so we moved on quickly. I dropped the ladies at The Blackheath Lodge (highly recommend this awesome spot) to settle in, then returned the car and walked back. We met up with a friend-of-a-friend for dinner before calling it a night – it was a great day, but a tiring one. We say goodbye to Dana tomorrow…can’t believe her time here has gone so quickly!

Cape Town

The flight from Dubai to Cape Town was long (10 hours) but relatively painless. Our flight was operated by Emirates and we quickly learned that its world-class reputation for in-flight services and entertainment is well deserved. We were able to spread out – only Sarah and I occupied a three-seat bench – and pass the time catching up on movies (they had all the Oscar nominees!) until we began our descent into Cape Town.

We met our friend Dana at the airport and headed to the Gardens district to find our guest house. (By the way, Dana had almost a 24-hour journey from NYC so we really had nothing to complain about!) After we settled in, we set out to explore the neighborhood and find some dinner: Chalk & Cork caught the ladies’ eyes so we stopped there for tapas and wine before heading home to get some sleep.

We budgeted our time so that we’d have two full days in Cape Town before heading north for a safari. Our first day was earmarked for the city’s historical and cultural sights; our second day was planned around a hike to see Table Mountain. So, after filling up on breakfast at our guest house on Friday, we walked over to the District Six Museum to learn more about the atrocities of apartheid.

One of the many artifacts in the museum from the apartheid times.

The District Six Museum provided us with a massive amount of information on the history of Cape Town and the apartheid regime. Though we thought we had a sense for the tragedies that unfolded in South Africa, we left feeling sad and devastated by the impact the social regime had on the country's citizens. After about an hour in the Museum we decided to walk further down toward the waterfront and made a quick stop at the Castle of Good Hope. We arrived just as a group of men in uniform marched in step around the castle grounds – we missed the intro so it was probably more interesting for the hundreds of school children lined up to watch!

The demonstration mostly consisted of these guys marching in formation across the castle...

...so we made our way to the top level to check out the views of the rest of the city.

After a quick lunch at Nando’s – a spicy chicken place we discovered in Singapore – we headed over to the Bo Kaap neighborhood. This area is known for its brightly colored houses so it didn’t take us long to find! The bright colors reminded us of some of the smaller island villages we’ve been to; we had to remember that we were actually in the middle of a big city.

Sarah snapped a picture of me and Dana in Bo Kaap.

A rainbow of colors in Bo Kaap.

We finished our meandering route to the waterfront in time for our ferry to Robben Island, our last stop for the day. This island is home to the prison that housed Nelson Mandela and thousands of other political prisoners during apartheid, and is accessible only by boat. Like the District Six Museum we all learned a lot here…but it was difficult to listen to the conditions the prisoners had to survive from a former prisoner himself. The visit was very worthwhile even though we all left in a very melancholy mood.

The ladies on the pier before boarding the ferry.

Looking back on Cape Town from the ferry to Robben Island.

In addition to political prisoners, lepers were sent to Robben Island because no one knew what to do with them. Here is the graveyard where all deceased lepers were buried.

Our tour stopped for a photo op so we convinced another tourist to take a picture of the three of us (in descending height order, of course).

Sparks, our guide, explained the identification cards the prisoners were required to carry...as we listened in the group cell he spent 7 years in.

Nelson Mandela's cell.

By the time our ferry returned to the V&A Waterfront, a thick fog had set in and we could barely see the dock. Rather than trying to find a place to eat with a view (which was completely obscured at that point), we headed to Belthazar and had steaks at the bar – a great way to end a long day exploring Cape Town.

We woke up on Saturday happy to see clear skies for hiking. Rather than taking one of the trails that leads to Table Mountain – which are apparently very hard – we decided to hike up Lion’s Head. This smaller peak adjacent to Table Mountain provides great views of Cape Town and Table Mountain with a slightly less strenuous route to the top. Feeling ambitious, we walked from our guest house to the trail head…which we probably wouldn’t recommend because that in itself is quite a climb!  

Looking up at Lion's Head...after about an hour walking uphill on the road to get to the trailhead!

Almost to the top - pretty steep climb!

The reward for our hike: this view of Table Mountain.

This view of Cape Town isn't bad either.

Three amigos after a long hike.

After resting at the top of Lion's Head for half an hour or so we headed down to find some lunch. Fortunately, Sarah had already scouted out Liquorice & Lime - a great place not far from the trailhead. We all ate well and rehydrated before returning to our guest house for a siesta (well, Dana and I had a siesta; Sarah went shopping!). We returned to the waterfront for an early dinner and headed to bed to rest up before driving up to Inverdoorn Game Reserve for day one of our safari tomorrow!