Cape Town & the Garden Route

Our adventure begins in Port Elizabeth, colloquially known as PE, but officially Gqeberha, a Xhosa name for the river that runs through the city. If you arrive in good time you may want to spend the day exploring. Options include several beaches within walking distance, including Humewood Beach, plus city and township tours (payable locally). Around 6pm, say howzit to your tour leader and fellow travellers, when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead. Your tour leader then ensures a big South African welcome by arranging a group dinner. Want to explore Port Elizabeth further? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.

This morning, we head to Addo Elephant National Park, home to some 550 elephants (up from just 16 when the park was formed) plus black rhinos, leopards, lions, buffalos, hyenas, zebras, various antelopes and dung beetles. We enjoy a four-hour game drive in our own vehicle, hoping to spot iconic African wildlife, and have the option of a second (at extra cost). You also have the option to add a second game drive in a private reserve (extra cost).

Head west to the official start of the Garden Route at Storms River in Tsitsikamma National Park. Stretching along the coast, the park, which comprises rocky coastlines, fairytale forests, waterfalls and rivers, gets its name from a local Khoekhoe language meaning ‘place of abundant water’. We can take a 1.2mi (2km) hike in the forest and along suspension bridges, which should take around an hour – other optional walks are also available. The area is a great place for bird enthusiasts with a variety of sea, forest and fynbos (scrubland) species present. Other resident animals include vervet monkeys, chacma baboons and clawless otters.

We spend the day at Tsitsikamma, where several adventures await. Options include kayaking on the Storms River, zip-lining through the forest or swimming in the ocean. There are also several self-guided walks available, the easiest of which is the suspension walk. The most challenging is hiking a section of the Otter Trail – where you can take a well-marked, four-hour trek with some small ladders and boulder hopping. This is the only walk that has rocky shoreline sections to it, plus it goes through the forest and passes the Strandloper Cave and ends at a waterfall dropping into the ocean – this trek is only recommended for fit walkers with a good sense of balance.

We start our day with a visit to Knysna Heads, two tall sandstone cliffs that form a channel through which the turbulent Indian Ocean enters the calmer Knysna Lagoon. We have a bit more time to relax in town before leaving for Oudtshoorn after lunch. As we head inland and over a pass, the landscape changes drastically and we enter the Little Karoo, a much dryer, hotter region. Oudtshoorn itself became renowned for its trade in ostrich feathers and is still the ostrich capital of the world. Our guesthouse is out of town in De Rust, a tranquil, rural Karoo village.

We spend today discovering Oudtshoorn and the surrounding highlights. We start by visiting the Cango Caves, an extensive complex of caverns with stalactites and stalagmites. A local guide takes us on an hour’s journey through the limestone caves, which are millions of years old. We then enjoy lunch at Buffelsdrift, where we overlook a waterhole occasionally visited by elephants, giraffes and springboks. In the afternoon, we visit the beautiful Meiringspoort Waterfall and take a 1,640ft (500m) walk, which takes about 10 minutes each way. The order in which we do these activities may be reversed.

Returning towards the coast, we stop at Mossel Bay and the Dias Museum Complex, which reveals the influence of early Portuguese sailors on South Africa. It’s also home to the Post Office Tree (a 500-year-old milkwood, where seafarers once left letters to be taken home by Portuguese sailors). We then continue to Hermanus, the whale capital of the world. It’s been a long travelling day, so we stretch our legs with a walk along the cliff path. Upgrade to a sea-view room today – speak to your sales representative for more details

Today is a free day to relax and enjoy Hermanus. From June to November, southern right whales are easily spotted from shore as they frolic in Walker Bay. A whale crier sounds his kelp horn when he spots whales off the coast. Those who want can also do a boat-based whale-watching trip. There are also several other activities available from hikes to river cruises and lagoon kayaking, which are available year-round. You could also visit the Whale Museum to learn about the most famous visitors to these shores, or walk the 7mi (11km) cliff path, where you could see indigenous plants, tortoises and mongoose. Upgrade to a sea-view room today – speak to your sales representative for more details

On our final day, we have the option of doing a township tour, strolling along the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront or exploring various other parts of Cape Town. Alternatively, if you’d like to stay longer, speak to your sales representative to discuss our large range of extension options.