The Garden Route Of South Africa - For A Beach Holiday Of A Lifetime

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The Garden Route Of South Africa - For A Beach Holiday Of A Lifetime

Thursday, February 25th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed

If you ever visit South Africa, you should definitely include the Garden Route area in the south of the country in your itinerary. This is a stretch of coastline beginning at Mossel Bay and ending at the Tsitsikamma Forest in the east (near the town of Plettenberg Bay). Between these to points you will find a number of quaint resort towns, as well as the commercial hub of the area, George.

If you arrive from Cape Town’s side, the first town you will encounter is Mossel Bay. This old town with its many colonial buildings has a different atmosphere than the more modern towns to the east. It used to be the least developed of the Garden Route towns, but during the past two decades it has started to develop into a tourist town of note. The standards of hotels and guest houses are high - we noticed that our guest house even had baby bath tubs for those traveling with infants.

A few kilometers to the east lies the resort towns of Klein Brak River and Groot Brak River. Both have been popular holiday spots for South Africans for decades. When it’s winter in the Northern hemisphere, it’s of course summer in South Africa. This makes the country the ideal winter holiday location for people from the North.

George is the major town of the region. Here you will find all modern conveniences like shopping malls, movies and loads of good restaurants. To the east of George lies the renowned coastal resort town of Wilderness. Once again wide open white sandy beaches and many restaurants. Over weekends you will also find live music at many of these restaurants. I prefer to make my own music though: my martin acoustic electric guitar, has been a source of great pleasure for many an evening.

Leaving Wilderness, the road criss-crosses through a series of lush green hills and valleys where you will catch a periodic glimpse of the Indian Ocean to your right. A few km further to the east the road passes through Sedgefield. This is a timber-producing area with many lovely lakes. Despite asking around, we couldn’t find the fine costume jewelry wholesale distributor mentioned in our guide book.

Sixty kilometers east of George lies another historical town. Thirty years ago Knysna only came to life during the peak holiday seasons, but today this town can barely cope with the thousands of tourists descending upon it from all over South Africa and Europe during virtually the whole year. The waterfront area is particularly popular - not surprising taking into account the many excellent restaurants you will find there.

The last town that forms part of the Garden Route is the upmarket beach resort town of Plettenberg Bay. Numerous upscale hotels and guest houses, as well as lots of huge holiday homes, contribute to the perception that this is a hangout venue for the rich. Near Plettenberg Bay you can also bring a visit to the Tsitsikamma Forest - a stunning area of rain forests where there’s still a couple of wild elephants roaming around!

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