Doug and Kerry Hudson on the Garden Route, South Africa

In January 2003, Doug's brother James and cousin Martin flew out to South Africa to join us for a holiday. We spent a significant portion of the two weeks they were with us travelling along the Garden Route. Doug's parents Margaret and Dick had made almost the exact same journey only three months previously.

The Garden Route stretches along the southern coast of South Africa from Port Elizabeth in the east to Cape Town in the west. Our flight from Durban to Port Elizabeth was short and painless, although the landing scared even the bravest man on the plane. A crosswind of 40km per hour threw the plane all over the place and it was hard to believe that the pilot could aim straight for the runway. But, he did and we landed safely with huge sighs of relief from everyone.

We stayed in a really nice place just 5 minutes out of Port Elizabeth called Pine Lodge. We were 5 minutes walk away from the beach, which was absolutely deserted. We enjoyed wandering along the sand collecting shells and fascinating rocks. Kerry spotted two white-tailed mongoose early in the morning as she walked down to the beach. They were playing just like kittens and were totally oblivious to her presence.

Next day, we packed up and made for Knysna, stopping off at Storms River Mouth on the way. This was a nature reserve but also appeared to be popular with holidaymakers and tourists. We walked through the Tsitsikamma forest to reach the actual river mouth. Here we were very lucky to see the very rare "Knysna Loerie," a largish bird boasting extraordinarily coloured plumage. A rope bridge allowed us to cross over the river mouth. This was not the easiest bridge to walk over, as there were lots of other people causing the bridge to sway mercilessly.

After some much-needed refreshment, we hit the road again and soon arrived at our accommodation in Knysna. Our bed and breakfast was perched high up on a hill overlooking the Knysna Lagoon and Bay. We were all weary from the travelling and so it was delightful to swim and lounge around the pool recuperating.

The next day we moved 30km along the coast to the gorgeous town of Wilderness. Our journey distance was closer to 200km, however, as we decided to visit Oudtshoorn, an inland town famous for its ostrich farms and the celebrated Cango Caves.

Our first visit was to the Cango Wildlife Ranch, where we had the incredible opportunity to stroke a cheetah. What an experience! Imagine the biggest cat you’ve ever seen stretched out on the ground before you purring more loudly than a car engine and rolling about doing the cute kitty thing! We also enjoyed the meercats, as they were so inquisitive and playful.

Kerry sat on an ostrich at the Cango Ostrich Show Farm, and she was greatly impressed by just how soft the feathers were. Not to mention how strong the ostrich was to bear her weight! Doug and James tried to ride an ostrich as well. James did very well, staying on for over twenty metres, but Doug’s mount threw him at the earliest opportunity, as if to say get this heavy lump off me.

We finished up just in time for the last tour of Cango Caves. It was another example of stalactites and stalagmites that we’d all seen before, but we were very impressed by the scale of the caverns. The presenter was very good as well.

That evening we dined in Wilderness at the Wilderness Grill. The temperature outside was still warm, but there was a rather unpleasant smell. We were all much too polite to say anything, but the source turned out to be the milkwood tree outside the restaurant. Unfortunately for us, these trees emit ‘eau de drains’ at this time of year.

The next day we left Wilderness for Hermanus. Doug navigated a really interesting route for us, taking us there via Cape Agulhas, the most southerly point in Africa. Cape Agulhas is also the point at which the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic, geographically speaking. We took the obligatory photo of the plaque at the most southerly point, and it was really impressive to think that all of Africa was at our backs at that moment. Not to mention Europe and Asia too. We found the Cape Agulhas area to be fascinating, and have earmarked it as a place we’d like to return to and explore further.

Hermanus is the self-proclaimed whale-watching capital of the world. This is a fair claim too, given that one hundred and fifty six southern right whales were once counted in Walker Bay at one time. Hermanus really is the best place to see whales from the shore. Unfortunately for James and Martin, at this time of year the whales are all off the coast of Namibia scoffing as much plankton as they possibly can before they migrate all the way back to Mozambican waters to mate. So we didn’t see any whales this time. The best time for that is July to October. Back in October 2002, the last time we had been there, we had only just parked and walked toward the centre of town, when...

"Look! There’s a whale!" Kerry cried.

"I don’t believe it!" Doug said, fumbling to fit the long lens onto his camera.

It had turned out to be the first whale of many, too many to count in fact! The action came in really close to shore, to the delight of the hundreds of people lining the cliffs. A female made for shallow water with three males in tow. Lots of splashing and flailing of fins and flukes, and an entire roll of film later, we had returned to Cape Town very satisfied! Spyhopping, breaching, mating – we’d seen it all! You don’t need to spend a fortune on a whale watching tour, when you can see so many from the shore.

Fortunately for James and Martin, Hermanus was suitably located to reach Gansbaai, half an hour away. Gansbaai is the place to go, if you ever want to see a great white shark up close and personal. James and Doug did just that. Unfortunately James’ seasickness meant he couldn’t even stand up, let alone get into the cage. This was a crushing disappointment for him, but at least he did see a great white shark in the wild. Meanwhile, Kerry and Martin were far to sensible to do anything quite so foolish, and spent the day in Hermanus sunbathing and relaxing, far away from the world of awesome killing machines.

The following morning we drove along the magnificent Route 44 from Hermanus to Cape Town, a windy road hugging the mountainside far above the Atlantic Ocean below.

World Trip >> Africa >> Garden Route

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006