4-Day Garden Route Tour – SCCE – Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) – Cape Town

This 4 day Garden Route guided tour departs daily from Gqeberha and offers a relaxed way to view the exceptionally scenic Garden Route area. Our hand-picked overnight accommodations add to the comfort and luxury.

DAY 1 Gqeberha – Garden Route – Knysna

You depart from Gqeberha / Port Elizabeth on the Garden Route, so-called because of its lush, green scenery looking much like gardens along the N2 national route to the Storms River. This is the beginning of the Garden Route – with the impressive Paul Sauer Bridge across the valley towering some one hundred and thirty- nine metres above the river.

Your next stop is at Tsitsikamma National Park (Khoisan for the place of much water), stretching over one hundred kilometres of wild and rocky coastline. It is characterized by massive cliffs, narrow, isolated beaches, and shady indigenous forests along the river valleys. Here you can do a relatively relaxing walk/hike to the suspension bridge stretching over the mouth of the Storms River.

Afterwards, we travel to The Bloukrans Bridge, 216 meters (709 feet) above the Bloukrans River. The Bloukrans Bungee is the world’s highest commercial bungee bridge and the highest commercial natural bungee jump!

Travel further and before entering Plettenberg Bay, stop at the Birds of Eden. This unique two-hectare dome (the world’s largest) spans over a gorge of indigenous forest. More than 3,500 birds from over 220 species, with the main focus being African birds, live. Then a short to Monkeyland, the worlds first free roaming multi-specie primate sanctuary. On this visit, you can expect to see various primates, ranging from the Gibbons of Asia to the Lemurs of Madagascar. More than 700 primates live at the sanctuary.

Then continue further to Knysna.  On the edge of the Knysna Lagoon with its entrance to the sea are two promontories known as the ‘Heads’. The area also falls within a National Park proclaimed to conserve the extraordinary natural beauty of the Lakeland and adjacent indigenous forests. Knysna also offers shopping opportunities of unusual locally made art and craft, etc. Overnight in Knysna at the Augusta Bay Lodge.

DAY 2   George – Oudtshoorn (Garden Route)

Spend the morning in Knysna. Then continue westwards, and you experience some of the most magical views on the Garden Route and Wilderness National Park and scenic viewpoints along the way. Travel over the Outeniqua Mountains to the Little Karoo. Here we visit the Cango Wildlife Ranch and Valley of Ancients, an endangered species breeding facility extraordinaire. Then travel to our hotel—overnight La Plume Lodge.

DAY 3 Oudtshoorn – Mossel Bay (Garden Route)

After breakfast, you visit an Ostrich Show Farm for some unique experiences with these strange birds!  Travel further for a visit to the Cango caves, regarded as one of South Africa’s foremost natural wonders. The fascinating calcite caves comprise an underground wonderland of, above all, stalactites and stalagmites. Visit Oudtshoorn, also called the “Feather capital” of the world. We find over ninety per cent of the world’s ostrich farms here. Continue to Mossel Bay, where you spend the night.

DAY 4 Swellendam – Hermanus – Cape Town

You visit arguably the oldest post office in Africa, the Post Office Tree. The Portuguese explorer, Bartholomew Dias, made landfall here in 1488.  Continue to Hermanus, the best place in the World to spot Whales from land – (July to Dec). After lunch, we travel further towards Cape Town via the beautiful coastal drive between Hermanus and Gordon’s Bay, arriving late afternoon.

OTHER TOURS YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

4-Day Garden Route Tour (Code: SCCD) – Cape Town to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth))

3-Day Garden Route Tour (Code: SCCB) – Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) to Cape Town)

4-Day Garden Route Tour (Code: SCCH – From and return to Cape Town)

6-Day Coastal Explorer Tour (Code: SCDP or in reverse, Code: SCCP)