From Greyton, we journeyed across to the Bontibok Reserve where we camped for the night. The road in was long and bumpy, so by the time we had put the tent up, we couldnt be bothered travelling back out to eat. The shop at the Reserve is very basic, so we bought a bottle of wine and a large packet of crisps for our evening meal! It was delicious!
The walking at the Reserve is lovely, especially the trail over the well named Aloe Hill down to the river.
Monday, 6th December 2010
The next morning, we woke up to Bontiboks in the campsite so we didnt need to do the bumpy drive to see them.
Then we set off along the Garden Route via Mussel Bay to Knynsa. The drive was a little bit disappointing as we expected so much more. Knysna was more built up than expected and the bay, which harbours rare seahorses, had been extensively built on. We did have a lovely lunch at the Ile de Pain close to the Waterfront.
From there we drove past Plettenburg to Wildnerness, which we renamed 'non Wilderness', to stay the night at a San Park. It was a nice place, quiet, cheap to stay, but quite built up all around it. We went for a short walk but found the walkways were not clearly marked and some of the trails hadn't been walked for years! The area was also surrounded by pine forests which we found surprising.
The beach at Wilderness
Tuesday, 7th December 2010
From Wilderness we drove along the old road from Knysna to Nature Valley; the road had several kilometres of unpaved road, but passed through beautiful valleys so was worth the drive, although still not as wild as the Brede River.
We saw a Jackal buzzard perched at the side of the road, and also did a walk past an 800 year old Yellowood tree. Wild flowers were abundant.
Nature Valley is another San Parks owned site, but is gorgeous and so much wilder than Wilderness. We managed to get hold of one of the chalets - they are triangular huts with a balcony area, but no bathroom. Most are situated on the side of the river, and each is surrounded by trees so they are quite private. Vervet monkeys came over to see us.
Wednesday, 8th December 2010
Next day, we drove up to the Tsistikamma Reserve; this place was simply fantastic and the best part of the Garden Route. We walked the Otter trail to the Waterfall (about 8km) and had to rockbob along the path which was great.
On the way back we saw lots of Rock Dassies with babies.
After a lovely late lunch, we walked the other way to the rope bridges and saw more Dassies!
We returned to a new cabin at Nature Valley for another quiet nights sleep.
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