South Africa’s garden route.

One of the must see experiences on a Southern Africa trip is to spend time exploring the Garden route, independently or on an escorted small group tour of the Garden Route along this rugged coastline.

The Garden Route stretches 300 kilometres from Heidelberg (3 hours east from Cape Town and the magnificent Table Mountain) around the cape to Humansdorp on the east coast on the Indian Ocean side of South Africa. Joining a small group tour along the garden route often as part of a South Africa tour is a great experience. Though the official Garden Route starts in Mossel Bay in the west, and ends at Storms River in the east.

The principal town on this very scenic garden route is George, and the many popular destinations include Hermanus as a stop for coffee or lunch, the wilderness area and its chain of lakes, driving through the Karoo, Oudtshoorn, the remarkable Cango Caves complex, the pristine coastline, Knysna (with its calm 17 kilometre-long lagoon and surrounding forests) and the beaches of Plettenberg Bay. A garden route tour will offer travellers diverse and interesting tourist sights along the way, such as the Tsitsikamma National Park part of the Tsitsikamma forest region, depending on the time available.

There are two roads through this magnificent country for a group tour to explore the region on, though often time and weather will influence the trip choice. The main highway is the N2, while the alternative is Route 62. The tour leader on an escorted tour will probably choose Route 62 depending on time and weather. Route 62 meanders through the Klein Karoo or Little Karoo on the way between Cape Town and Oudtshoorn this is considered the scenic garden route. Travellers on an escorted tour pass through landscapes with panoramic views across the cape winelands district and fruit growing areas, see the towering cliffs along the rugged coastline, beautiful streams, indigenous forests and abundant indigenous flora and fauna.

Along the highway and before the divergence, travellers on a garden route tour can see rich farmlands and the ubiquitous and now disliked eucalypts brought from Australia for timber and shelter; the thirsty trees are still draining creeks and rivers. Along this route travellers can see blue cranes, the national bird of South Africa, and the Forest Buzzard, if lucky. The escorted tour of a Garden Route tour leaves the rich farmland and passes through the Karoo National Park which is a wildlife reserve of semi-desert area covering 750 square kilometres. South African wildlife are often seen on the tour. Bushbuck and Blue Duikers are common in the forested areas, and Common Eland can be seen on the slopes up from the road. Baboons and Vervet Monkeys are found throughout the region and travellers are advised to keep windows closed if Baboons are on the road. A special treat is to sight Klipspringer on the cliffs by the road. These small antelope leap up the cliffs on pointed hooves so that they look as though they are tip-toeing amongst the sharp rocks.

The Outeniqua Mountain range sits between the towns of Oudtshoorn to the north and George to the south. They run parallel to the coast from Mossel Bay in the west to the Keurbooms River valley in the east. The mountains made it difficult for European settlers to travel inland from the coast until the very steep Cradock Pass was opened in 1810. The name Outeniqua means “those who bear honey” and is possibly the name of the Khoisan people who once lived in these mountains. Plenty of South African wildlife can be found in these mountains such as Antelopes including Klipspringers, leopards and many birds.

Oudtshoorn

Oudtshoorn is the centre of the once-thriving and still very active ostrich-farming industry and the town still hosts regular feather auctions. The Ostrich farm started in South Africa in the early 1860’s and ostriches were farmed for their feathers only. In that time 1 kg of ostrich feathers was worth more than 1 kg of gold. The feathers decorated the hats and boas of wealthy British and European women. The farmers became known as ‘the ostrich barons’ because of the incredible wealth the Ostrich farm had the ability to generate. The demand for feathers declined dramatically when the popularity of the motor car ended the fashion for large hats. The farmers had been making so much money from the feathers that using the meat and leather was not even thought of. A modern ostrich farm utilises all parts of the ostrich– the meat, the beautiful soft leather and the eggs.

The Cango Caves

In a limestone ridge beside the Swartberg Mountains lies the spectacular underground wonder of the fabulous dripstone Cango Caves, with their vast halls and towering formations. Visitors explore these wonderful caves with a guide and learn about their formation. The caves are 29kms from Oudtshoorn.

Knysna

In 2019, Knysna’s population was 85,708. The city lies 34°south of the equator and is 55kms from the town of George and 33kms west of Plettenberg Bay. In June 2017, the Knysna bushfire was declared the worst wildfire disaster in South African history. Seven people died and hundreds of homes and hectares of bushland close to the town were lost.

A fun thing to do in Knysna is the well-known Featherbed Boat Cruise and lunch on the Knysna lagoon. Featherbed is a privately-owned, registered Nature Reserve and a South African Heritage Site. It is a pristine piece of paradise situated on the Western Head of Knysna and is accessible only by ferry across the Knysna lagoon. As the paddle steamer putters around the 17km long Knysna lagoon, and travels out to the Knysna Heads, travellers can see stunning scenery, the local Milkwood trees and the beautiful green, but elusive Knysna Loerie.

Plettenberg Bay

Plettenberg Bay is a seaside town on the Garden Route in the Western Cape Province. There are two particularly beautiful beaches, Central Beach and Lookout Beach both have good surf breaks. The Bay is popular for whale watching and dolphin sighting. The Robberg Nature Reserve is a rocky peninsula with hiking trails and the Stone Age Nelson Bay Caves. This is a place of rugged coastline and spectacular scenery. There are great restaurants, wildlife parks and a range of game reserve in this area, which is a popular holiday destination for people from Pretoria and Johannesburg regions.

Birds of Eden and Monkey Land Tours

Birds of Eden is a free-flight sanctuary. The two hectare dome (the world’s largest) spans over a gorge of indigenous forest. It is home to over 3500 birds from over 220 species with the main focus being African birds. This is an award-winning bird sanctuary which provides a home where previously caged and/or injured birds can live in free flight and roam free in a habitat as large and as natural as possible. This is a beautiful and stimulating place to visit.

Monkeyland opened to the public in April 1998. This unique primate sanctuary is currently the top eco-tourism attraction on the Garden Route and for very sound and sunny reasons. Monkeyland has captured the hearts of visitors in its efforts to rehabilitate and free previously caged primates. The sanctuary is exceptional as it caters for several species of primates who are not caged. They are free to move about the forest and this they do most harmoniously. A tour of this sanctuary is a pleasant sojourn to walk through forest and hear and see primates free to wander.

Storms River Bridge

After Plettenberg Bay and on the N2, travellers cross Storms River via the Paul Sauer Bridge or Storms River Bridge. This is a deck arch bridge and is a most impressive sight on the road towards Port Elizabeth.

Port Elizabeth

East of Plettenberg Bay and in the Eastern Cape, on the Indian Ocean is the city of Port Elizabeth, renamed Gqeberha in 2021. It lies on Algoa Bay on the Indian Ocean, and its deep water harbour is enclosed by a breakwater. Port Elizabeth was established in 1820 as a British settlement around Fort Frederick (1799; the oldest British building in southern Africa ) and was incorporated as a town in 1861.

Port Elizabeth is now a city and is also known for its oceanarium, many museums and cricket grounds. The Nelson Mandela University (until 2017 the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University), founded in 2005 through the merger of the University of Port Elizabeth with PE Technikon and the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University, is located there. This is a popular tourist destination for the fine beaches and excellent surfing, and the Addo Elephant National Park which was proclaimed in 1931 to protect the remaining 11 addo elephants. Excellent communications, cheap power, and water combine to create one of the country’s busiest manufacturing centres, which is largely dominated by the automotive industry. The city’s port at times handles imports for Zambia and Zimbabwe and exports manganese ore, wool, petroleum products, and fruit.

The trip around the cape, on an escorted small group tour of the Garden Route or as an independent traveller, is definitely worth adding to a Cape Town stay or a tour of South Africa. On Odyssey Traveller’s Southern Africa Tour, we travel from Cape Town to Oudtshoorn for an ostrich farm and the Cango Caves, then spend two days in Knysna, with the Featherbed Nature Reserve and a day at Birds of Eden and Monkeyland, before flying north to Johannesburg. Our guide to the 19-day route follows the whole journey.