Lucyandon's Adventures

Apr 9

Garden Route : Knysna

We arrive at yet another superb B&B, thanks to Don’s diligent research, Cambalala Guest House, located on the hillside with views over the lagoon and town. Our host, Nicole warmly greats us and happily offers advice on what to do in the area. Don manages to fit in another game of golf at Pezula. Happy man (who gets plenty of golf) = happy wife (who gets 4hrs to relax by the pool).

Exploring the region further we check out both the East and West heads, with spectacular views up and down the coast, 20min up the road is Plettenberg, a larger town but no less pleasant, we find a beachside café serving up prawns for lunch. We have been very fortunate with the weather throughout the trip, experiencing the last warm days before autumn.

Our last dinner in Knysna is at the Olive Tree, a nondescript restaurant in the main street of town. We had earlier declined Nicole’s recommendation to dine here, hoping to enjoy a seafood dinner watching the sunset from a vantage point on Thesen Island. We check out three options, all with great views of the heads, but all with 20+ page menus with pictures – be scared when the menu has pictures (unless in Asia when this can be helpful)!

We opted to return back to the Olive Tree, which was a wise choice. They squeezed us in to a fully booked restaurant by setting us at the bar, a menu of 6 or so choices; the beef filet was incredibly tender and they couldn’t have been more welcoming. Lesson learnt – stick with the locals recommendations!!

Our last day in Knysna was a trip highlight, we got up early to meet 7 gorgeous elephants for breakfast and take a ride on them. The Knysna Elephant park is dedicated to rescuing elephants and has 9 in its care. Having had such a wonderful experience on our Safari’s it was an incredible way to finish; being up close and personal with these gentle giants.

View from B & B

Knysna Sunset

Brenton-on-sea, Knysna

Trying out the camera effects

Lunch in Plettenberg

Mist rolling in the heads

Morning with the elephants

All smiles

Delicate balance

Don hugging an Elephant!

Apr 6

Golf at Fancourt

It’s a 4hr drive to Fancourt, our next stop. For those non golfers, Fancourt is a golf resort, not just your average golf resort, it hosted the Presidents Cup in 2004. I am sure you can work out why we are staying there; Don is almost frothing at the mouth, as it’s been 4 weeks or more since he picked up a club! Fancourt is your typical 5 star resort, I probably shouldn’t be so blaze about a 5 star resort as it is most likely the last we stay at for a while, but there is something a bit clinical and sterile about the place.

Don and I venture out for 9 holes the afternoon we arrive. A unique experience for us is opting to use a caddy. I felt a bit uncomfortable at first but the more people you can help keep employed in Africa the better, its pretty cheap for us, but its a reasonable income for the caddy. I could certainly get used to playing with a caddy. It is a scenic course and I even manage a birdie on the 8th (a par 3)!

The next day, Don plays the renowned links course while I indulge in a 3 hour spa treatment (which is 1/2 the cost of the golf). In the afternoon we travel an hour to Knysna, our last stop before heading to London (via a one night stop in Johannesburg).

Montagu Course

My type of golf!

Serious about his golf

Birdie!

Caddy giving Don a few tips

Links Course

Links Course Fancourt

Apr 4

Cape Town & Stellenbosch

We spent three nights in Cape Town at Parker Cottage. The B&B is gorgeous, but what made our stay even more special is the genuine interest and attention to guests that is provided by Phil, Tomas and the team. Phil greets us at breakfast and inquires if we wanted some assistance in planning our stay in Cape Town. By the time we are ready to begin the day exploring around town, we have tickets in hand for the tourist bus and Table Mountain cable car, a walking itinerary for the day and dinner reservations at Aubergine.

After the five (yes 5) course breakfast we need to walk all day if we are going to even think about dinner! This is the first exercise we’ve had since arriving! We walked through town and visited the Slave Lodge museum which was eye-opening to the plight of slaves and provided a great overview on the history of apartheid. Hard to believe it was only abolished in 1991 and it’s clear that the vestiges of apartheid still influence South African society today.

The next day we took a scenic day drive down the southern peninsula towards the Cape of Good Hope, passing through quaint fishing villages and seaside towns. We braved a roadside street stall to inspect the local ‘hand-made’ wares. We couldn’t refuse the 50% price reduction and bought a little stone hippo. Around the corner was an Ostrich farm which looked interesting and we stopped to watch these inquisitive birds strut around their pen, looking for the opportunity to give you a good peck!

Hout Bay is meant to be a must see spot, but it was a little disappointing (the scenic pass was closed),so we opted for a long lunch at Camps Bay which was delightful.

Cape Town had a lot to offer and you could certainly spend a week exploring the streets and dining at great restaurants – Phil (Parker Cottage) is insistent we will be back and you could come back to just enjoy his superb hospitality which even continued into Stellenbosch. But before I explain, on the way to Stellenbosch we stopped at the old biscuit mill which has been converted into shops promoting up and coming local designers. One of the things we have been surprised about is how cheap Africa is, pity this is not a shopping trip!

Stellenbosch is only a 1hr drive from Cape Town and we have a 2 o’clock lunch reservation (of course, thanks to Phil) at Cuveé on the Simonsig Estate. Again, our expectations are exceeded with a sumptuous meal, matching wines and superb view.

Phil has also booked us a private wine tasting at a small boutique winery called Rainbow’s End. The car struggles up a steep and bumpy dirt road, we are heading into a narrow valley surrounded by majestic cliffs with vines running up the side. We meet Heinrich at the farm gates and he takes us further into the winery in his 4 wheel drive. He gives us an overview of the winery, its history and the traditional french influences under which the wine is made, many are very labour intensive, including the (still used) by-hand wooden crusher sitting in the yard. The wines are superb and the view magnificent. Phil has once again not let us down and we have a wonderful afternoon. Of course we felt obliged to buy a few (dozen) wines to see us through our travels along the Garden Route.

We spent a morning just meandering through the town of Stellenbosch which I would describe as Double Bay (Sydney) meets Yarra Valley (Victoria). This quaint town clearly has money, even the tourist shops with the same wood carved mementos of Africa (we see everywhere) are up market. The next town in the region is Franschhoek, a bit smaller, but the one main street is lined with restaurants and those same mementos (as you can tell I am a little over the trinkets), it’s all a bit same same. We do stumble on a picturesque winery/restaurant, La Petite Fermé, with superb views over the valley and enjoy a glass of rosé.