The
Garden Route and South
Africa offers a long list of interesting
towns with lots to do. Most of these towns are included
in a Garden Route Tour. Remember
to let us know if there is a certain town
you would like to see during your Garden
Route Tour and we will do our best to include
it in the tour.
- The Garden Route Classic
Tour
How to plan your first tour to
South Africa and The Garden
Route:
Mondays and Thursdays from Johannesburg
and Tuesdays from Cape Town
This
package touches on all the main attractions of South
Africa: Panoramic Route,
Kurger National Park, Swaziland, Zululand, Drakensberg
Mountains and the Garden Route.
Johannesburg
- Panoramic Route
Our first day on tour takes us
from Johannesburg via Middelburg, Dullstroom and
Ohrigstad to the magnificent Three Rondavels view
site at the Blyde River Canyon. We travel further
to marvel at scenic areas such as Bourke’s Luck
Potholes (a walk down the hill to see this unique
trick of nature is worth the experience), Lisbon
Falls, God’s Window and the Pinnacle before a short
visit to Pilgrim’s Rest, an early gold mining town
declared a National Monument. Rich deposits of alluvial
gold were found here at the end of the last century,
hence the existence of the town deep in the mountains.
We overnight in Sabie.
Panoramic Route - Kruger National
Park
After an early breakfast, we do a pleasant walk
through indigenous forest to see the Lone Creek
Falls. Then we follow a scenic route to Hazyview
and enter the Kruger National Park. We spend the
rest of day in this magnificent reserve
around 2 million ha in extent. We overnight in the
reserve in chalets in one of the
rest camps.
Kruger National Park - Swaziland
We rise early for a game drive
and return for breakfast in the camp. We spend the
rest of the morning in the reserve
and depart in the afternoon for the mountain Kingdom
of Swaziland for a visit to the Ngwenya glass factory
where all the items are hand made from recycled
glass. We drive through the capital, Mababane, and
continue to Mhlambanyatsi where we overnight in
the mountains at Foresters Arms.
Swaziland - South Africa - Zululand - Hluhluwe/Imfolozi
Park
Today starts with a visit to Swazi Candles in the
Malkerns Valley to watch the locals hand-moulding
a large variety of interesting candles. Then we
traverse through the Ezulwini Valley and past the
National Stadium and Buildings of Parliament to
visit the well-known local craft market. We continue
via Manzini, the country's industrial centre, and
Big Bend with its large sugar plantations, to the
South African border. We
travel past Mkuze to Hluhluwe/Imfolozi Park and
arrive mid afternoon for our overnight stop at Hilltop
Camp. Before dinner we do a late afternoon/early
night game drive on an open safari
vehicle equipped with high-powered spotlights to
search for the shy nocturnal animals in the oldest
game reserve in Africa.
Hluhluwe/Imfolozi Park - St Lucia - Durban
After an early breakfast we do our final game
drive before travelling to the village
of St Lucia.
Here we cruise by boat on the famous St. Lucia Estuary,
a paradise boasting bird species such as fish eagle,
Goliath heron and many more. Your skipper/guide
will show you the world of the hippo and the crocodile,
and the other mystic inhabitants of the "deep".
After an unforgettable experience we travel to Durban
where we overnight.
Durban -
Southern Drakensberg Mountains
Drive inland to Pietermaritzburg, the capital of
KwaZulu-Natal, for a brief city tour. Stop at the
railway station where Mahatma Gandhi was thrown
off the train because of the colour of his skin,
and see the waiting room where, in the silence of
the night, he formulated his philosophy of passive
resistance. Visit the Church of the Vow that
was built as a result of the Battle of Blood River
between the Voortrekkers and the Zulus in 1838.
Continue to Howick where we visit the 100m high
Falls, and stop at the monument erected on the spot
where Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1961 . Continue
through an area of gentle pastoral beauty called
the Natal Midlands. We pass through grassy plains
scattered with villages and lush farmlands where
plump cattle and thoroughbred horses graze. Then
further through Underberg, a picturesque little
village situated in the foothills of the majestic
Drakensberg Mountains. Our hotel is in the lap of
the mountain with peaks towering up to 3400m above
sea level. The afternoon is at your leisure to participate
in some of the organised hikes into the mountain
or explore the area on your own. Dinner and overnight
are at our hotel.
Drakensberg Mountains - Sani Pass - Durban
After breakfast we set off to Sani Pass, named after
the primitive people who lived in the area millennia
ago, on a four-wheel drive with hair raising bends
and breathtaking views to the top of the mountain.
Lunch is served at the top in the Mountain Kingdom
of Lesotho some 3000m above sea level. We return
early afternoon, change vehicles and drive back
to Durban.
Durban
- Port Elizabeth
Durban is an intriguing cultural blend of East,
West and Africa, which with its
endless summer climate, effervescent and lukewarm
ocean lined with golden beaches, offers a subtropical
carnival atmosphere all year round. Our tour of
this bustling metropolis boasting the busiest port
in Africa and often called the cultural 'melting
pot' of South Africa, includes
a drive past the so-called Apartheid Beaches, the
Golden Mile, the impressive developments at the
new Point Waterfront area, and the city centre.
We stop at the Indian Market where you can bargain
for souvenirs and spices. Our last visit is to the
Botanical Gardens. You have the
option of being dropped off at the end of the tour
at the Ushaka Marine world with its world-class
aquarium, and many shops and restaurants.
Return to your hotel with our bus or spend the rest
of the afternoon here and take a taxi back to the
hotel..
Port Elizabeth
- Garden Route - Knysna.
We depart from Port Elizabeth, also called the 'Friendly
City' along the N2 national route to the Storms
River with the impressive Paul Sauer Bridge across
the valley, towering 139 m above the river. Our
next stop is at Tsitsikamma National Park (Khoisan
for “The place of much water”) stretching over 100
km of wild and rocky coastline, characterised by
massive cliffs, narrow isolated beaches and shady
indigenous forests along the river valleys. Now,
truly in the famous Garden Route
of the Cape, we traverse more magnificently
scenic river valley passes to Knysna on the edge
of the Knysna Lagoon with its entrance to the sea,
guarded by two promontories known as the 'Heads'.
The area also falls within a National Park proclaimed
to conserve the extraordinary natural beauty of
the Lakeland and adjacent indigenous forests. Knysna
also offers shopping opportunities of unusual locally
made art and craft, etc. Overnight at Fish Eagle
Lodge or similar.
Garden Route - George - Oudtshoorn
We explore the lake areas, the Wilderness National
Park and travel via the scenic Outeniqua Pass to
Oudsthoorn, also known as the 'Feather Capital'
of the world, as by far the largest concentration
of ostrich farms in the world are found here. We
visit the Cango Caves, regarded as one of South
Africa's foremost natural wonders. The fascinating
calcite caves comprises an underground wonderland
of stalactites and stalagmites. Overnight at La
Plume Guest Lodge or similar.
Oudtshoorn - Mossel Bay - Cape Town.
After an early start we visit an ostrich show farm
for some unique experiences, including ostrich racing.
Our route to Mossel Bay takes us over the Outeniqua
Mountains via the Robinson's Pass. Here we visit
arguably the oldest Post Office in Africa,
the Post Office Tree, and the site of the first
landfall made by the Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu
Dias in 1488. After an early lunch we travel to
Swellendam, Grabouw and over the Sir Lowry's Pass
to Cape Town where we arrive late
afternoon.
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