South-Africa, The Garden Route
For the holidays, we decided to visit South-Africa: the perfect weather to celebrate New Year’s Eve and Christmas on the beach, but most of al to experience an unique roadrip through mountains, vineyards, desert, national parks, cultural heritage and have the best food and wine. It’s one of my favorite destinations and I think it’s the first time I saw this much beauty and diversity in one country.
Whale watching in Hermanus
The flight to Capetown was the best, 11 hours direct flight from Schiphol International Airport and no time difference, goodbye jetlag! We arrived in Capetown by night, where we slept in a lovely Air B&B. After having a lovely breakfast we drove to Hermanus in the southern coast of the Western Cape. This was my first impression of South-Africa, and I was completely blown away. Hermanus is a popular whale whatching site (when the season is right), have diner at the seaside or have a drink with amazing views over the Ocean.
We had a quick stop here, to drive through the Western Cape to Overberg, where we were invited by friends to celebrate an early New Year together. They took us to a private beach, the so called end of the world, to have some drinks together on the beach, followed by a lovely South-African family diner.
Driving through nature reserve Marloth, a little stop at the National Park Bontebok for lunch and admiring Swellendam with it’s beautiful colonial houses. We planned a two day stop in Knysna, Thesen Island, a marina with lovely places to drink a cocktail or have dinner. We went for a morning run to explore the marina a little bit more and continued our road trip to Plettenberg Bay.
New Years’ Eve in Plettenberg
Plettenberg is the place to be for a relaxing or more active beach day. We went for a boat trip to visit thousands of seals, you can go for a whale spotting boat trip, jetski and enjoy other water sports.
There was a lovely beachparty with fireworks for New Year’s Eve. We enjoyed New Year’s Eve in the Hunter’s Country House in Plettenberg Bay. We had a beautiful lodge surrounded by nature where we got some rest. We were moved by the amazing staff who surprised us with an emotional performance by a South-African choir, leaving all visitors in tears of happiness. There were fireworks, lovely South-African wines, great food, lovely people and we had an amazing New Year.
Wine O’clock
If you go to South-Africa, there one thing you just can’t miss: the world-renowned vineyards and the best wine estates. The Garden Route leads you through the most diverse places and vegetations. I had the feeling we were driving through Tuscany, Big Sur, Canada, Australia and desert. We left Plettenberg and were headed to Kaapse Wynland, where we could stay two nights on a wine farm. Our first stop: Ashton, where we enjoyed the beautiful vineyards. After Ashton we arrived in Kaapse Wynland where our home for the next two days was located. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The thing about South-Africa is: if you think you just visited the most beautiful place on earth, you will be blown away even more at the next stop. The farm was beyond beautiful, the food was amazing en the wine, well let’s say we had one too many drinks.
More wine? Yes please! Next on our list were Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. We’ve heard a lot about this places and we just had to visit. Fransschoek is this beautiful French inspired colonial place full of art and ofcourse, wine. We couldn’t resist the beautiful African art and brought home a luggage full of souvenirs and jewelry. Next we visited Boschendal. A local told us we had to have lunch or diner here, so we did. This was beyond our expectations. The food, the estate, the home grown vegetables and spices, the restaurant and design. We had a huge salmon for diner together with, what else, wine and got a little bit tipsy. Tipsy we enjoyed a walk in the home grown garden until we had to hop on to our next destination.
Final destination: Cape Town
Yes, we landed here, but we didn’t see anything. We wanted to save this for last, because there is just so much to visit.
Botanical Gardens Kirstenbosch: have a picnic under one of the older trees in the world, hike up the Skeleton Gorge, enjoy the view from the canopy walkway, go for a long walk in one of the greatest botanical gardens with sheer grandeur. In this 528-hectare, you will keep discovering beauty after beauty.
Constantia: have diner
Hout Bay Beach: for a relaxed beach day
Cape Point: the most southern point, it can be very windy here, but the view is crazy. We had a bunch of ostriches following us until we found us a spot to enjoy the views
The Twelve Apostles: behold this mountain view from one of the most beautiful beaches in the world
Tafelberg: hike up or take the cable car (when the weather allows you to)
Green Point
V&A Waterfront: shopping and dining
Southern Suburbs, Silverhurst
Cape Town City Centre
Cape Town High School
Muizenberg Beach: take surf lessons and enjoy the colorful beach cabines
Bakoven: for a beautiful view
Camps Bay: have oysters and wine with seaview
Clifton: a rocky beach where you look for a spot away from the crowd
Boulders Beach: walk between the penguins
I must say, South-Africa is a place we are dreaming of moving one day. It’s just a unique piece of magic on earth and it has a special place in my heart. This road trip was everything we could dream of, ready to fall asleep on the plane back home. Can’t wait to come back here! Bedankt.
