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Garden Route to the Eastern Cape

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The" Garden Route" (Tuinroete in Afrikaans) is a well-known stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa. It extends from Mossel Bay in the West to the Storms River in the East. The name comes from the verdant and ecologically diverse vegetation encountered here and the numerous lagoons and lakes dotted along the coast. The Garden Route includes towns such as Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Nature's Valley; with George, the Garden Route's largest city and main administrative center.

Along the Garden Route, near the fishing and resort town of Hermanus, just off the N2 highway, is the small community of Bot River where lies Beaumont Winery (<a href="http://www.beaumont.co.za">www.beaumont.co.za</a>) . Their wooded Chenin Blancs, Pinotages and dessert wines are of such a quality that the majority of their production is now exported. The Beaumont's' also have two lovely cottages for guests. On your journey along the Garden Route, we highly recommend you spend some time at the Beaumont Estate Winery. Raoul and Jayne Beaumont started growing grapes"http://www.beaumont.co.za">www.beaumont.co.za) and we are sure you will enjoy your stop there.

Out the Beaumont's back door beckons this idyllic scene. On our visit, we walked in late one Saturday morning, expecting to be there 30-45 minutes. Five and a half hours later, having made "new best friends," we drove out, loaded down with their fine wines. SILKBUSH friends visiting the Cape should definitely plan to stay a day or two in Hermanus and visit Beaumont Estate in the process. It's beauty is unmatched!

Whale season in Hermanus is from October to January where you can sit on shore and most days watch them jump every few minutes. This is where the Right Whale comes to breed and calf, and the bay is relatively shallow.

If you really want to get up close, there are numerous boat charters that will put you directly alongside the Right Whales. The whale hunters of many years ago named the Southern whale the "Right" whale as it floated after being harpooned, and thus easier to get aboard the whaling vessels.

A few years ago, the adrenaline junkies of the world decided it would be fun to see great white sharks up close. The most accessible place for Europeans to do this is just off the coast of South Africa. Hundreds of people fly to Cape Town daily, zip out to Gansbaai, and get aboard one of a dozen or so sharkboats like this one. The boat operators bait the sharks with bloody meat and then dunk the adventurers in the cages. So far nobody has been killed, but there have been many close encounters. (Some of the bars on the cages we saw were noticeably bent, too.)

Fishing is great fun along the Garden Route. Hermanus is a traditional fishing village both historically and now. Here, under the watchful eye of his mother-in-law Isabel Marais, our vineyard manager Anton Roos makes sure the lines are not fouled before we go to sea. Anton's in-laws have a very comfortable house on the ocean, and the Roos family visits often in the summer. Crayfish season had just opened when we joined them for an outing. The shallow bay waters were covered with crayfish, and we easily attained our limits, and then some.

Johan, our SILKBUSH GM's son, was a damn spunky five year old, as demonstrated by holding aloft these two very live crayfish (much like lobsters). The crayfish do not have large mouths but they have very strong teeth; we were told they can easily bend a coin. We all kept our fingers away!

The wind stiffening the flags in this photo is one of the keys to Raka Winery's quality wines. The vineyards and the winery are located in a narrow valley connecting the cool, foggy coast to the hotter inland grain fields. Accordingly, an onshore breeze blows almost every summer day, cooling the grapes and creating a perfect microclimate. Piet Dryer, truly a character, had owned the land for years and only started growing grapes on it fairly recently. He has retired from fishing and, with his entire family, is now into wine full time.

On your visit to Raka Winery, you may be treated to tour the inner workings of the winery. Here you can see, instead of transporting the harvested grapes by gondolas, the grapes are brought into the winery in 20 kilo lug boxes. After cooling, they are dumped individually by hand onto a conveyor belt, and the workers sort through for immature berries. The bunches are then destemmed and more workers (their backs to the camera) perform a second sort looking for any final fruit imperfections. Finally, a stream of "perfect" berries drop back into the lug boxes on their way to the crusher/fermenter.

While very labor intensive, this detailed handling of the fruit results in only ripe and rot-free fruit being crushed directly over and dropped into fermentation tanks. (The boxes of berries are being lifted by forklift to the elevated fermenters.) The fermentation tanks are fairly small, so individual blocks can be processed and kept separate, and the fermented wine gravity drained into other storage tanks while the fermenters reused. Perhaps 75% of the quality of red wine is dictated by the quality of the grapes, but this labor-intensive winemaking procedure assures that Raka Winery will get 100% of the quality of the grapes into the bottle. Due to this, you will surely enjoy the fruits of this labor in their tasting room!

Mossel Bay is a harbor town of about 60,000 people on the Garden Route of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. The older parts of the town occupy the north-facing side of the Cape St. Blaize Peninsula, while the newer suburbs straddle the Peninsula and have spread eastwards along the sandy shore of the Bay. The town's economy relied heavily on farming, fishing and its commercial harbor until the 1969 discovery of natural offshore gas fields which led to the development of the gas-to-liquids refinery operated by PetroSA. Tourism is, of course another driver of Mossel Bay's economy.

When famed Portugese explorer Bartholmeu Dias landed in Mossel Bay (Mosselbaai in Afrikaans) in 1488, it marked the first European encounter with the area's KhoiKhoi inhabitants. The Dias Museum there now contains a life size reproduction of Dias's original Caravel. The replica sailed from Lisbon in 1987 to mark the 500th anniversary of the rounding of the African continent.

The Old Post Office Tree (not pictured here) is where sailors and explorers left messages for each other in the trunk of the tree. Sailors returning to Europe could carry letters indicating others had made it that far safely on their outbound legs. Mossel Bay is the only north-facing beach in South Africa.

The Cape Saint Blaize Cave is a short hike up from The Point's rocky promontories. It is a major archaeological site for relics from the KhoiSan people who inhabited the natural shelter continuously for at least 80,000 years. The Cape St. Blaize Cave is situated directly under the is the site of the Cape St. Blaize Lighthouse, one of South Africa’s oldest archaeological excavations. It was first excavated in 1888 by George Leith, then by T. Rupert Jones in 1899, and by A.J.H (John) Goodwin in the 1920s. Goodwin is said to have described the Middle Stone Age Mossel Bay Industry from his findings at Cape St. Blaize . The Cave has revealed deposits dating from about 200,000 years ago to the pre-colonial period, during which time middens were laid down by herders of the San or Khoekhoen people.

Looking down upon these rocks, one could imagine what cost hundreds of ships over the years, lost in the fog or forced shoreward from storms. Now Mossel Bay is acknowledged as the western end of the famed Garden Route, a holiday playground for South Africans and international visitors, and stretching eastward to Storms River.

Looking out over the ocean, we recalled that Great White Shark diving is a local attraction for other visitors. They offer a "money back guarantee" that you will be face to face with these guys in the cage; and 87% of the time, thrill seekers do not get a refund!

In the literature, the "Garden Route" on the N-2 highway extends from about Mossel Bay in the west to Tsitsikama National Park in the east; in our opinion, it really starts at Wilderness and heads east. There is not much flat land between the ocean and the steep hills at Wilderness, so much of the lodging there is built on the slopes; it is farther to the beach but has great views.

On your stay along the Garden Route, we recommend a guest house called Forget Me Not. The exquisite B&B served a tasty and attractive breakfast. The property is owned by Hettie Lombaard, the sister of Fanie Griessel, a neighbor of ours at Silkbush; the beautiful construction reminded us of Fanie's "treehouse" but was even nicer.

You will surely enjoy staying a night or two here. Forget Me Not contact details: Hettie Lombaard, (<a href="http://www.forgetmenotgh.co.za/ ">www.forgetmenotgh.co.za/ </a>) .

The exterior was done in perfect taste and we hated to pack up and leave. The Forget Me Not Guest House is in the Cultural Heartland of Mpumalanga. They are proudly South African and believe in the beauty of the country and people! They are an hour and 15 minutes drive from JHB, OR Thambo International Airport and Pretoria and are the perfect half-way stop on your way to Mpumalanga’s major game reserves, lodges and the Kruger National park. Forget Me Not Guest House is located in the new, central part of Witbank/Emalahleni - close to the CBD as well as entertainment venues like The Ridge Casino and cinemas. Forget Me Not specializes in being your home away from home!

The beautiful town of Knysna, near the George airport, is situated within 157,000 ha of the Garden Route National Park. It is nestled between the shores of the pristine Knysna estuary, Indian Ocean and thousands of ha of beautiful indigenous forest, home to a myriad of wildlife as well as the famed Cape fynbos. It is also a prominent golfing destination as well as a haven for oyster lovers. Also, Knysna has far and away "the" open air market to shop along the Garden Route. While we suspect the vendors are supporting many mouths with their retail efforts, we were impressed with the lack of pressure to make the sales.

The best and largest African art market on the Garden Route sits along side the main road leading into Knysna. In addition to local wood carvings, the range of art includes that of many countries to the north. This is definitely the place to shop, especially if you are in the market for higher quality art at reasonable prices.

For those who want more color than usual, you have come to the right place. Knysna explodes with personality in its folkart.

Now these babies are not going on the flight back to the States with you. But the potential exists to furnish a new house in South Africa with real ethnic efforts.

The opening to the Indian Ocean from Knysna Harbor is narrow and treacherous. Many boats have foundered here over the centuries, especially in bad weather. But the fishing evidently is good on the changing tides, as the food chain is carried in and out.

Knysna is west of Plettenburg Bay and is a larger town, (more "touristy)" and has a significant wood working/furniture industry. Visitors can explore its natural beauty through its many mountain biking and hiking trails, as well as by taking whale watching and boating charters. Accommodation in this seductive town varies from township living, houseboats, tree-top cabins to five-star luxury hotels. Also, for the past five years, Knysna has played host to the ever popular Knysna Speed Festival and recently hosted the International bi-ennial MG Indaba 2014. These events together with the abundant beautiful country roads have attracted many car enthusiasts to the town. Knysna is now fast becoming an International classic car destination.

Plettenburg Bay, sometimes called "Plet", is the top resort area on the Garden Route, about a days drive east of Cape Town. The town is a popular summer holiday destination for South Africans. It is well served by restaurants and boutique shops, plus a few nightclubs and bars. Local potters sell their wares along the main roads leading to the town. A few art galleries can be found in the town center. Also, Hog Hollow is only 18 Km farther east. Plet has four beaches: Keurboomstrand, Lookout, Central and Robberg. Lookout has a point break which is popular with surfers who can be observed from the rocks or the deck above the beach. The beach was washed away by the river flood of 2007, but nature has restored it back into use. Central Beach has a couple of marine tourist operations who operate dolphin, seal and whale watching tours.

The Plettenberg offers a variety of facilities to enhance your stay, including two refreshing pools, a pampering spa and an elegant boutique. (<a href="https://www.theplettenberghotel.com/ ">https://www.theplettenberghotel.com/ </a>) .

There are many nice places to stay and eat, but we recommend this oddly named lodge. (Their motif is actually a wild boar!) Between Plet and two hours west of PE, this is a nice place to spend a few days and tour locally. Their website is <a href="http://www.hog-hollow.com" target="_blank">www.hog-hollow.com</a>. The views were stunning from the two-story units, each with its own fireplace and porch. But if anyone in your party is wheel chair bound, this would not be the place and plan on about $200/per person/night.

The Tsitsikamma National Park is an 80 kilometer stretch of untouched coastline, and the "Garden" of the Garden Route. Carved out of the parklands is this idyllic beach and cottage area, known generically as De Vasselot, Clinton's Bank, and Klipriviermond. The Tsitsikamma National Park is a protected area and well-known coastal reserve for its indigenous forests & dramatic coastline. Nature's Valley is at the western end of the park, and the main accommodation is at Storms River Mouth. Near the park is the Bloukrans Bridge, the world's highest bungee jump at 216 metres (709 ft). The word "Tsitsikamma" hails from the Khoekhoe language tse-tsesa, meaning "clear", and gami, meaning "water", probably referring to the clear water of the Tsitsikamma River.

The area is much like the California coastline, and there are many places to visit, including Tsitsikama National Park, and its famous Suspension Bridge. The Suspension Bridge and Lookout Trail is an easy stroll that leads along the western side of the river mouth, past the Strandloper Cave to the suspension bridge across the mouth. On the other side of the bridge there is a short but very steep climb to a lookout point from which there are fine views of the mouth and the camp.

Explore the gorge formed by the Blaukrans River (Black Water) and the Kliprivier. This quiet pool was beside some very pretty camping areas. One popular adventure, Tsitsikamma Black Water Tubing, also called “Storms River Tubing” takes you on a unique tubing, swimming, & bouldering adventure through the world renowned Tsitsikamma National Park on the Garden Route in South Africa. Black Water tubing trips are run all year round and the experience varies from a white water action-packed roller coaster ride to a chilled day out in mother nature.

Completed in 1983 and at 216 meters, Blaukrans is the highest road bridge in Southern Hemisphere and the third highest bridge in the world. It is also the largest single span concrete arch bridge in the world! Everyone who drives the N-2 highway from Mossel Bay to Port Elizabeth (the "Garden Route") crosses this magnificent structure. On the Eastern side, there is a Bridge Building Museum and outlook point. If you like, there is a catwalk attached to the underside of the bridge (on the seaward side) leading to the top of the arch, the location of a remarkable commercial enterprise: bungy jumping.

But the bungee jumping is the real reason the Blaukrans has an international reputation and a line of jumpers (at $75/per) lined up to see what sort of adrenaline rush they can generate. Bungy jumping came to Africa in 1989 and the Blaukrans jump commenced in December 1989. (Once you have stopped bouncing, they lower a chap with another cable, turn you head up, and winch you back to the jump position. Sounds like great fun, eh?)

The Eastern Cape Waterfall is a must see. The pretty stream and waterfall were close to Morgan Bay and it appeared as if it had been used as a quarry in earlier years. A bird’s-eye view of Waterfall Bluff south of the Mkambathi Nature Reserve along the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape would reveal one of Africa’s greatest coastal rock formations.

You will enjoy many different trees along your travels in the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Cape, as a South African Province, came into being in 1994 and incorporated areas from the former Xhosa homelands of the Transkei and Ciskei, together with what was previously part of the Cape Province. This resulted in several anomalies including the fact that the Province has four supreme courts (in Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Bhisho and Mthatha) and enclaves of KwaZula-Natal in the province. The latter anomaly has fallen away with amendments to municipal and provincial boundaries.

Morgan Bay is a seaside village which has a mile-long beach, safe swimming lagoon and picturesque sea cliffs. Activities in the area include horseback riding, golf, game drives, hiking trails and fishing. Pictured here is a very unusual and impressive tree in Morgan Bay. At the base, it looked like the legs of an elephant.

South Africa is certainly a bio-diverse wonderland, always full of surprises. This tree looked like a cactus at the top!

The tribal Xhosa people of the Eastern Cape appear to live in substantially better houses than those who have relocated to the shanty towns that are on the outskirts of almost every city of any size in South Africa. That said, the economies of the rural areas are generally little more than subsistence farming, and most of the land is held in common by the local tribes. Historically, the northeastern boundary of the Eastern Cape, the Transkei (or the land beyond the Kei River) was established as a separate country (a Homeland) in 1959, but was later incorporated into South Africa and the Eastern Cape province in April 1994.

The land of the Kei River is owned in common by the native tribes but evidently individuals can obtain permission to develop their own gardens.

All the roads in this area are gravel and essentially without signage. There are very few telephone and electricity lines, and cows roam the unfenced lands. The owners of these tribal houses had the same superior views of the Indian Ocean as did a few small commercial lodges built lower and closer to the water.

Just over the back of the cow is the Great Kei River and extensive vacation and retirement housing built on the south side of the river. The north side is tribal land, with little development, very rutted roads, but lots of grazing cattle.

If you are at the Morgan Bay resort area and want to cross the Kei River, you must either drive back to the main highway, then a good distance north, and then via terrible roads to the coast, OR cross the river by ferry. As the sign indicates, the ferry runs during daylight hours and the cost for a passenger vehicle is R50, or about $7 (Each way.)

You may swallow once or twice before deciding to board this rudimentary vessel. We doubt they had any liability insurance, and there were no life boats or preservers if it went down or the outboard motor failed. But the Kei River Ferry reportedly has been running successfully for years, so we drove our rental car on and hoped for the best.

The sign tells it all as any newcomer undoubtedly spent an anxious hour or two on the unmarked gravel roads, wondering if they had made a wrong turn or if they would get there at all. However, many hardy vacationers love being in this remote and underdeveloped area, and return year after year.

This fearsome guy wasn't in any game park but slowly crossing the road near a number of native houses. We learned nothing about him but we presume the local mothers are quite familiar with him and his species. (Most African lizards we understand are poisonous are a risk to small children and pets.)

Morgan Bay is but a few kilometers up the coast from East London, but the area is called the "Wild Coast" for reason. Thus it is surprising to find this sole gas pump directly across the street from the Morgan Bay Hotel, See (<a href="http://www.morganbay.co.za ">www.morganbay.co.za </a>) . The Wild Coast is the traditional home of the Xhosa people, and the birthplace of many prominent South Africans, including Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. The Wild Coast stretches from the Great Kei River to the Mtamvuna River and was part of the former homeland of the Transkei during the Apartheid era.

The Morgan Bay Hotel is an old fashion, family oriented, sea-side hotel on the Wild Coast; our Silkbush Vineyard managers, Anton and Franci Roos, stay here and really enjoy it. It used to be very remote, with a terrible road leading there from the main highway, but a new road was completed in late 2006, which is as nice and fast as anything one can imagine.

The Morgan Bay Hotel is the large white building with a flat roof in the middle of the other white buildings on the beach. The placid blue water below is the Kei River Mouth. The hotel is nestled on a mile of beach and cliffs.

The idyllic beach was very big and contained a large number of shells as well as vacationers. However, the tides at Morgan Bay are very impressive, strong and high, and when they are flooding, you definitely do not want to be anywhere on the beach.

The Morgan Bay Hotel has collected the best examples of many types of crustaceans and enclosed their collection under glass. This is just one more reason the hotel is popular with young families.

Here is Morgan Bay at night. The small light to the left is from the lighthouse on the point to the north.

What you can't tell from the photo the tidal waves were breaking below with a very loud roar, a strong warm wind was blowing, and it was altogether stunningly romantic.

We suggest you stock up on really good red wines, such as our Silkbush Pinotage, before visiting remote places such as Morgan Bay, as the choices there are usually limited. You will enjoy the wine along with the beautiful views each night.

Cosmos Cuisine (a local flower) is an exceptional guest house located a few miles west of the Addo Elephant Park. (<a href="http://www.cosmoscuisine.co.za ">www.cosmoscuisine.co.za </a>) . It had been a small strip retail center in a prior incarnation, but you could never tell. Safe behind a high security wall, with very large and well appointed rooms, it is a stunning guesthouse and restaurant. The evening meals were absolutely first class; they will also take you to the Addo Elephant National Park for a game drive and feed you there as well.

Cosmos Cuisine and the Addo Elephant Park are about an hour from Port Elizabeth (PE) airport. Addo Elephant National Park is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated close to Port Elizabeth in South Africa and is one of the country's 19 national parks. It currently ranks third in size after Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Hapoor was the leader of the Addo Elephant herd for 24 years, from 1944 to 1968, during which time the herd increased from about 20 to over 50. Hapoor sired most of the increase. However, in May 1959, a young bull named Bellevue tried to dispose Hapoor. Hapoor emerged unscathed but Bellevue was killed. In 1966, an old elephant cow called Ouma (grandma) had developed an abscess and the park rangers darted her to give medical attention. When another elephant cow and Hapoor could not keep her on her feet, Ouma collapsed. Hapoor then killed her with four tusk stabs directed at the brain. A tough old guy, eh!

Hapoor had received his name from the "hap" (or nick) to the left ear, believed to have been caused by a hunter's rifle. Accordingly, the bull retained a deep seated hatred of man throughout his colorful life, often running park workers up windmills or out the gates. Finally, in 1968 a strong young bull called Lanky bested Hapoor and drove him out of the herd. Upset and despondent (we assume) he climbed over the Armstrong fence which had held all the elephants secure in the park for over 10 years. Knowing no fence could hold him, as well as his aggressive nature, park authorities had no alternative but to shoot him, in his 44th year.

Perhaps one of Hapoor's offspring? More than 600 elephants, 400 Cape buffalo, over 48 endangered black rhino as well as a variety of antelope species live at the park. Lion and spotted hyena has also recently been re-introduced to the area. The largest remaining population of the flightless dung beetle (Circellium bacchus) is located within the park too.

To say the least, the elephants are very impressive, especially when parked beside them on a dirt road in a rental vehicle.
Addo National Elephant Park receives about 120,000 visitors annually.

There is a main camp, featuring a swimming pool, restaurant, flood lit water hole and various accommodations, four other rest camps and four camps run by concessionaires. The main entrance as well as two looped tourist roads in the park are tarred while the others are graveled. There is an additional access road through the southern block of the park feeding off the N2 highway near Colchester; it joins up with the existing tourist roads in the park. Addo is well worth a visit.

It is always sweet to see how carefully the family protects its young. Even prides of lions do not mess around with elephant herds. (If attacked, the elephant herds do not scatter and abandon the young like buffaloes and wildebeests do.)

Reportedly they like to get dirty to keep bugs and other parasites out of the wrinkles in their hides. However, they often immerse in rivers and lakes when they get the chance, too.

Nothing like a little dirt shower in the midday sun, eh!

Here's another view of the dirt shower!

Whether they are grazing or drinking, the warthogs always kneel down, like religious supplicants.

It doesn't appear these two warthogs are very happy with each other.

The Shrike is a common South African bird. The species is closely related to two other bush-shrikes, the Yellow-crowned Gonolek and the Black-headed Gonolek of East Africa. The shrike is extremely nimble and restless, its penetrating whistles often being the first sign of its presence, although it is not a shy species.

The Hartebeest is an African species of grassland Antelope. Adults stand just over 1 m (3.3 ft) at the shoulder. Both sexes have horns, with the shape varying greatly between subspecies. Hartebeest live between 11 and 20 years in the wild, and up to 19 in captivity. Hartebeest are social animals that form herds of 20 to 300 individuals. Generally calm in nature, hartebeest can be ferocious when provoked. The hartebeest inhabits savannas, woodlands, and open plains. Addo boasts many hartebeest to view on your safari.

The Greater Kudu is a woodland Antelope found throughout Eastern and Southern Africa and of course in Addo. Despite occupying such widespread territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas, due to a declining habitat, deforestation, and poaching. The Greater Kudu is one of two species commonly known as Kudu, the other being the Lesser Kudu. You can always tell the Kudu from the thin vertical strips and the curved horns. It is a beautiful animal that is hunted for meat as well as trophies.

Quite a large turtle, eh!

Here is a photo of an osterich pair together at Addo. They usually are are either head up or head down, and seldom close together. Most other ostriches we have seen in the Cape also have very dark, if not black, feathers. Their meat is very lean and tasty, and their hard, large eggs make great decorations that sell for high prices.

The Eastern Cape's capital is Bhisho, and its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province. Landing place and home of the 1820 settlers, the central and eastern part of the province is the traditional home of the Xhosa people. This region is the birthplace of many prominent South African politicians, such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, Chris Hani, Thabo Mbeki, Steve Biko and Charles Coghlan.

You will surely enjoy your travels across the Garden Route- there are many adventures just waiting for our Silkbush friends!

SOUTH AFRICA VINEYARD OFFICE: PO Box 91, Breerivier 685, Western Cape, RSA
Tel: (27) 083-629-1735 or email: [email protected]
Kingsbury Cottage Guest House Rental Information: Tel: (27) 083-629-1710 or email: [email protected]
USA OFFICE: Public Relations, Social Media & Marketing: Lisa O’Connor Email: [email protected]