Our trip to South Africa was one I took with some trepidation, as I have always been wary of its reputation for theft and violence. This was quickly dispelled when we arrived in Cape Town which is a busy city full of modern buildings, expensive cars, shopping malls and great restaurants. We stayed in Camp Bay which is in the suburbs of Cape Town in a great boutique B&B. From here we took a day trip to the Cape of Good Hope and saw baboons and penguins! I admit I thought that penguins were only found in cold climates! Here it was 30c and they seemed very happy.
We next spent a few days in Franshhoek, which is a town started by the Huginots so has a very French influence, in fact we even had the forest fires we have in France during the summer! This is wine growing country.
We then drove up the Garden Route to Knysna which is half way up and stayed in a lovely hotel. We have friends from St Maxime that winter in Knysna so we ate with them and I got my first game of golf in South Africa. Very different from St Maxime with wide fairways and lots of water!
We followed this up with a trip up to Port Elizabeth were we went on a three day Safari in the Kichacha lodges. This was truly amazing to be driving in the wilderness and finding Lions, Cheetahs, Elephants, Zebras, Hippos and Giraffes!! Truly a life changing experience.
We returned to Cape Town via Knysna again and stayed with our friends played golf and explored the area before returning to Cape Town for our flight back.
How would I describe the Garden Route? It is a theme park for the retired with plenty of things to do and see but one feels safe all the time.
Mr.L. 19/02/2010
2 comments:
Cackling quietly to myself over your description of the Garden Route as 'a theme park for retired people....'
|Shock| - what sacrilege!
But I admit that my in-laws live there.... :)
With great respect (and my tongue firmly in my cheek) may I just add neither of you gentlemen look built for bungee jumping, mountain biking, paragliding or tree-canopy-touring for which our beloved Route is justly famous ;)
I'm glad you enjoyed Cape town and the Garden Route and did not let our shocking SA crime rep rob you of the experience.
Come back any time!
Sorry if I dissed South Africa! I did not mean to. Actually it was my wife and I who made the trip and she was so moved by the birds and mammals that she could not stop crying with delight! She wanted to paraglide off Lions Head but we ran out of time. We cannot wait to return next year.
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