|
We believe that the Garden
Route s problably the best family / and beach holiday destination
in South Africa. The South Africa Garden Route Region is absolutely
blessed with the most beautiful sandy beaches all along the
Indian Ocean Coastline. The Garden Route is also furthermore
blessed with a mild climate to make the area an ideal destination
as a beach holiday in the warmer period from September through
to March.
Hermanus : South Africa Whale Watching
Swellendam
Mossel Bay
Garden Route Game Lodge or
Botlierskop Game Reserve
Afternoon at Mossel Bay Beach
Ostrich Show Farm
Cango Caves
Hot Air Ballooning
Outeniqua Pass
Choo-Tjoe SteamTrain George to Knysna
Afternoon at Brenton-on-Sea
Knysna Elephant Park
Monkeyland
Birds of Eden Sanctuary
Afternoon at Plettenberg Beach
Bungee Jump Bloukransbridge
Tsitsikamma National Park
Depart to Addo Elephant Park
Game Drives in Addo Elephant
Afternoon departure to Port Elizabeth Airport for your flight.
The natural beauty, number
of activities, sights and places of interest in this region,
The South Africa Garden Route, can keep you busy for weeks.
Let us assist you in planning a perfect beach holiday. We
suggest that you visit some of the highlights of The Garden
Route as mentioned in all of our Garden Route Tour Itineraries
in the mornings and then spend the afternoons at som of the
pristine beaches.
We are sure that the
magnificent beauty of the indiginious forests , mountains,
rivers, gorges and pristine bays is the perfect recipe for
an ideal beach holiday - A South Africa Garden Route Family
Tour
(or even first?)
If you have been to Cape Town before and you have a few days
to explore the Garden Route as a beach Holiday destination
– there is no better option!
The Indian Ocean makes
for pleasant swimming in summer months from September right
through to March. Let us mention some of the better beaches
of the South Africa Garden Route.
These beaches are listed
as one would travel from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay.
Bollard Bay is an ideal family beach, with safe swimming in
shallow waters.
Ideal for snorkelling. Do not swim out into the channel between
the Heads. Toilets, showers, a restaurant, bar and shop are
available.
Is a popular fishing and picnicking spot on the Eastern Head.
Braai facilities are provided near the parking area.
A fine, sandy beach stretching all the way to Brenton-on-Sea.
A family beach with safe swimming and excellent surfing conditions.
Ideal for walking and fishing. Whales and dolphins are often
spotted from the shore. Showers, toilets, a restaurant and
shop are available near the parking area.n
The beach is suitable for walking and sunbathing. It is also
popular with paragliders. A big rock formation known as Castle
Rock, is a favourite fishing spot, although swimming here
can be dangerous due to the currents. There are several little
bays and coves to the easr of Castle Rock, with cliffs, caves
and rock pools to explore.
Situated betwee Buffalo Bay and Sedgefield, offers wonderful
beaches, some of South Africa’s highest sand dunes,
flowing river mouths and pristine coastal forests. It also
includes the only fresh water lake (Groenvlei) of the area.
An outdoor paradise offering numerous activities in the shelter
of its famous dunes, creating a haven for fauna and flora
alike. Sedgefield boasts unspoilt beaches, including the beach
at the river mouth. Myoli an Cola, Platbank bording the Goukamma
Nature Reserve and Swartvlei Beach alongside the majestic
Gericke’s Point.
Source: www.tourismknysna.co.za
A perfect extention of your South Africa Garden Route Tour
is to visit the city of Port Elizabeth and one or more of
the Game Parks and Private Game Reserves of the Eastern Cape
Province. These Parks are all Malaria Free!!
Very important to notice that you can also start your tour
in the city of Port Elizabeth. You therefor have to plan your
connection flight to rather fly from Johannesburg International
straight to Port Elizabeth to start your one-way tour from
Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, or vice verca.
Your main purpose will be to either extend your Garden Route
Tour to a Malaria Free area to visit a Game Reserve Big Five
Safari, or make it the starting point of your one-way Garden
Route tour. Port Elizabeth – Garden Route – Cape
Town, or the other way around. Cape Town, do the Garden Route
and then the Eastern Cape Province to Port Elizabeth. You
also might include it as part of a highlights tour of the
whole of South Africa and be enroute to Durban.
Port Elizabeth
East London
Umtata
The Pre-History of the Eastern Cape has been recorded in the
250 million-year-old fossils found on the surface of the Karoo
region. It was in the Karoo that Paleontologists found the
evolutionary link between reptile and mammals.
The firs people known
to live in the Eastern Cape were the San. Their rock paintings
and etching are prolific in the hills and valleys. The Khoi
displaced the San, into the mountains and semi-desert, early
in the second millennium AD.
The forefathers of the Xhosa speaking people arrived on the
banks of the Kei River in about 800AD. In 1488 Bartholomew
Diaz visited the Eastern Cape, the first European tod do so,
and erected a stone cross at Kwaaihoek. The Dutch Trekboers
began moving into the Eastern Cape in the mid 1700’s
and the first magisterial district was established in Graaff-Reinet
in 1786. Four thousand British landed in Algoa Bay in 1820
and settled near Grahamstown establishing what are today South
Africa’s oldest parks, newspapers, hotels, churches
and pubs.
The Eastern Cape has seen much bloodshed over that last 400
years. Wars have been fought betwee Boer, San, British, Dutch
and Xhosa and this has resulted in more than 70% of Africa’s
colonial forts being found within 11km of Grahamstown. The
Anti-Apartheid movement received some of its greatest support
in the Eastern Cape and many of South Africa’s current
political leaders call in the Eastern Cape hom. Nelson Mandela
was born, bred and educated in the Eastern Cape.
The great diversity of the Eastern Cape history may be found
in the town names of the area. Port Ellizabeth was named by
the acting governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Rufane Donkin,
after his wife Elizabeth. Addo (place of the river crossing),
Tsitsikamma (sparkling water) and Coega (place of the hippo)
are all Khoi/San names. Graaff-Reinet was named after the
Dutch East India Company governor and his wife. Umtata is
a Xhosa word meaning Sneezewood.
Source: The eastern cape guide: Feb/March 2007
Port Elizabeth is situated
on the south-eastern coastline of South Africa, overlooking
Algoa Bay. Locals refer to this bustling seaport of the Eastern
Cape as the “Friendly City” – a term of
endearment which is confirmed by the hordes of visitors to
this Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, along with
Uitenhage and Despatch. Nelson Mandela Bay was named after
South Africa’s former President, humanitarian and icon
to the world, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, as Madiba was born
and spent his formative years in this province.
Gateway to the Western Region of the Eastern Cape, the city
is the perfect complement to the many tourist routes that
emanate from it. These include the Subshine Coast, Frontier
Country, Sundays River Valley, Kouga / Tsitsikamma / Garden
Route as well as the Karoo Heartland Routes.
|
