Cape Town to Port Elizabeth
We are 9 days in and we have seen so much all ready. 1200km down and what a route we have taken. We left Cape Town and headed for the Mountains on the R62. The landscape was so beautiful, winding roads and giant mountains, we even saw a large fire that had started on the side of the mountain due to the dry heat, luckily, they are quick to respond and the fire was put out in a few hours using a helicopter to spread water. Our first two nights we camped at Montagu caravan park and met the lovely Marco and Lydia, they gave us some great tips on what routes to take to make it the most scenic. Montagu is a really quaint village famous for its dried fruits, peach halves are my favourite at the moment. We had lazy days and wandered round the village and exploring all the little craft shops.
From Montagu we headed along the R62 East, the temperature was up to 42 degrees C, we drove past Barrydale where they had the famous, ‘Ronnie’s Sex Shop’, which is a pub located on the outskirts of a tiny village with not much to speak of, bras hang from the ceiling and graffiti and names cover the walls and ceilings. We took a detour from the R62 on to the R327 to go through the Rooiberg Pass (one of Marco’s recomendations). It was absolutely stunning, a gravel single track road only passable with a 4x4, sheer drops overlooking the mountains and not another car in sight. We wound through the mountains for 2 hours before we rejoined the R62 and headed to Oudtshoorn and up to Cango Mountain Resort where we camped for one night. Other than a youth cricket team in the hostel we had the whole camp site to ourselves. After an early night and much needed sleep the next day we went off to explore the waterfalls that were only 7km away, the height of the waterfalls was spectacular, it was as if you couldn’t see the top, the mountain face had a multitude of colours formed over hundreds of years, a very beautiful enchanting place. We followed the gravel road to De Rust and joined the R341 to Barandas, we decided due to the heat that we would head south and get by the ocean to cool off. We went through another stunning pass, Prince Alfred’s, where the land is lush and mountainous, cows dotted along the way before arriving into Knysna National Park, weaving our way down to the coastline. We camped at the wonderful Lake Pleasant Resort, just outside of Sedgefield for 3 nights, it was just what we needed.
At lake pleasant you could take out canoes and boats onto the lake, the lake is somewhat of a mystery. It was formed over 1000 years ago from the sea, all the surrounding lakes are salt water lakes, however, this lake is a fresh water lake and remains a mystery to this day. We also went walking into Sedgefield and down to Myoli beach, we tested out the locals farmer market which was amazing and then went to Buffalo Beach for some R&R.
After an amazing 3 nights we set off on the road again to Port Elizabeth, along the way we saw the stunning Natures Valley where the beach stretches for miles, with the lake sitting proudly behind surrounded by lush mountains. We then took the back roads to head into Port Elizabeth to come and stay with a friend Martijn in his lovely home with his two children, Sophie and Noah (who are also lovely), the bed was like heaven after a week in the tent! We caught up, had delicious food and went on a side trip to Addo Elephant National Park.
Within the park we were spoilt for choice with all the elephants that roam free, every watering hole had a host of elephants and a warthog or two thrown in for good measure. Zebra, roamed the open land alongside Duiker, Kudu and Nyala. Water buffalo hid in the bushes while the Warthogs were scattered all over the land. A few Ostrich, tortoises and dung beetles also thrown in for good measure. A wonderful day driving through the nature reserve taking in every sighting possible.
Tomorrow we are heading off to the Transkei, so I am sure there will be lots to tell in another week or so.
If you have made it this far, thanks for reading and joining us on our journey.
