TRAVELERS TIP: GARDEN ROUTE, SOUTH AFRICA!
- Patricia Vos
- 8 apr 2016
- 5 minuten om te lezen
South Africa is really a spectacular place to visit! The country offers a lot of different landscapes, the upcoming and trendy city Cape Town and the great national parks. I want to share the best spots to visit during your trip!
In may 2013 I have been to South Africa together with a good friend. It is already quit a while ago, but this travel is still so fresh in my memory. I wanted to see as much as possible in 2 weeks, and I think it really worked out! We took the Garden Route, one of the most famous routes in South Africa which I can really recommend. It is a ride along the coastline from Cape town to Port Elizabeth. We travelled with the bus service called 'Baz Bus'. This is an unique hop-on hop-off bus for backpackers which brings you from hostel to ho(s)tel.
Here you can see the route on a map:
The highlights from this route are:
1. Cape town and around: Camps bay, Table Mountain, Simons town, Robbenisland, Cape of good hope, Waterkant
2. Hermanus: Whale watching, Shark cage diving
3. Swellendam: Great country side in between mountains, hiking, horse riding
4. Knysna: a very cute place along the sea
5. Plettenberg Bay: Bungy Jump (Highest in the world - 216m at Bloukrans Bridge)
6. Port Elizabeth: Addo Elephant National Park
1. CAPE TOWN
Cape Town is South Africa's leading city. The city is very western minded, with a lot of foreign people living here and a driving economy. There is so much to do in this city, herewith the highlights.
- Camps bay
Camps bay is one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen in South Africa, with the white sand and the beautiful turquoise colored sea it looks like your in a picture. Camps bay is like the St. Tropez of Africa, Ferrari's drifting by, famous people and tourists come here, but the place is also very popular by the local people. The main road, Victoria Road, is full of trendy bars and restaurants where you can lunch or just go for a lounge. Worth a visit!
On the first picture of this page, which I took from the Tafelberg, you can see the location of Camps Beach very clear!
At the following link you can see a virtual tour from this beach:
http://www.virtualsouthafrica.travel/capetown/tours/campsbay/index.htm
- Table Mountain
When you plan to go to Cape Town, you have to climb the Table Mountain! If you are disabled you can take a bus to the cable car, which brings you to the top! The views during the climb and from the top of the mountain are stunning!
- Robben Island
Robben Island is the small island near the coast of Cape Town (6,9 km). Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on the island for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. You can learn a lot of the South African history with a visit to the island, it is very interesting.
Every day there are organized tours to the island from many different tour operators.
You can read more on the following website: http://www.robben-island.org.za/
- Cape of good hope
- De Waterkant
This is the most fancy shopping mall of Cape Town, with all Western shopping chains having a shop here like Mango,
- Simons Town
The train from Cape Town to Simonstown is a great way to see the False Bay coastline. The train drives so close to the sea that it feels like you are on the sea, really spectacular! It is also a very cheap way to get to Simons Town, which is really worth a visit.
When you arrive at the Simons town station it is only a few minutes walk to stunning Boulders beach, where you can see a colony of the cool African Pinguins. There are boardwalks which takes you only a couple of metres away from the pinguins.
Places to stay & Places to eat in Cape Town:
FORK tapas
2. HERMANUS
Whale watching
Hermanus is very popular because of the whale watching. Hermanus has been recognized by the World Wildlife Fund as one of the 12 best whale watching destinations in the world. The best time to enjoy whale watching in Hermanus is between July and November. You can watch the whales either by boat or from land. There is a 12 km long cliff path with great whale watching points!
Unfortunately I was here in may so I did not get the change to see the whales.
Shark cage diving
Shark cage diving is very popular in South Africa, a lot of people go to South Africa especially for this.
I did not do it, it is not really my thing but I heard great stories about it! For more information you can visit the following website:
http://www.walkerbayadventures.co.za/shark-cage-diving.php
3. SWELLENDAM
My most favorite place I visited during this trip was Swellendam!
We went to the hostel called Backpackers Adventure Lodge. They have a big garden with these cute garden huts (see photo above) where you can stay, you feel like your becoming one with the nature! The hospitelity from the hostel is so nice, you feel really like you are at home. The hostel has a nice fireplace where you can sit, relax and Barbecue.
Website: http://www.swellendambackpackers.co.za/
The hostel is in between mountains and you can make great hiking trails! They also have horses, I was not really into this but here it is so different and so nice. You go with the horses into the mountains, during the trip you have great views. You have to do this when you visit Swellendam!
PS Barbecue is really famous in South Africa, you can do it everywhere! And they put really massive pieces of meat on it haha!
4. KNYSNA
Knysna is a really cute place to visit, there is a hip and upcoming harbour with a couple of nice restaurants. You can also rent a boat here and spent a day on the beautiful waters, a guide will ship you around though the villa neighborhood along the water, to the water opening connection with the sea and a nice beach.
5. PLETTENBERG BAY
We drove across the Bloukrans bridge... and for a moment I really wanted to do the jump, but I couldn't do it, I was too scared! I heard a lot of good stories about the bungee jump at Bloukrans bridge.
It is the highest bungee jump in the world: 216 meters.
6. PORT ELIZABETH
When you stay in Port Elizabeth you have to visit Addo Elephant National Park. This great National park is only 75 km from Port Elizabeth, so you can do this in a 1 day trip. You can also chose to stay more close to the park, there are many accomodations around it.
The park is home to over 200 elephants. You can also sport the big 5 here: elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, and buffalo. And you can also spot other animals like zebra's, birds, deers etc.
So this is the end of my today's post, I hope you enjoyed it!
Soon I will blog about more accommodations to stay in SA and nice restaurants!
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