Travel- Day 1 on the Garden Route in South Africa

Day 1:  First stop- Storms River Gorge, Tisitsikamma

Despite it still being warm during the days, it is really beginning to feel like fall here in Johannesburg.  It is no longer light when I wake up in the morning and I no longer need to turn on the aircon to sleep.   Last night, all I wanted was fluffy sweaters and hot cocoa when I got home from work and it's more and more difficult to crawl out of bed in the morning... The Winter Lazy is starting to creep in.  The silver lining to my departure from my beloved Jozi is that I will jump right into my third summer in a row.  Speaking of fall weather, we also felt the beginning touches of fall on our Garden Route Journey last week (good segue, huh?)

We began our trip by flying from Joburg to Port Elizabeth.  I had booked a flight with South African Airways, but the airline transferred the flight to its budget partner, Mango.  There was some confusion the night before when we couldn't log in to select our seats or check-in, but Phil cleared it up with a phone call.  The agents here in SA were very helpful.   AND upon dropping off our bags, they gave us chocolate! <3    They also gave us vouchers for in flight meal service, due to SAA providing  complimentary meal service and Mango providing for-fee ala carte.  The flight was quick and uneventful and soon we were in Port Elizabeth.  PE is one of the larges cities in SA, located in the Eastern Cape Province.  

Thanks Mango!

We decided to rent the biggest most powerful car that was available in auto to make our drive easier than the Kruger Adventure and more comfortable for me as the passenger ;).  That ended up being a Nissan SUV named Serena. Phil LOVED Serena and now wants his own Serena .

Phil is super excited to be driving a "real" car aka "Serena" due to her "curves" and power.

Phil's giant portable file cabinet which contained our very large and very detailed travel itinerary did not contain any points of interest for PE, so we were quickly on our way to  our first stop on the Garden Route.

And we are on our way!

Our first glimpse of the Indian Ocean.

Stop 1: Tsitsikamma National Park

After about an hour or so on the road we crossed the Storms River Gorge and pulled into the Tsitsikamma Tourist Center and Rest Stop.  After grabbing a couple of coffees at Mug and Bean (SA's version of Starbucks) we headed across the pedestrian bridge next to the highway for a better look.   It was amazing!  After taking a million pictures, including the selfie above, we hopped back into the car to head down the highway to the park's entrance in search of the mouth of the Storm River.  This is also where the Otter Trail begins.  The Otter Trail is one of the must-do hikes in SA.   It is also, a 5-day hike, so unfortunately we didn't have enough time on this trip.   My co-worker, an avid hiker, has completed it and highly recommends it.
We did have time for a shorter walk/hike on the Mouth Trial.  It was a relatively easy path, with beautiful views of the ocean, lots of dassies (fuzzy guinea pig looking creatures) and a chance to cross the suspension bridges.  Once we crossed the bridges we sat on a rock and watched the ocean for awhile.  #pleasefreezetime

Tourist Center and Parking for the Gorge Look out

Storms River Gorge

Mouth Trial- Tsitsikamma National Park

Wave watching at Tsitsikamma National Park

Phil getting the perfect shot on the suspension bridge

Suspension Bridge warnings.

Ariel view of the bridge system

Dassies, Dassies, Everywhere!

We then set out on the Crags part of the Garden Route.  The Crags is the portion of the route that is basically between Tsitsikamma  and Plettenberg and  is jam packed with attractions and nature stuff. 

Nature's Valley

Stop 2 was  Nature's Valley a small beach-y town a bit down the way.   It was a quick stop for pizza and wine on the beach at one of the town's only restaurants  before hitting the road again.   The town seemed to host many holiday surfers and cyclists.  Nature's Valley is also the end point of the Otter Trail.

Stop 3:  Animals!
Next Phil gave me a choice between The Elephant Sanctuary, The Birds of Eden, or Monkey Land.   We saw A LOT of elephants at Kruger so I opted out of Elephants.  The reviews on Trip Advisor were both very positive for both the monkeys and the birdies, but stated that you could spend hours inside the bird sanctuary and the tour of the monkeys was only an hour.  We arrived late in the afternoon, so choose the monkeys. I was a little skeptical, but the park was legit.   It is the first of it's kind to rehabilitate multiple species of primates (from all over the world) in one free-roaming space.  We spotted all 11 of the free roaming species housed in the park.  There are 7 other species currently housed separately as part of the acclimation to the sanctuary. They need time to de-human and adjust to "freedom". For an entrance fee a tour guide walks you through the park, points out monkeys and educates the group on the primates that call Monkey Land home and on the park itself.   All the monkeys in the park have been rescued from circuses, pet stores and domestication.  I recommend a stop a Monkey Land if you are on the Garden Route.   There is a combined ticket with the Birds of Eden, which I would also recommend based on other reviews, if you have the time. (Rates- 190Rand for adults, 300Rand Combo ticket w/ Birds of Eden).

The park's only ape species, the Lar Gibbon

The only local species, the Vervet Monkies

Black and White Ruffed Lemur

Charmaine, a Tufted Capuchin, and resident thief, waiting for victims on the bridge

Stop 4: Plettenberg Bay

Plettenberg Bay was both our next stop and our first stay on the Garden Route.   Our action packed first day had drawn to a close.    Our Bed and Breakfast in Plentinsburg was Bliss on Beacon Isle.   The location was good, a short walk to the beach and restaurants, with a whole flock of guinea birds living on the block.   The guest house has about 5 ensuite rooms, including a family room and has both bed and breakfast and self catering options.  We had a single non-self catering room, the Wild Fig with a balcony over looking the small splash pool.  The guest house is owned by a family.  We only met the wife, who is very nice, but seemed busy and distracted with her family.  The service was good- prompt, personal check-in, clean room, standard breakfast (cold and hot options), but wasn't as  intimate and lacked some of the other personal touches that we appreciate.   There was also the ant incident, which was partially Phil's fault.  Actually, pretty much all Phil's fault.   He rolled down the shade in the bathroom, discovered an ant colony and then instead of rolling it right back up again like I would have, he f'd with it and started a 1 Million Ant March.  Although it was more like 1 Million Ant Frenzy, which was made worse when he attempted to fix it by dousing them first in deet, then in non-deet mosquito spray, followed by air fresher for good measure.  It was definitely an ant massacre scene by the time we left.

Our hostess, did suggest a dinner restaurant, Fat Fish, which looked very lovely,  but failed to let us know we needed reservations, so when we showed up a 8pm in the middle of the dinner rush we were out of luck.   Luckily, there was several places right on the beach with in ear shot of the Jazz Festival, which actually turned out for the best- music, view of the ocean, and lot's of people watching.    Our choice was Moby Dick's.    The service was a little slow, but TIA (This is Africa), so not any slower than expected.   The cocktail list was fun and the menu selection, mostly seafood, had several vegetarian choices.   I choose the lasagna, which was okay.  And Phil choose the Hake, which he also said was just okay... but that may be because he prefers "a fishy fish".

style.   We ended the night by playing with the thousands of burrowing snails on the beach and  chasing each other and the incoming waves under moon light.

A little pre-dinner beach playtime.

Stay Tuned for Day 2 on the Garden Route- Knysna, the heads and crazy mountain driving!