After wandering around the west and southwest of the country for about 5 weeks (see part 1 en part 2), we have fallen in love with overlanding South Africa. The nature is overwhelming and the people are super friendly! Time to just keep going. The third part of the blog starts at Knysna.
As you are used to from us, you now start watching the video again.
We (Cor and Grietje van NoFear Travel), travel with our Toyota Hilux 4×4 camper. The African continent is the Mecca for 'overlanding' with many challenging routes and beautiful destinations. The first African country we visited during our trip to South Africa is Morocco, followed by Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast en Ghana. After a stopover in the Netherlands, we continue our overland journey through Africa. We drove on Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, Angola, Zambia en Botswana.
Knysna – Plettenberg Bay
In the region Knysna – Plattenberg Bay we notice the wealth. We see more of these types of places along the coast. We see a lot of luxury here, everything is neat, large villas and ditto cars.
We drive through residential areas such as Heads and Leisure Island, where we hardly see the white residents. With the exception of a few retirees, they are apparently at work or perhaps on the golf course. No, the work in the neighborhood such as street sweeping, garden maintenance, collecting the garbage or other low-skilled jobs are done by the colored part of the population. And so you see that the differences between white and black are still very much present today.
We were referred to the TV program Frontlinie, in which journalist Bram Vermeulen reports on current South Africa. And in particular the role of the extreme whites who still have little regard for the black population.
In Knysna we do some necessary shopping and quickly return to nature.
Primeval forest walk
And so we take a gravel road that leads to a primeval forest with a number of hiking trails. It rained heavily yesterday and last night and that means that the roads are bad and there are some floods here and there.
Halfway there is a fallen tree across the road. We can choose: either back, or pull the tree to the side with the winch.
We choose option two, we don't like driving back.
Fortunately, we stayed dry during the walk (Black Elephants hike). But the tight paths are soaking wet and have largely turned into water channels.
We have to cross the resulting rivers a number of times. Sometimes we just take off our shoes to keep things a little dry. In the forest we see a number of ancient trees that are around 600 years old.
Fast-flowing rivers | Overlanding in South Africa
Robberg
Near Plettenberg Bay we find Robberg, a peninsula where we also take a walk. In our opinion, the walk of about nine kilometers and quite a few ups and downs is a must-do if you are in the area. Wow, what views while clambering over the rocks along the coast. The powerful waves crash hard on the rocky coast. There are a few colonies of seals that mainly live in the rough waves. A little further away is another island that is connected to the peninsula by a sandy beach. Very special!
Shark watch
On the Robberg we meet a volunteer from the “shark watch”. The fifty-year-old talks about his job as a shark spotter. About 30 meters above sea level, he scans the bay with his binoculars. Or look for sharks. Sharks don't dive above the water's surface like seals and whales, so it keeps an eye on the shadows. In 2022, two swimmers died here from shark bites. The sharks, which are about 6 meters long, are found throughout the coastal region, 14 volunteers are in contact together to give beach and swimming guests a somewhat safe feeling.
Bloukrans River Bungee Jump
Bucket list-thing... Cor has long wanted to go Bungee jumping, but in a special place, and not from a telecrane at the fair.
One of the world's most unique places for this is the Bloukrans River. Near the mouth, in the Indian Ocean. And now that we're here...
In addition to jumping from the 216 meter high arch bridge, you can do a skywalk. This means that you walk on the arch of the bridge, high above the gorge. Special in itself. You will also receive an explanation about the history of Bungee jumping in this gorge through a modest museum.
The tour ends at the place where the jumpers muster the last courage to make the leap into the deep.
Here you can hang far over the edge, hanging on a rope. An absolute “no-go zone” for people with a fear of heights.
Here at this point Cor decides to make the jump. Grietje doesn't see the point in it.
The extremely friendly, helpful staff will give you the latest instructions and help you with the right belts. The elastic that you will have to catch later will be carefully tied around your ankles.
And then, on the edge…and going.
You don't have/don't get much time to think.
Countdown from 5. The adrenaline is rushing through the body.
The free fall lasts 4-5 seconds. Then you are slowly slowed down by the elastic. You hang upside down and you feel pressure on your head, before the elastic whips you up again.
If you dive headfirst into the valley like this, you will be quite disoriented. Everything is green around you.
You dangle up and down a few more times and then you are lifted up. The enthusiastic employees immediately ask if you would like to come again. “Well, not today.”
Conclusion: fantastic experience, I wouldn't have wanted to miss it, but that's okay for now!
Storms River Mouth
We think a visit to the mouth of the Storms River is very worthwhile. We camp on a well-maintained campsite right on the coast. The place where the enormous waves crash against the rocks with unimaginable force. We can't get enough of it!
Fortunately the weather has changed, about 19-20 degrees with a lovely sun. This way we can spot waves all day long next to the camper on our own terrace.
But when it is time to do something active again the next day, we opt for an adventurous canoe trip on the Storms River. We start at the rental company which is just around the corner from the estuary. Because the sea is a little calmer today, we can enter the gorge via the sea, under the suspension bridge.
And that is very impressive. The high walls of the narrow gorge allow only a little sun to shine through in the middle of the day.
We sail a few hundred meters upstream until we can't go any further because of the rocks in the water. We walk over it to transfer to floating sunbeds. Fortunately, we are wearing wetsuits that keep us warm in the 8 degree cold water.
A beautiful experience!
Addo Elephant National Park
Having Addo Elephant National Park is a highly regarded wildlife park which is therefore visited by hordes of tourists. And of course we won't skip the park. The park was established in 1931 and was originally intended to protect elephants. But now there is a wide variety of game. The area of the park is quite large, about half the size of a Dutch province. But the part where wild animals reside is less than half. The park is actually quite fragmented, with each part having its own specialty.
We enter the park via the south side where initially there is a lot of low, dense vegetation. Spotting game is therefore hardly possible. When we get to the northern part we understand why the park is so popular. Large plains with countless animals. Hilly, which sometimes provides beautiful views.
We spotted elephants, kudus, red hartebeest, zebras, warthogs, black rhinos, buffalo, ostriches and mongooses.
For us, a day in the park was enough, although you can stay longer, especially if you take a look at the museum at the main entrance.
Baviaanskloof
This gorge is named after the Dutch word for Baboons, the most common monkey species in Africa, if you ask us. Also loved and hated. They can be very annoying and in some cases dangerous. But at the same time they are protected on all sides.
Anyway, that gorge runs from Patensie to Willowmore vv, parallel to the south coast.
We start our ride in Patensie, which is chock full of citrus farmers. Oranges, lemons and tangerines as far as the eye can see, many thousands of hectares.
Initially we don't think the ride is that special. Our 4×4 comes in handy in certain sections. Deep trenches and lots of rough rock make it inaccessible for a normal car.
We spend the night with a farmer with 5000 hectares of land. Not special, most of it is rock, which you can't do anything with as a farmer. Except for a unique camping spot created under an overhanging rock along a babbling river. How special do you want it?
The next day, on the way to Willowmore, we only begin to understand why it is so popular here. The gorge becomes narrower and the rock walls more impressive and higher. We pass many dozens of river crossings and are completely at ease.
Due to the heavy rainfall recently, the fords are sometimes quite deep, about 50 centimeters. But yes, you don't always know that in advance and checking every time is also a hassle. And so it remains exciting.
When we arrive in Willowmore, we treat ourselves to a delicious lunch and learn about the many Angora goats that are responsible for a large part of the world's mohair production. A luxurious type of wool.
Camdeboo NP
It should be clear by now that nature and mountains play an important role in our travels. We visit many (also lesser-known) national parks and always make new discoveries.
So we were in Camdeboo NP, near the village of Graaf-Reinet, where we started with a walk of about 16 kilometers. We spotted zebras and just in front of us a kudu darted out of the bushes. But then we see a turtle, quite a big one. Such a slow reptile is easy to photograph, so we make great use of it. It turns out to be a turtoise, land turtle.
Another part of the park is the Valley of Desolation, a winding road that climbs steeply to about 1350 meters. Once we reach the top, we are presented with a unique and breathtaking view. On the one hand a beautiful helicopter view of Graaf-Reinet and on the other hand rock formations to die for.
The park also includes a relatively small part where mainly deer can be spotted. No felines, elephants, giraffes, etc.
Mountain Zebra National Park
We have now become a bit of a fan of the national parks managed by SAN. It is all friendly, well cared for and campsites are tidy
usually clean and well-maintained sanitary facilities.
It is no different at the Mountain Zebra NP, except that the campsite is pleasantly busy. There is a South African holiday going on and that is bringing in extra people.
We choose a number of self-drive 4×4 routes through the park.
And “4×4” it certainly is, a challenge in itself.
Get up early on Sunday morning to be in time for the sunrise.
Oooh, this is so beautiful. Just as the sun rises above a mountain ridge we see springbok, wildebeest and zebra in large herds in patches of morning mist. The route continues along rocks and over vast plains. We spotted gemsbok, buffalo, hartebeest and kudu. A little later we are surprised by a black backed jackal, a kind of cunning fox.
Sunrise | Overlanding in South Africa
In the afternoon we hit the road again and see things we never thought possible in our wildest dreams. Not too far from the campsite we see 5 cheetahs that have just grazed a kudu. The kudu is located right along the gravel path. It's incredible, that's how close we can get. The five of them tear and pull at their prey. They look up for a moment when they see us, but then continue to devour the victim, hardly disturbed.
We are quite impressed to be able to experience this up close.
And if it's not enough, a little later we see 4 lions. What kings!
They are a bit at a distance, but we can see them quite well.
Then we drive on and enjoy the mountain landscape to the fullest again.
Almost back we see another moose. We hadn't spotted that one yet. What a day!
From the Mountain Zebra NP we go much further north, off the beaten track and a little more in search of the “real” South Africa.
More about that in part 4.
