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Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, hidden gems not on the normal tourist path?

Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, hidden gems not on the normal tourist path?

Old Feb 3rd, 2017, 04:24 PM
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Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, hidden gems not on the normal tourist path?

This trip is sneaking up really fast, we leave Good Friday, April 14.

Safaris all booked, Gorilla Trek Booked.

After 4 nights in Cape Town, we will have 3 days, 2 nights to drive to Port Elizabeth before flying to Leopards Hill reserve, Sabi Sands. We are staying one night each in Swellendham http://www.schooneoordt.co.za/ and Knysna http://knysnaparadisecollection.com/villaafrikana/

I've got the Lonely Planet Garden Route book and have taken lots of hints from our dd who did this a couple of years ago. But I'd love any feed back on places that are a bit 'off' the tourist trail that are worth a drive to.

We are also visiting Elephant Camp, Vic Falls and after Rwanda (Gorilla Trek), we will finish with 2 nights at Stellenbosch http://cloudsestate.com/
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Old Feb 4th, 2017, 02:23 PM
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Last October, we spent two weeks in the Western Cape and came back with some lifetime memories.

Try to make it to the wine estates of Constantia on the Eastern slopes of Table Mountain, the views across the Cale flats are beautiful and the standard of food served in some of the restaurants is world class.

We loved Stellenbosch and Franshoek both had vibrant small town centres with again excellent small restaurants.

Hidden gem:

Had to be De Hoop nature reserve between Hermanus and Mosel Bay. We sat on the huge sand dunes and watched Southern Right Whales give birth 300m off shore. I think the whales will have left by the time of your visit but the rserve is still very untouched with spectacular landscapes with huge amounts of indigenous bird and wildlife.

Just a note : be sure to take warm clothes for the early morning safari runs. Your visit is in Autumn, we were there in Spring the first run was at 6am when the temperature was 5oC by lunchtime it had reached 25oC. Ask to meet your guide before they are allocated we had drives which were OK as some which were lifetime highlights , the difference was hugely due to the quality and personality of the particular guide.

Think twice about trips to the Cape of Good Hope and Table Mountain, we found them to be diabolical tourist traps with far too many visitors.

If this is your first visit, I'm sure you will love The Western Cape.
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Old Feb 4th, 2017, 10:18 PM
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Not really a hidden gem but have you considered the Outeniqua Power Van which climbs up the mountains in George. It leaves from the Transport Museum in George, which apparently is also worth a visit. We're doing the power van in early March and I was offered either a 9am slot or midday. The round trip is about 2.5 hours which includes a half hour break when you can perhaps have a picnic lunch (not provided). The van only takes about 30 people on each trip It looks like it is about an hour to drive from George to Knysna.
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Old Feb 12th, 2017, 12:52 AM
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Thanks guys that's awesome.
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Old Feb 14th, 2017, 07:43 AM
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Think twice about trips to the Cape of Good Hope and Table Mountain, we found them to be diabolical tourist traps with far too many visitors.>>

hi Aussie, that wasn't our experience but we were there in June about 10 years or so ago, so things may have changed.

Certainly if the tablecloth is over the top of Table Mountain I would hesitate to go but otherwise, it's a must, IMO. We were very fortunate and got up there early the first morning we were there. We then found that there were free walking tours of the top leaving from just opposite the top of the cable car, and we took part in the 10am one which was very interesting. I can't find a reference to it on the web but there is a short walk here on the top of Table Mountain that you might enjoy, as well as some others in the area e.g. the Lion's Head walk:

https://www.sanparks.org/parks/table...afe_hiking.php

Some of the people on the walk were planning to walk down to the Kirstenbosch Gardens [another must for us] but as we had a car parked at bottom of the cable car that wasn't possible for us. When we met them in the gardens they said that it had been a reasonably easy walk and worth doing. Whether it is well signposted I can't tell you.

We did a full day's exclusion to the Cape, stopping off at Simon's Town to see the penguins and then driving up the west coast on the way back. From the car park it was an easy hike right out to the end of the Cape itself, and afterwards we had lunch in the two oceans restaurant which was very good though it seems to have been "renovated" since we were there:

https://www.two-oceans.co.za/#home

The website above also mentions free guided walks at the Cape on the second Sunday of every month - not sure if that would work for you:

https://www.sanparks.org/parks/table...activities.php

Have a great time whatever you decide to do!
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Old Feb 18th, 2017, 09:33 AM
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Hi Ann ... thanks for detailed info. I'm finding that responses are a bit harder to get on this forum.
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Old Feb 18th, 2017, 10:26 AM
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aussie - I think that people here who go to SA don't necessarily post TRs or come here very often.

We just did the usual tourists things really - except that due to the weather we didn't get out to Robben Island, which in retrospect I regret. a decent guide book should have plenty more ideas.

CT is a wonderful place - we loved it.
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Old Feb 18th, 2017, 11:57 AM
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The quickest way to get from Swellendam to Knysna is on the fairly boring N2 and takes 3 hours. I'd be really tempted to travel inland from Swellendam and join the R62. Check out http://mountainpassessouthafrica.co.za/ and see what interesting roads are on your route - we took this route back towards Cape Town last year and it was a highlight of our trip.

We also stayed one night at Villa Afrikana and loved it. Check out Freshline Fisheries for dinner - we loved it, so different to anywhere else we ate on our trip.

Have fun.
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Old Feb 18th, 2017, 05:26 PM
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Thanks tjhome I've noted down your suggestions.

Yeah I figured ann, its a shame really.......love a good TR.

Ps. Christmas in the UK this year.
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Old Feb 18th, 2017, 11:30 PM
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aussie - I don't know how far you've got in booking accommodation but this is where we stayed at along the Garden Route and it was probably the nicest place overall:

http://www.hog-hollow.com

a wonderful position in the forest and great food; they have a communal table for breakfast and dinner which made life very interesting.

[oops - I see that you're already booked up - never mind, perhaps someone else will see the thread and be able to use our recommendation].

Christmas in the UK - have you fixed on where yet?
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Old Feb 19th, 2017, 05:05 PM
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Our daughter is going to a wedding in Wales on 16/12, we'll spend the weekend with them (babysitting) then we'll 'go for a drive somewhere' meeting back up in London for xmas. Then we are off to Finland in search of the Northern Lights.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 06:32 AM
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sounds lovely aussie - and i hope you are successful in seeing the elusive Northern lights. Laurieco recently went to Iceland and it rained or was cloudy every night so she never saw a thing.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 10:03 AM
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Finland and Norway are a much better bet.

We have just returned from Iceland, the cloud cover cleared for all of 5 hours in a week. We managed to briefly see the Aurora but nothing close to those we have witnessed in Norway on numerous occasions.

Iceland without snow in winter is quite a drab place.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:20 AM
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Iceland without snow in winter is quite a drab place.>>

you don't altogether surprise me, Dickie. It's pretty grim in the summer too when it rains. Fortunately on our 10 day trip a few summers ago, the sunshine about half of the time so we didn't go entirely mad. It is not, IMO, a great place to visit in bad weather [and living in Cornwall, I know something about how to amuse oneself when it rains].
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 11:11 AM
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I just watched Rick Steins 'Long Weekend in Iceland', it is certainly on the list.

Hopefully as we are going as far up as Inari in Finland we may have a shot. Certainly worth a try.
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Old Feb 22nd, 2017, 04:15 AM
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aussie - I don't think that the problem is necessarily how far north you go so much as the weather you get. The Northern lights can be seen from Scotland quite often and even further south on occasions; the more often they are visible of course, the more chance you have that they will co-incide with clear skies.

As you say, definitely worth a try!
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Old Feb 22nd, 2017, 05:47 AM
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Ann's absolutely right.

The Aurora isn't magic it is science. If you can access a very accurate website to indicate cloud cover in the area you are visiting and have access to one of the websites which monitor the KP factor of the Aurora then match the two together and you'll see it.

I have to give a word of warning, it can be a let down.

Most photographs you see are cheats. They will be taken using a tripod and a 12 second exposure which hugely enhances the colour an spread of the Aurora.

However, on a good night with a high KP factor, the science can be very, very magical.
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