We are visiting South Africa in late January for 24 nights, flying in and out of Cape Town. We have the first 4 nights booked in Green Point in Cape Town.

We were hoping for some help to plan our holiday. We were thinking of hiring a car then working our way along the garden route to Port Elizabeth (& maybe beyond). We want to do plenty of walking and wildlife watching.

We don't want to stay in luxury accommodation as we plan to be out & about exploring!

Any help appreciated.

You might find just the help you need at Selwyn Davidowitz's website: ilovecapetown.com.

We did a similar trip... a few recommendations...

We stayed a few nights in both Plettenberg and Hermanus. Both were very nice towns and we had a great time.

We stayed one night at the Hog Hollow B&B. It's great... family style dinner with the other guests. Ask for the round room (it's in the old water cistern). While there, go to Monkeyland. It's a neat sanctuary for monkeys and other primates rescued for circuses, poachers, etc.

We went shark diving with great whiles in Mossel Bay. It was a great experience. Not scarey and worth seeing these great creatures up close and personal.

We had a nice day hiking at the Cape of Good Hope. Worth the drive.

KWANDWE. Just a great place to spend a few days on safari (we were there for 5 days). Great personnel, lovely setting, great animal sitings, and totally deserted (they can take like 30 guests on 30,000 acres). Pricey, but well worth it.

Kynsna is a nice town to visit for the day. Lots of little artist shops.

Also, the vineyards are great. If you want details on any in particular, let me know.

Sorry for the random thoughts... enjoy the trip.

Hi

Have just returned from a 3½ week trip. Flew into Cape Town and out of Port Elizabeth.

Regarding walks. There were some good walks at Cape of Good Hope (which we had planned to do), but unfortunately we didn't have time as spent too long at Boulders with the Penguins. If plan to walk you really need a full day, but certainly worth a visit.

We had 3 nights in Franshooek which we really enjoyed. Beautiful setting, good places to eat (apart from French Connection), great wineries to visit with tasting, and walking in nearby Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. We walked to the waterfall and back, about 3 hours, but there were longer hikes if one wanted.

Great whale watching at De Kelders, but probably not worth a visit in Jan as whales will be gone.

A really good walk was at Robberg Nature Reserve, Plett Bay. 4 hour circular walk but need to check tide times as dangerous at high tide. Saw lots of seals and dolphins.

Another good walk was in Tsitsikamma National Park. Part of the Otter trail to waterfall and back, about 3 hours. Again saw lots of dolphins. Then walk to suspension bridge and back, about 45 mins to an hour.

Natures Valley is also worth visiting. Lovely beach and several walks.

We also found a great spot between Knysna & Plett Bay, Kranschoek View Point in Harkerville Forest. The view from the view point looking down on coves and rocks was pretty impressive, but by the time we found the start of the walk which was by the picnic site, we didn't have time to do the full walk.

Another suggestion, if you like walking along the beach, was from Brenton on sea to Buffalo Bay (just outside Knysna), took about 3 hours return, plus stop for drink and snack in Buffalo Bay. Nowhere to get a drink in Brenton.

Wildlife watching - there were several game reserves near Port Elizabeth and although most people we met had booked in advance, several we spoke to had just gone on the off chance and managed to get really good deals, about half of normal price. We heard good reports about Addo Elephant Park if you want to see elephants, and most people had just driven themselves around or taken a 2 hour guided tour.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your help guys - it is really appreciated. I'm thinking that I may run the risk of not booking accommodation in advance and leaving it more flexible.

Can't wait to go!

If you're hoping to stay in the inexpensive self-catering accommodation INSIDE national parks (such as Tsitsikamma amd Addo) I'd definitely reconsider not booking in advance - the accommodation is limited and very much in demand.

For the other destinations there is certainly a lot of really great quality, inexpensive accommodation in small, family-run guest houses so you shouldn't find it too problematic to book nearer the time.

For the Eastern Cape Game Reserves you will definitely need to book in advance, Shamwari and Kwandwe are very heavily booked many dates not available Schotia also full for many dates.

You will also not get accommodation in the Addo National Park unless you book right away.

Space at quite a lot of the guest houses close to Addo but I think you would be much better in the Park or at one of the Reserves.

Knysna also pretty full as is the Tsistsikamma.

February is the best month to visit the wind drops and we normally get perfect weather.

Astein12- You mentioned that I could ask you about particular wineries in SA. We are big winos and have traveled extensively in wine regions. We usually make appointments to visit small wineries to have a more personal experience. We would appreciate any suggestions about particular wineries. We are planning on staying in the Winelands for about four days.
Evostick- Thank you for all your hints about sites and walks.

Hi, just some advice re accommodation along the garden route. We've just returned from our Kenya/South African trip and drove from Jo'burg down the coast to Cape Town staying in B&B's which were excellent. We found the easiest way, after deciding which town we'd stay for the night, was to go the the Information Centre and just mention what price and location you required and the very helpful people would phone around for you. Some places even had pics and info on each B&B. It made it so easy! We always asked for somewhere quiet as there's nothing worse than trying to sleep in a noisy location when you've been travelling all day.
The places we liked were Port Elizabeth (great places to eat at the casino), Knysna (we stayed at a great B&B called Island Time or maybe it was Tide?)on the island in the middle of the Knsyna lagoon - very pretty place and lovely people. Storms River Mouth is well worth a visit with a lovely forest walk to the suspension bridge over the river. Very scenic place. If you booked early with the SA National Parks there are lovely wooden cabins right on the beach front and much longer walks to do from there. If we'd known about them beforehand we would've booked as they looked great. Definitely visit the Winelands, the scenery is breathtaking around Stellenbosch and Franschoek, the wines and wineries are beautiful. One called Spier nr Stellelbosch even has a breeding centre for cheetahs and there were about 60 there when we visited. They have eagles and other large birds of prey also.
You'll have a great time, we did!