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Garden Route

The Garden Route journey begins in Mossel Bay - first discovered by the Portuguese navigator, Bartholomeu Dias, in 1488. Attractions here include the Bartholomeu Museum and Old Post Office Tree. Bungee jumping and bridge swinging is offered at nearby Gouritz River mouth and daily boat trips to Seal Island and shark-cage diving draws many visitors.

Contrasting sharply with the lush coast, Oudtshoorn is reached by travelling inland over the Robinson Pass. This area is the focal point of the ostrich industry and guided tours of show farms explain all the facets of the ostrich business culminating in an ‘ostrich derby’. 
The Cango Caves were formed more than 65 million years ago and are ranked among the most remarkable of Africa’s natural wonders. Guided daily tours yield a marvellous fantasia of weirdly sculpted, multi-coloured stalagmites and stalactites. Nearby attraction, the Cango Wildlife Ranch, houses one of the world’s top cheetah-breeding centres.

George, the largest of the Garden Route towns, is close to the delightful little village of Victoria Bay, well-known and popular as a surf destination.

Celebrated for its fresh oysters and fine hardwood furniture is the historical town of Knysna located on the banks of the estuary and often referred to as the ‘Jewel of the Garden Route’.
 
A little further east lies Plettenberg Bay, a beach-lover’s paradise where long stretches of soft sand give way to azure seas. Almost 40 species of whales and dolphins have been recorded here and are to be seen on various boat excursions.
  
For the brave at heart there is a treetop canopy tour through the Tsitsikamma forest or bungee jumping off the 216 metre high Bloukrans River Bridge - the highest jump in the world! 
Completing the Garden Route to the northeast is the friendly city of Port Elizabeth - gateway to the Malaria-free game reserves of the Eastern Cape and a Malaria-free family vacation.

Leisure activities along the Garden Route include golf, bowls, horse riding, angling, sailing, blackwater tubing, abseiling, mountain biking, scuba-diving and surfing, as well as hiking and bird-watching in the nearby Robberg, Keurbooms River and Tsitsikamma nature reserves.
Visitors to the area may also use the opportunity to walk and interact with elephants at the elephant sanctuary at The Crags or to visit the primate sanctuary of Monkeyland.