Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Garden Route – The Road to Cape Town

“It’s one of the most beautiful and scenic stretches of highway in the world” we were told.  The 740 kilometers from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town on the N2 highway, was a “must do”.  We mapped our route and decided to spend a week or so to take it all in.

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Named for the verdant and ecologically diverse vegetation and the numerous lagoons and lakes; we wanted to see if the Garden Route along South Africa’s south western coast lived up to the hype.  We are usually skeptical with any region that is heavily promoted as a tourist destination.  Sometimes it is much ado about nothing except relieving gullible visitors of their money.  (Ever been to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, CA?)  Anyway, the Garden Route was highly recommended by our new South African friends that we had previously met in a little town in, of all the places, the Peruvian Andes Mountains. 

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We trusted them and altered our itinerary so that we could include many of the towns along the Garden Route.  Diverse is an understatement for the region.  Even though the little towns along the route are past their heyday, the scenic coasts, the lush forests, the dry Karoo, the penguins, meerkats, birds and the brandy did not disappoint.   Here is a sampling of our road trip through Western Cape, South Africa.

Tsitsikamma Forest and Storms River Region

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The tallest bungy jump in the world - 216 meters or 709 feet – Too crazy for us.  Great White Sharks, yes, falling 709 feet, absolutely not.

DSC04917 DSC04932 DSC04933 Knysna area – amazing cloud fingers

DSC04944Oudtshoorn area in the Karoo (high desert)

DSC04976 DSC04985  DSC05000 DSC05005 In the 18th century, the Karoo region was the location of South Africa’s first commercial venture – the export of large flamboyant black and white ostrich feathers to the world’s weathly.   Although there is very little demand for the feathers these days, the area is still home to the planet’s largest number of Ostrich farms.  Today, we consume these birds for their meat and leather.   DSC05049 DSC05051We read that one of the fun things to do in the Karoo is to go on a meerkat safari.  A meerkat safari?  Get up before the crack of dawn to see wild meerkats in their natural habitat?  Of course we would go.  Cousins of the mongoose; they are highly social and have extended family groups.  They greet each new day by standing in the dawn sunlight to warm themselves.  Even they think it’s early (see the big yawn?).  

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Betty’s Bay is the home of penguins that used to be called Jack Ass Peguins.  They (whoever they are) have renamed them to boring ole African Penguins, but they still bray like donkeys.  Hee haw, hee haw.  It’s hilarious and another must see and hear if you’re nearby.

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DSC05306  DSC05337 Making new jack ass penguins…..

DSC05345  DSC05367     Stellenbosch – The Winelands!

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And Brandy.  South Africa has been a premium brandy maker for eons.  When paired with chocolate and coffee it’s an unbelievable taste bud sensation. DSC05563 DSC05566 The marketing of any province, state or territory is very interesting.  As you can probably imagine, over the course of our travels, we’ve seen lots of attempts at creative advertising to entice people to an area.  Most regions have created campaigns, routes and attractions so that local and foreign tourists visit and spend money.  Think of the commercials in which California celebrities tell you why you should come to their fun and beautiful state.  Or the development of the wine country in Oregon.  It‘s all about tourism and money.  The small towns of the Western Cape needed a boost.  So, the region turned it’s sights to tourism and established and touted the Garden Route.

It was a smart decision, for us, to slow down the pace and not beeline it to Cape Town.  Our year of travel was coming to end and we wanted to savor the countryside and take in some of the less popular destinations in South Africa.  With it’s array of animals, plants, scenery and adventure; we were very wise to stop and smell (and taste and see) the Garden Route.DSC05580

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