Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's down From Cape Town and Down The Beautiful Garden Route we go..Lots to See!!

Well before leaving for South Africa I had read and heard that 'The Garden Route' or as said in Afrikaans 'Tuinroete' was a must see route to see more of this beautiful country by taking in the sights on the southeast coast....so after saving some pennies aka South African Rand ;-) I was able to spend time taking in some of the beautiful places whilst covering over 500km.

Coins can be found in many denominations as above 5 Rand coin, 2 Rand and 1 Rand coins, 100cents make 1 Rand. At present there is approximately 13 Rand to the UK pound. 

So with a few rand in my pocket, we started off by heading down the world famous whale route in Gordons Bay but the whale season is in the UK autumn time but the shark warnings were still flying flags across the bay...decided best not to dip a toe in so early in the trip!!!

Was a very pretty place taking in the views over the R44 mountain pass and was nice to meet a few friends along the way...Charlie and Gemma from the UK and Dylan from the USA who i'd spent time with in Cape Town.

 The baboons strolling across the roads all along the route...no rush!

I hadn't managed to squeeze in Simons Town whilst in Cape Town so Martin took us to Bettys Bay where I could see the African Penguins in their natural environment. There are little walkways that enable sightings along the coast without disturbing them and only cost 10 Rand- less than a pound!

 Was lovely to see happy feet collecting pebbles, they are such small penguins but so sweet how they find their mate for life by carefully selecting a pebble as an offering.

After embracing the penguins we were able to move down the R44 to the coastal town of Hermanus.  This place is famous for whale watching especially in high season, but because the weathers a little out of sinc this year, we think we were in luck and saw a whale blowing water whilst having lunch! I would definitely come back here to see them enter the coves.

 Well being by the sea, we thought it was only right to enjoy a little fish and chips South African Style! Yep, i'm armed with a frying pan...

 Gemma struck gold by making us have pudding...a chocolate volcano made to order...incredible! Dawn you would have been in heaven:-) Spongy on the outside and the chocolate lava poured on the inside yummy:-)

After filling our tummy's we were a little dehydrated so headed to Birkenhead Brewery, so see and taste a selection of South Africa's finest beers.  Now those of you who know me well, know i'm not a beer drinker but the honey blonde beer and the stout with a chocolate twist were lovely! 

Line them up...CHEERS!!!

 The Black Snake..we were ready to take on the feared beer haha.

 It's unbelievable how many different kinds of beer Birkenhead create and offer and the bar staff were never away from the beer taps!

One of the next ports of call was... The Southern Most Tip of Africa!!! Also known as Cape Agulhas.

 We dipped our toes in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans which were surprisingly warm on a windy afternoon.

Made it to the tip of Africa!!!! :-)

Loved this huge painting on the Backpackers wall we stayed at there showing the route so far from Gordons Bay to Cape Agulhas.

 Friendly place, beach bar theme by the pool and was a good social area with people playing pool, cards and coking Braai aka BBQ! This the South Africans could definitely give the Australians a run for their money!!

 

Just chillin' before the BBQ master martin impressed us with his cooking skills and introduced us to Mrs Balls Chutney! Those of you who have had it will appreciate this comment and those that haven't you're missing out...go hunt it down in the UK!

The next morning we were up bright and early with the birds...yes the Blue Crane- the South African national Birds.  These were jumping as they were babies learning to fly lol!

Passed more beautiful scenery as we made our journey north into the Langeberg Mountains which would lead us to the semi-desert environment of the Little Karoo...

 and the girls were filling their bottles under a waterfall...DrupKelder,

 Gemma was taking in the views ....

 ...and me too although whilst walking some parts were very high and that's close enough to the edge for me haha!

We called by Ronnies 'sex' shop...a famous pub that got its name when Ronnie and his friend got drunk and tweaked the name to show that sex sells. Good place with lots of messages from travellers passing through, monies and items of clothing. 

 

The infamous Route 62 stretch led us to the Warmwaterberg Spa natural thermal springs. Was bliss with 3 areas...needless to say the springs reach 40 degrees at their hottest so that's the main spring we took over!:-)

 After lazing in the springs we had lunch and I tried babotie...popular South African dish...YUM! Rice, pumpkin, Spicy mince with a layer of egg and a few banana pieces (yes i pulled the same face when i was told about it but randomly it works!!!)

Later in the afternoon we arrived at the capital of the Little Karoo called Oudtshoorn which is situated between the Outeniqua and the Swartberg mountains...

Oudtshoorn is known as the Ostrich capital of the world and houses an endangered wildlife sanctuary...

 lots of kudu...

 Vultures...

 seals...

 ...I made a new friend who was taking a stroll too!

...and as for these beautiful animals....wow.

 Shes looking at me!

Wouldn't fancy being around near lunch time with those teeth!

 The lioness came to see what was going on...

 The man of the house just watched on...taking in what was going on around him...beautiful.  

 The ranch has the Bengal Tigers as part of an educational programme to raise awareness of wildlife issues, diversity and to reduce the rates of extinction.

But this little 5 month old fella stole my heart...me meeting the tiger cub with a steady approach

He had such big paws for a baby...made me wonder what it will be like when working with the lion cubs in Zambia eek.

None of us could resist getting so close and the donation contribution goes back into the ranch to support the educational programmes.

We saw this tiny cheeky monkey watching us pass by, hes about the size/length of  your forearm...tiny!

Some great artwork in the street!!!

After being at one with the animals here, we headed into town for the music and arts festival. There was art work drawn over the streets and a great atmosphere, so with our dancing shoes on we were in for a great night.

 

Was funny watching people try to cross the river that ran between both sides of the festival. The festival led to a great night in the town with the music going on til early hours. A great crowd of us from the backpackers went out and danced the night away. Will post pictures at a later date.

The Cango Caves....one of the natural wonders of the world was well worth the visit the next day...

 The stallactites and stallacmites support its reputation for being a natural wonder of the world and is a natural heritage site with limestone carvings created by nature over 20 milllion years!!!

After viewing the cave formations we did a spot of caving and below is the Devils Chimney sign which was a scary space to navigate!!!

 Gemma and Charlie moving through one of the cave spaces to get us deeper inside...

Now you see us...now you don't!!! Twist, shimmy, pull...just get up that chimney any way possible!!!!

 

Me and the girls taking a well deserved rest!!!! .... Before braving the Letterbox!!!

 ....small space to squeeze through then slide head first out of the other side...who's bright idea was this?! Great fun though:-)

After fun and games in the caves, we called by an Ostrich Farm.  They don't have knees as we know it, what look like their knees are really their heel bones...freaky creatures lol.  But Ostrich meat is beautiful, we had skewers that night so we could sample it and its very healthy. 

 Martin leading the way showing that they don't bite!

 Oh yeah...more baboons crossing the road!!!

Well Gemma and Charlie were feeling brave today and decided to take a leap off the Boulkrans Bridge Bungee Jump.

My heart rate went up just watching the girls get near the edge...go Dominique!!!

 So me and Marrit with no time for contemplation needed, made an executive decision about the jump....

Travelling over the previous days was hardwork and from time to time a little rest was needed...;-)

 Well it's off to the Sundays River Valley to sit among the citrus groves, pick fresh fruit and watch the world go by...

The cabins were lovely with balconies over-looking the river, a beautiful place to spend the night.

 

Me and Charlie chillin' by the water, so much to explore and we discovered a lush pool! 

 we wandered through the citrus groves...

 I found a lovely future home...i wish!!!! 

 ....and time for a little leisurely canoe! :-)

.... think the citrus went to our heads...not sure why we are doing tiger poses here!:-) But we were all early to bed ready for the 4.30am wake up for safari. 

 Was beautiful to wake up and see the sunrise on a game drive in ADDO National Park but a little chilly so early in the morning!!!

The antelope were up and wrestling...

 The Zebras were out looking after their young...

 ...even Pumba the Warthog made an appearance or two for us and yes that did start a Lion King singsong...in the jungle, the mighty jungle....sing along!

Some beautiful scenery on the drive...

 Me and Dominque looking sexy in our Fleece Poncho's to keep us warm pre-sunrise:-)

The space at Addo is so vast and covers 444 700 acres in the Eastern Cape, it's as far as the eye can see!!!!!! 

 ...and after looking hard for Rhino...we stumbled across this heard of Elephants. Again incredible to see them in their natural environment roaming free. 

 Pumba was a little upset when his friend said we were leaving at the end of the day! 

*Check out other blog safari post for pictures of the BIG 5! Incredible experience that will have to be repeated:-)

Then whatever could the next day bring....beautiful beaches at Jeffreys Bay in Afrikaans is JeffreysBaai and is often referred to as JBay! 

 Home of the Billabong Pro-Surfing Competitions.

 This beach was just another beauty hotspot and reason to love South Africa!!!!

 Me and the girls chillin' on the beach enjoying the sunshine before sunset, good times. 

 Think we were a little excited in JBay...maybe the sun went to our heads as we jumped for joy!!!:-) 

After a great day...we had a great night in our bar at the Island Vibe backpackers, the place to be.  The place gets so busy at night with the locals and travellers rocking up.

Was time to re-hydrate!!!

 The guys were from the UK and have been volunteering for 8months so far in a young offenders camp so were excited to see another Brit and share their stories. 

Gem and Martin busting some moves...

Before we took to riding the waves home for the night in the early hours!

Then come the morning, backpacks on and ready to move on down the garden route, but i'll definitely return here:-)

 The Island Vibe Mantra outside...couldn't have said it better myself ;-)

 ...so we hit the open road...and headed to Tsitsikamma for an adventure or 2!

 Ziplining over the waterfalls and through the trees was incredible...over 40m high - which isn't bad for a girl scared of heights and I loved every minute of it!!!

 First zipline landed in one piece...yey!!!!!

 Great fun, over a 3 tiered waterfall we fly and landed with a smile...incredible views!!!:-)

An incredible morning, not a bad way to start a day in Africa is it! Love every minute of it...might have to pop by to do it all again!!

So after the morning workout and flying through the treetops, we stopped by to see the largest Yellowood tree in the garden Route.

It's huge and the locals call it the Avatar tree... 

Then back over the bridge making our way towards Knysna which is where I volunteer in the township stopping at an Elephant Sanctuary on the way. 

We learnt about their anatomy...did you know that an elephants trunk can grow upto 2.5m and takes approx 6 months for them to learn how to use it!!!!

The elephant sanctuary was set up to rescue 8 elephants and once these leave in another 10 years then it may be used for any other animals in need. 

The keepers work with the elephants daily to learn their behaviour patterns and to understand their needs.

 The keeper i met worked with the elephant called Thandi = meaning love ahh! 

A great afternoon with these animals who as you can probably tell i'm very drawn too. The african elephants are bigger than the asian elephants and live upto about 90years old!

Oh what another amazing day!!!!! xxxx

So where to next next...the beautiful town that is Knysna :-)

 With its lovely waterfront, visits from humpback whales May-Sept, cool winter temperatures averaging 19 degrees (yep you can feel the chill can't you!!!) and stunning lagoon. This is the place that I will be calling home when volunteering in the township. Although down the hill is slight contrast from the township above. 

 Thesen Island overlooks the lagoon and is visited by foot or appreciated from the water.

...and when you get to the view point to look out to the lagoon and the Knysna heads...wow! Its like a secret paradise

I think its fair to say another jewel it the crown and i'll be lucky to call it home:)

 and as the lagoon spills into the sea giving a great view of the Knysna Heads, i'm still a very happy lady ...

When after an incredible road trip with great company, it's official ...

We love South Africa!!!