From our detour inland to Franschhoek, we drove 180 miles back to the coast, then followed it east for another 250 miles, much of which is a popular tourist drive called the Garden Route.
It was hard to identify that we were in Africa as we took long beach walks and hiked the coastline, but a trail through the forest with its fynbos flora and colorful fauna reminded us. Also, English is not the first language here, though everyone speaks it. We were usually greeted first in Afrikaans.
Fynbos, by the way, is the unique biosphere that occurs only along a small strip of Southern Africa. The name means ‘fine bush’ and includes small leaf plants including many orchid and protea.
The route was full of beautiful sites and stops, including:
Still Bay, where we spent our first three nights at a cozy little unit connected to the owner’s main house. We walked the entirety of its vast sandy beach and along the Goukou River estuary. One section has ancient stonewall fish traps, thought to be in use 3000 years ago to catch fish in as the tides rise and fall.
Mossel Bay, a tourist town with an incredible cliff top hiking trail.
Harolds Bay, where we spent four nights in another HomeExchange next to the owner’s home, except they lived in the small addition while our side was a huge three-bedroom space plus two patios and a built in braai. The tiny community had a cute little beach with big scary waves and some nice tidal pools for swimming.
George, the closest city for groceries, had a sizable botanical garden with a striking backdrop, a big tortoise and a little turtle.
Wilderness, whose lovely Garden Route National Park trails included a waterfall, a pontoon boat river crossing, some dramatic river views and some giant grasshoppers.
Sedgefield, which we visited for the epic Saturday market full of farm produce, prepared food, and artwork. We stayed for the scenic beach walks with otherworldly rock formations.
Knysna, built on a series of islands and canals across its huge lagoon. We also took some pleasant wetlands and forest walks in its section of Garden Route National Park.
Keurboomstrand, where we spent a full week in another timeshare from our main Home Exchanger. We again walked the full length of its sandy beach from the Keurboomsrivier on one end to the dramatic rock formations on the other.
Neighboring Plettenberg Bay, another tourist town with an incredible nature reserve on its long peninsula. We saw hundreds of Cape fur seals from the hike along the cliffs, plus some dolphins and sharks swimming below.
On the other side of Keurboomstrand was another national park, Tsitsikamma, with more beautiful forest and beach walks.
Stormsrivier at the other end of Tsitsikamma, with two dramatic bridges: the suspension foot bridge at the river mouth, and the car bridge high in the mountains.
Jeffrey’s Bay, where we spent our final three nights in the apartment below our Home Exchange hosts who made this whole South Africa trip happen.
South Africa has its safety concerns, from crime to potholes, wild animals and violent waves, foodborne and mosquito-borne illness. Despite some brushes with those, we felt mostly safe and incredibly fortunate for the chance to explore this beautiful country. This final drive especially was full of beautiful vistas, diverse flora and cute fauna. From here, it's back to Europe for my birthday celebration - Portugal!