The Big Trip: Garden Route Adventures: Part Two

Wilderness

The next stop on the Garden Route was a pretty little seaside town called Wilderness. I reconnected with two German girls I had met in Chinsta, Magdalena and Kathi. They introduced me to Janine, another German girl they had met on the Baz Bus. We decided to spend the next few days together exploring Wilderness. On the first day, we went and had a late lunch at Cocomos, a fun little restaurant known for their cocktails and lively atmosphere. Afterwards, we visited a small craft market in town before Janine and I took a lovely walk along the beach as the sun was going down.

The following day the girls and I went to the nearby national park to do some hiking and to visit a local waterfall. It was a pretty hot day, but fortunately for us the trail wasn't too difficult and had a lot of shade. We took a detour that went straight up a cliff to a pretty vantage point overlooking the river. We had to walk several kilometers and cross a small creek in order to reach the waterfall. We spent several minutes admiring the view before we made the long journey back to town. The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at the local shops and chilling out on the deck of the backpackers.

On our last day, we went to a unique local attraction - the Cave Man. There used to be an old steam train that ran from Knysna to George and cut through Wilderness. At one time, there was a small cafe built into a cave just outside of town. There was a large flood in 2006 that damaged the railway and shut the historic train down for good due to the exorbitant costs of repairing the line. Without the train business, the restaurant shut down and the cave was taken over by a local man. The man has been living in the cave ever since and has created a home from everyday objects and lots of sea shells. He offers shelter to local South Africans who are down on their luck and gives tours of his cave home to tourists. It was slightly weird, but interesting to say the least!

Magdelena, Kathi and I discovered that we were all going to be in Oudtshoorn, Mossel Bay, and Hermanus around the same time. I was very happy to have such fabulous company over the past two weeks!

Mossel Bay

After a detour inland to Outshoorn, I returned to the coast and wrapped up my Garden Route adventure in Mossel Bay. Magdalena, Kathi and I were joined by a German couple we met in Oudtshoorn, Jacqui and Fabian. They discovered that they live in neighboring towns in Germany. It's a very small world for Germans traveling in South Africa... it seems like every person I meet here is either from Germany or the Netherlands.

Mossel Bay was another beautiful coastal town.The Garden Route definitely lived up to my expectations of beautiful landscapes! The first night we watched dolphins swimming from the shore and enjoyed a delicious seafood buffet at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. We were laughing and joking about bedbugs - Jacqui had an absolute horror story of an apartment full of them - and I shared my own trials with the little devils. Of course bedbugs were at the front of everyone's mind when we turned in that night. After heading to bed, I got the first bite. "Just an errant mosquito" I thought as I drifted to sleep. Within an hour, I was covered in bites. I went to the bathroom to check myself and sure enough I found myself in ANOTHER bed bug situation. This now makes FIVE times on this trip alone. The little guys got me good, and once again I was very thankful for the massive supply of benadryl I packed for my trip. The hostel was very professional - they fumigated our dorm, our belongings, and upgraded us for the rest of our stay. I have only one more week on the road... I really hope bedbugs do not make up any more of my vacation time.

Jacqui and Fabian

The next day, the girls and another German friend, Christian, all decided to take the St. Blaize hiking trail that lined the cliffs of Mossel Bay. We were a little on edge because two locals warned us about going up there with anything of value. South Africa has a high crime rate, and tourists are easy pickings, even in a group of five. Jacqui didn't want to go without her phone in case of an emergency and I was very thankful because she took the only pictures we have of that day. The coastline was stunning and fortunately we hiked for a few hours without incident.

That afternoon, I strolled down to the main beach and took a short walk up to the lighthouse. Some of my favorite photos are below. Magdalena, Kathi and I cooked a Braai (BBQ) at the backpackers that night complete with chicken, boerwurst, and ratatouille. It took quite awhile to make, but it was delicious!

On my last day in Mossel Bay, the group went to a local coffee place that was purported to have "the best coffee in South Africa." It was definitely a nice coffee shop complete with a lovely garden and a nice view.

We all hit the shops afterwards and then Jacqui, Fabian and I had to catch the Baz Bus to Swellendam.