We started this epic 9-day journey in Port Elizabeth where we made a visit to the Donkin Reserve & spend the night at the Island Vibe Backpackers.
Day 2 started with a visit to the Kragga Kamma Game Reserve where we observed numerous animals roaming in a free, safe & well maintained area before making a visit to the surfing town of Jeffreys Bay & the Tsitsikamma ‘Big-Tree’ before visiting the beautiful Tsitsikamma National park situated at the Stormsriver mouth. Here we spend the night in there lovely wooden chalets and enjoyed a hike on the ‘Waterfall Trail’ that leads to a stunning waterfall with wild seas & beautiful plantation of this pristine area where forest meets ocean.
Day 3 started with a hike on the ‘Loerie/Blue Duiker Trail’, before making our way to ‘The Crags’ to visit Monkey Land, a monkey sanctuary that looks after and rehabilitate monkeys that was saved from harsh environments. Interestingly only 1 of the 11 species that inhabit this sanctuary, is an local South African specie namely the Vervet Monkey, the other 10 are from all over the globe & they’re quite unique & beautiful in their own way. After the visit to Monkey land we made our way the Plettenberg Bay & the Robberg Nature Reserve where we enjoyed a hike around this unique peninsula & witnessed some amazing views of the beaches and rock formations and wildlife like the seals that inhabit the island as well as numerous bird species. We’ve spend the night at the Plettenberg Bay Beachfront accommodation.
Day 4 we visited the Knysna Elephant Park, an Elephant Sanctuary for African elephants that looks after and rehabilitate these magnificent beasts. You are given the opportunity to spend time with them, feed them, feel them, rub theme.. It’s truly a personal once in a life time experience. What is also nice is that you get educated about the African Elephant and there history in the surrounding areas and you learn how intelligent they really are. After our visit to the Knysna Elephant Park, we visited the beautiful town of Knysna & the Goldfield State Forest just outside Rheenendal that is the entry point to the Knysna Forest where we enjoyed a hike on the ‘Circles in the Forest Hiking Trail’ as well as the ‘Jubilee Creek Hiking Trail’ that makes its way up a beautiful river that leads to a waterfall. This area was also mined years ago for gold and you can still witness the old mine shafts on the hiking trail. It’s also interesting to know that this forest was inhabited by elephants about 80 – 100 years ago but there numbers did drop considerably as they came in contact with miners & woodcutters. We ended the day with a hike to a beautiful waterfall in Wilderness on the ‘Half-Collared Kingfisher Trail’
Day 5 we departed to the Garden Route Game Reserve to experience a guided game drive and witnessed amazing antelope species as well as the mighty lion, buffalo, elephant, giraffe, rhino, hippopotamus as well as bird species. After the game drive we made our way to Gansbaai where we spend the night at the Gansbaai backpackers.
Day 6 we made our way to the whaling town of Hermanus followed by a hike up the ‘Kogelberg Route Hiking Trail (24km)’ which took us up & down vast mountain & ravine sections in the Kogelberg Nature Reserve which is also Unesco World Heritage Site and is world renowned for its natural & undisturbed fauna & flora as well as ‘fyn bos’(Fine bush). We then made our way to Betties Bay & Stoney Point to witness the African penguin in their natural environment. It’s quite amazing to see these magnificent swimmers living quite a big colony. We spend the evening at the recommended Bayside Beach House, where Garth made us feel at home and was a great experience.
Day 7 we made our way to Cape Town via the beautiful coastal road of Clarence drive and Lions Head for an hike up this one of a kind mountain as well as visiting the V&A Waterfront, Camps Bay, Sea Point & Hout Bay where we stayed over the last 2 nights at the Hout Bay Backpackers.
Day 8 was probably the highlight of the tour as we had beautiful weather and made our way to another Unesco World Heritage Site, the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. Here was also the starting point of our epic hike up Skeleton Gorge to the top of one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Table Mountain. When experience a hike around the mountain, you can expect to witness unbelievable views of the city of Cape Town as well as fauna & flora that inhabit the mountain. Our day finished by experiencing a most beautiful sunset at Llandudno Beach.
Day 9 we left for Cape Town International airport and the tour came to an end. Most of our meals that we had for dinner was real South African dishes that included traditional ‘Braai-vleis’ (bbq-lamb-sausage), salad, Ostrich, Snoek (Fish), Vegetables, the odd Biltong & ‘droewors’ & rusks of course. Below is some of the photos I managed to capture of the tour. Come and explore our beautiful coastline in South Africa with RR Tours! 
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