The Garden Route........and back to Cape Town

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  Nature's Valley, South Africa
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

(entered by Derek)

After a few great days in and around Cape Town/Stellenbosch, we decided to travel the "Garden Route" a regularly tourist travelled route along the southern end of Africa.  We unfortunately didn't leave enough time for this trip, it was about 4 hours from Stellenbosch to one of the first beach towns, and we spent almost an entired day of our 3 days in the car.  Despite the distance (and our poor planning) we had a great time.  We stayed at two great hostels, the Beach House in Wilderness, SA, and the Wild Tongue in Nature's Valley.

We arrived late at the Beach House, and after settling in we decided to walk into town (along the beautiful beach!).  Unfortunately after 10 minutes in town, the power went out.  We were introduced to this concept already several times in South Africa, as they have power issues regularly

Derek after a day of surfing

.  They perform "load balancing" which means that you don't get power for 2-3 hours a day.  We hit the power outage at the wrong time, as we had a long walk home in a strange place in the dark.  Thankfully, it is really safe along the Garden Route and we didn't have any problems.........but we could have used one of those flashlights that were stolen in Mozambique!........damn, another thing we lost.

The next day, we took a Surfing lesson from a German born, Australian lived South African named Toby.  We could barely understand a word he said, but he was a great instructor.  I'm happy to say that both Steph and I were able to get up on our first try!!!  I think we have a new addiction/sport.  Even though the weather was quite stormy, and the waves were tiny, we loved it.  We were the only ones on the waves on a beach atleast 5 KM long.  Not quite the packed waves of Santa Cruz.

We drove on to another really cool Hostel, situated deep in the woods.  The Wild Tongue was a log cabin in the woods, atop a cliff, so it gave amazing views across a valley of trees and a waterfall.  We had a fun time at the wild tongue chilling with the owner for half the evening, and drinking great South African wines.

Derek in the hostel - Daddy Long Legs

The next day we went down to Storm's River, know for its rough river and shoreline.  We did the 1st day of the Otter trail hike, which due to damage on the trail last October was the only part open.  Since we only had the day it didn't really matter to us, and left the trail nearly barren.

This was the 2nd greatest hike of our trip, with amazing views along the Indian Ocean and a very challenging terrain.  Lots of rocks and caves. 

Because we were so far from Cape Town, and we really wanted to spend another day in the amazing city, we headed back arriving close to 10pm in Cape Town.  After a "okay" meal at the African Cuisine de'jour, "Mama Africa" and some live African music, we crashed.  Our hostel/hotel is called Daddy Long Legs, and has these amazing themed rooms.  Here is a picture of me in our room called "Open".........it has hundreds of pictures of sunsets surrounding the bed!

Another day around Cape Town, a really cool winery in the city (really............a winery in the city..........yes, not 1 but 4!!) we spent the afternoon chilling on the beach.................contemplating our flights tomorrow.  Cape Town to Jo'burg, and Jo'burg to Bangkok.

Well, surprizingly, we are now finishing up on part 2 of 3.  Africa.  So much to see, we definitely have to come back in the future. 

We loved Mozambique, Cape Town, Kruger National park and our short haul to Cape Point and along the Garden Route.  But there is so much to see in Africa.  So many other places we want to go and visit.  Perhaps next time (just a vacation, next time) we will see the Northern parts of Africa.............but we have to come back to Cape Town.............perhaps a retirement?????  maybe...........it has been discussed at length!!!

Well, off now to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos!!!!  only 5 weeks left.............I can't believe it has been 9 weeks of travel already!!!

We miss you all.  TTYL.  Derek & Steph

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One of the many beaches in Cape Town.

Steph and Derek on the Otter Trail, Storms River

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