Knysna, Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn

Knysna is located beautifully on the Garden Route. It is an idyllic lagoon town and in some travel reports it is called 'the pearl of the Garden Route'. It's all in the eye of the beholder and since I am wearing multifocal glasses ;-), I refer to Knysna as a gem of the Garden Route. Daniela sees it through a completely different lens and she thinks it's more like a retirement dream for seniors, but not as bad as Florida... any average Düsseldorf inhabitant would feel very comfortable here ;-) Yes, everyone has their own perspective. We quickly visited the sights of Knysna and then drove to Mossel Bay. Well, MB has much more charm and had much more to offer for us, not just high society tourism. In MB, we watched the whales from a viewpoint. It was amazing to see them spinning in the water and hitting the water with their huge fins. There were also some surfers in the water. They were really good, it looked awesome how they surfed on the waves. We didn't see any sharks there! from MB, we went back to Knysna to our truly fantastic accommodation. We had a breathtaking view of the lagoon :-).

Last night, we decided to drive back into the mountains. Oudtshoorn is the ideal place for that. Johann, our host in Knysna, recommended a great accommodation there. It was quickly booked. We were given a lot of information about Oudtshoorn and the surrounding area.

This morning, we started at 9:00 a.m. Johann recommended an old mountain pass road for the route. I said, we don't have a 4x4 car. Oh, that's okay, it shouldn't be a problem.

Alright, off we went and we also found the way on the old pass road. At the beginning, the road was really great, but in some sections, our hearts almost stopped. But our little Japanese car managed the pass very well. The view from the pass to the mountains was very impressive for both of us. Somehow, this is South Africa for us. These endless landscapes and diverse sceneries are just a dream for us. Oudtshoorn is known for its ostrich, olive, and also wine farms. There are many charming old buildings and the people seem very friendly. Johann's recommendation regarding the accommodation was worth gold. We have a chalet with a small pool and the view of the mountains is stunning. Our bed is also positioned so that we can look at the mountains!

Since we have to take care of ourselves here, we went shopping earlier. We wanted to have a South African barbecue today. Daniela was kind enough to sit in front of the grill in the hot midday sun. We had ostrich meat, among other things. Absolutely delicious :-). After that, we put our well-satiated bodies in the pool and chilled out for a bit.

Tomorrow, we will drive over the Swartberg Mountains Pass and explore the other side of the mountains. The landscape there is supposed to be completely different from here.

Many greetings, Anke and Daniela