The Garden Route

First of all, the Garden Route is the route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and is very well known among tourists, thanks to the numerous small coastal towns and activities such as bungee jumping, cliff jumping, sand surfing, surfing, etc. I did the whole route with the Baz Bus, a hop on hop off bus company for backpackers that unfortunately does not run every day, as I had to find out. That's why my Garden Route only went as far as Knysna, about halfway along the entire route, which was completely sufficient for me.

My first stop was Hermanus. A place that is mainly known for whale watching, but I was there at completely the wrong time of year and unfortunately didn't see any whales. Instead, I met two German girls and we went for a hike along the coast. By the way, it's not a big coincidence that the two of them were German, as about every second tourist here is from Germany. My second stop was Mossel Bay. There, I stayed in an old train that was converted into a hostel. The train was right on the beach, so I could hear the sound of the sea when falling asleep. That, and a pretty cool coffee shop, were the highlights in Mossel Bay because I was unlucky with the weather. Next up was Wilderness, which I had chosen mainly because of the name. The hostel there was more like a hippie commune and really lived up to the name Wilderness. My last stop was Knysna, where, thanks to the punctuality of the Baz Bus, I only had less than 24 hours, but it was enough time for a cappuccino at the waterfront. After that, I drove back to Cape Town for 10 hours and was glad to be back in 'my hostel'.