Knysna will be our 4 day base
 

Hi all

so we leave Friday am Montreal-Washington-JNB-(overnight)-Nelspruit(car) Hazyview(2)

Tour Blyde Canyon-etc and acclimatize

Thornybush Main Lodge (2)

Arathusa (3)

Nelspruit (drop off car)-Capetown

Capetown (5) car

Hermanus (1)

Outshoorn (1)

Knyysna (4)

Knysna-Port Elizabeth-JNB-Home

Could you please suggest beautiful itineraries to visit Garden Route with Knysna as the

base-i.e. particular routes. small towns and *in particualar, easpecially, spectacular

nature

Thanks

Sandy

Knysna Heads and Featherbed Reserve, an absolute must....awsomely beautiful views of the rugged coastline. Take a ferry from Knysna peer. Visit Knysna Elephant Park where you can feed and touch elephants, lots of fun.

Enjoy!

I recommend going to Tsitsikamma National Park/Storms River area. The trail is very pretty. It's on the way to Port Elizabeth so you may just want to stop there on your way there.

The glorious beach at Nature's Valley, a village within the national park, also an easy minor detour en route to PE. Some nice hiking trails around there too.

Can you take a day/night for Addo Elephant Park? It's an hour north of PE. I second Storms River.

Would suggest that you travel from Oudtshoorn via the Robertson Pass. There is construction taking place on the Outeniqua Pass Road which is the main link between Oudtshoorn and George. The R328 (Robertson Pass) is a good road and will bring you onto the N2 just outside Mossel Bay. You may want to stop off for a quick visit at the Maritime Museum in Mossel Bay before heading on to Knysna.

You have chosen an excellent base for your stay on the Garden Route as you can do short day excursions. Day 1 could be a trip to the Tsitsikama National Park - take a walk across the suspension bridge or do a Canopy Tree Tour (plan on 3 hours for this trip). If you are an adrelin freak then do the Bungy Jump at Bloukrans - the highest bridge bunjy in the world! Return to Knysna via Natures Valley.

Day 2 - A day in and around Plettenberg Bay. Some of the attractions include Monkeyland, Birds of Eden, Tenikwa (wild cat reserve)and the Elephant Sanctuary. There are a couple of great restaurants for lunch (Enricos on KeurboomStrand, Bramon Winery in the Craggs or The Lookout in Plettenberg Bay).

Day 3 - Spend the day in and around Knysna. A trip to the Featherbed Nature Reserve whether you do the trip in the morning or the afternoon is a must. Emzini Tours offer a great township tour if this is of interest to you. The Knysna Elephant Park is 20 kms from Knysna. A walk on the beach between Brenton-on-Sea and Buffalo Bay is great. Walks in the forest area around Knysna include Jubilee Creek and Millwood where you can visit a gold mine museum.

Day 4 - On your way to Port Elizabeth, and should you have sufficient time, you could stop off for lunch in Jeffries Bay.

I hope you enjoy your trip to SA!

Your sugggestions are very much appreciated

I was hoping to drive from Oudtshorn, do the drive through the Swartberg Mountains and then descend via thhe Outeniqua pass towards George and then on to Knysna

Colleen-thank you for your update about the Outeniqua Pass and we will take your advice and use the Robertson pass -as well as many of your other suggestions.

Christabir-I have read your SA postings with great interest-fun to read-we will be unable to do Addo, I think, as we have our flight back to JNB out of PE at 3 and we are leaving from Knysna that am. I am one day short unfortunately.
I think that there may well be other trips to this country!

Thanks to all

Sandy

Yes, Sandy, you'll be back! Too bad about Addo but as you know I'm a safari girl so I'd skip (and miss) all the rest and spend my time looking for wildlife in Addo and maybe Mountain Zebra NP.

Hi Chistabir

We love nature and this trip is very nature based

I had thought to go to Kenya on safari at first, but, as we never have been, thought, that, maybe we would not really be passionate enough about it to go for 2 weeks -and certainly, I did not want to go half way around the world to lie on a beach.

So i chose south africa for our first safari experience, as there is a great variety of other things to do and see as well

So i will let you know how it goes!!

Sandy