Africa - I had visions of elephants, giraffes, lions and zebras loping across the veldt, silhouetted against the setting sun, David and I giving chase from the back of a jeep, binoculars in one hand, long lens camera in the other.
As it turned out my 'wind in the hair, communing with wildlife' dream didn't quite match up with D's idealised view of the dark continent. Did you know they make wine in Africa - on picture-postcard estates with beautiful views, magnificent Cape Dutch architecture and flowering yellow rose bushes at the end of each row of vines? I didn't! Did you know they have modern cities with orderly traffic where driving a car is no more fraught than Sydney in peak hour? I didn't. Well they do and it turns out that this little corner of very bucolic and European Africa is the bit David brought me to.
I am talking, of course, about South Africa - the Cape and the Garden Route in particular - from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. The name is a bit of a give away really. How much wilderness would you expect to find on a road called 'The Garden Route'.
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| The Winelands, near Cape Town. Not really darkest Africa, is it! |
All however is not lost. This part of the planet is one of the great neglected tourist destinations - especially by my fellow countrymen, which given the number of South Africans who have made their homes in Australia, is quite inexplicable. After two jet-lagged and groggy days exploring the delights of Cape Town and its surrounds I can say with confidence that, the lack of wild animals notwithstanding, this is a beautiful country.
We have three weeks of road tripping ahead of us. See the map below for our route and follow along with us as I update our journey on this blog every Friday or Saturday.
Here is an outline of our schedule with a rough idea of what we hope to see and do at each stop along the way.
Cape Town - 3 nights.
Click here and here for my posts on Capetown and the Cape of Good Hope.- It turned out three nights wasn't nearly enough time. We knew we would be a bit rushed but we could easily have kept ourselves amused for another two days. My next blog post will be on Cape Town.
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| Colonial buildings in central Capetown - Not really darkest Africa is it! |
Stellenbosch and The Winelands - 2 nights.
- Just an hour's drive from Cape Town, the Winelands around Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl and Somerset West have some of the loveliest wineries we have ever seen. The countryside is gorgeous and nothing in the world surpasses Cape Dutch Architecture for beautiful buildings.
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| Vergeleglen, The winelands. Not really darkest Africa is it! |
Botlierskop Private Game Reserve - 3 nights.
- David may not be interested in seeing animals himself but he isn't mean, and besides I flatly refused to come to Africa unless I saw at least a few animals. The private game reserves in the Cape have been re-stocked with animals which once roamed the landscape. The experience is less authentic than visiting one of the big natural game reserves elsewhere in Africa but the there are some advantages. You can almost guarantee a close up view of most of the big five - elephants, lions, giraffes, buffalo and hippopotamus - and the Cape is safe and malaria-free.
- Addo Elephant Park, near Port Elizabeth, is the best known South African National park in the Cape. I chose not to include Addo in the game parks we visited because, as is David's way, he had our trip to South Africa booked within 24 hours of first floating the idea. I wrongly thought Addo was just about elephants. I am sure this won't be our last visit to South Africa and Addo will be top of the list for our next visit.
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| Mother and baby rhinoceros at Botlierskop Game Reserve. The baby is only a week old. |
Port Elizabeth - 3 nights.
- I have no idea why we are going to Port Elizabeth, other than the fact that David has found a nice hotel there. Have I told you D is partial to five star luxury?
- We have been warned that unlike much of this part of South Africa, Port Elizabeth is not safe at night. Don't expect any posts about after-dark activities. We intend to be safely ensconced in our hotel by sunset each day.
Shamwari Game Reserve - 3 nights.
- Our guide book says Shamwari is where the rich and famous go. We are going for the animals, the luxury, and a bit of rock-star spotting in that order. I'll let you know whether it lives up to its price tag.
Kynsna - 3 nights.
- David found another nice hotel here. We will be staying at The Conrad.
- Knysna is Garden Route central, known for its forests and scenic beauty. Once home to herds of elephants and other wildlife Knysna has a few remaining indigenous elephants. Sadly, the current estimate of their numbers seems to be three so our chances of seeing an elephant in the wild are close to zero.
Swellendam - 2 nights
- Swellendam will make a convenient stop on our return route to Capetown. Dating from 1745 it is South Africa's third oldest white settlement.
- Until late in the 18th Century European South Africa was owned and administered by The Dutch East India Company. Settlers paid the company for the right to hold land. Swellendam was established by an official from the Dutch East India Company who was concerned that the Company was losing control of settlers trekking out from Capetown and more especially that they were fiddling their tax returns to the company.
Asara Wine Estate, Stellenbosch - 2 nights.
- Asara was a late change to our itinerary. David was so taken by the winelands he has ditched our last night in Cape Town, trimmed a night from Swellendam, and booked two nights at Asara.