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not many things could tear me away from cape town (it is the best city in the world, after all), but i have heard such amazing things about the garden route and i already knew i loved south africa so felt like i needed to see more of the country — so off i went!

the garden route is the coastline along the bottom of south africa, named for its lush vegetation and characterized by jagged cliffsides, long stretches of pristine beach, small towns with quaint character, and just a ton of raw, rugged, natural beauty. it goes from cape town to port elizabeth, with stops including mossel bay, wilderness, knsyna, plettenberg bay, the crags, storms river/tsitsikamma national park, jeffreys bay, and port elizabeth.

many people rent a car, but i partnered with baz bus for my trip, which is a hop on hop off bus that does the route 5x a week and drops you directly at the doorstop of your accommodation, as long as it’s on their list. as i’m a solo traveller who drives on the other side of the road, baz bus was the best option for me! it’s super easy, reliable, safe, and *bonus* it has wifi on board ;) i was stoked to be able to partner with baz bus and take over their Instagram for my trip!

for me, the garden route was beautiful, peaceful and quiet, and it got better with each stop. the nature was so pretty in general, with some spots (Knysna Heads, Tsitsikamma Park) literally taking my breath away. i’m so glad i got to see more of this naturally beautiful, diverse country.

but the biggest takeaway for my garden route experience was getting OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE — to the next level.

it wasn’t easy for me to leave cape town, to be honest. i have built up such an amazing, comfortable life there, from the relationships i’ve built to my home at Atlantic Point Backpackers to my day-to-day of working from cute cafes, going for hikes or runs, and just soaking in that cape town lifestyle.

as soon as i got out of cape town and was sitting on that bus, listening to my tunes (i love transit days for this reason) i was reminded of the IMPORTANCE of getting out of your comfort zone (sorry i’m yelling, i feel very passionately about this lol) — i was back to a solo travel life (which is where i thrive), going to unfamiliar places, missing my friends and my life but about to take on some undiscovered adventures. this is what life is about, people. comfort is the easy part. adventure is where we grow.

so that was my first step out of my comfort zone. then i took on two of the most insane, terrifying, out-of-character adventures i’ve ever done in my entire life.

first was canyoning with Africanyon, second was jumping off the world’s highest bungee bridge with Face Adrenalin.

… i started to type all this out here but realized they each deserve a blog post of their own. so stay tuned for those (lol *loves a good cliffhanger*).

but now let’s dive into the route!!! message me on insta or post in the comments if you have ANY questions for your own garden route trip!! and a huge thank you to Baz Bus and all the hostels and tour companies who made this possible and E P I C for me!

mossel bay:

fishing village, very small and quaint (it’s about 1 main street), with a beautiful promenade leading to some tidal pools and stunning cliffside leading up to the lighthouse. i saw a v dramatic sunset here and it was my first taste of garden route magic.
stayed at mossel bay backpackers in a private room and it was UNREAL i had a JACUZZI tub and could walk right out my door to the pool!!!!
activities: the new zipline over said tidal pools, hike the st blaize trail past the lighthouse, in season you can go cage shark diving for great whites (this is what i really wanted to do, apparently it’s best in september so i’ll have to come back!)

wilderness:

it’s beautiful here but i found it’d be best to have a car.
stayed a night at fairy knowe which is cool laid back hippie vibes but a bit far from town to walk, and then switched to beach house which has an unbelievable view of the sea, is a 3 min walk to the beautiful beach and 10 min walk to town.
i hiked the Kingfisher trail to the waterfall (1.25 hrs, beautiful walk, falls are stunning), went paragliding with Dolphin Paragliding (epic, smooth sailing over that endless, empty beach). wish i made it to the map of africa viewpoint or to fairy knowe on a weekend when there’s live music, i heard it’s a viiibbbbe.
went to blue olive 3x, their gourmet chicken burger is unreal and i loved the patio ambience. got a delish chicken salad at flava. worked from the green shed, a quirky and awesome cafe with a yummy cheese pesto sandwich.

knysna

pronounced “n-eye-z-na”. NYZna. nIEYzna. okay.
stayed at Island Vibe Knysna (which soon became my go-to hostel chain of the Garden Route) and was obsessed with the soundtrack coming from the bar. all my fave songs.
this was my fave so far - tbh the other stops kinda felt like old white retirement villages, very small town and affluent, which knysna has in spades as well but i also got more of a local vibe that i had back in kenya/rwanda/uganda/zanzibar. i walked into the club with a friend and we were the only white people, like ALL EYES on us, and it was a lil dose of... culture shock, i guess you could say? sorry for the people who think this is un-PC. anyway i think it’s healthy to be out of your comfort zone and immerse yourself in other cultures and that’s why i’m here!
i also LOVED knysna heads — absolutely STUNNING. they’re 2 limestone cliffs framing the lagoon which is made up of the most unreal shades of blue water, you can walk along the cliffside or go up to the viewpoint to watch the waves surging below. sooo beautiful. i need a vacay house here i think.
took a bolt to the heads and ate at east head cafe which had a lovely view of the lagoon
got the “sullivan street” sandwich from cafe dupois which was UNREAL, fresh bread, maple glazed chicken, bacon, brie, strawberries, omg i didnt eat for a day after that.

plettenberg bay

there’re a few nice hostels to choose from, i think they’re mostly set in residential homes, i stayed at nothando and it was lovely
my bestie sam from my cape town hostel came to visit me and we had the BEST time!! she is my rock and we gush about how grateful for each other we are literally every day. she is the cherry on top of my whole #lifein2point0.
defs go to viewpoint restaurant for the unreal beach views, get the cheese croissant at a french cafe Le Fournil de Plett.
we went to knysna elephant park and it was pretty amazing <3 you can pay 329 rand to feed them and then can walk, take photos, hang around as long as you want
wish i had longer to do the robberg hike, see the seals and snorkel with them — supposed to be epic!!!!
i then went canyoning with Africanyon about a 15-min drive from plett. it was the scariest/most… character-building… experience of my life and i have a separate blog post coming on it so STAY TUNED!

the crags

my most magical stop
come here for wild spirit hostel — it is a peaceful zen oasis in nature.
it reminded my of zephyr lodge in guatemala — remote, perched on the mountains, unreal sunrise.
SO MANY INSTAGRAM OPPS. cute old car vignettes on the field, a horse on the properties, crazy light fixture, i just felt like a prancing little pixie here honestly.
the vibe is hippie but not too hippie. did some yoga, strolled around the forest and down to the waterfall (a 30-min light hike)… the food is UNBELIEVABLE. that cold breakfast omg, so farm fresh.
walked to the farm stall for some fresh snacks while the pigs and chickens chilled around me.
in the evenings someone was singing and playing guitar around the fire. this place is just a huge vibe it is one of my top recos for the Garden Route.

storms river

this was my most epic stop.
stay at Tube n Axe, it is a STUNNING hostel that reminded me of guatemala as it has a mountain as the backdrop to its pool (except in guatemala it’d be a volcano but you get the vibe), i stayed in one of their suites and could not have felt more blessed after awhile of dorm bed sleeps, met some awesome peeps, it was just so so lovely i definitely recommend staying here!
first i explored the incredible Tsitsikamma National Park — i think it’s like $25 CAD to get in and you have the park to explore for the day. i did the quick hike to the suspension bridge and the scenery immediately took my breath away. emerald water, surging waves, dolphins right off the shore, dramatic cliffside, kayakers gliding into storms river mouth, which reminded me of ha long bay or something. went up to the viewpoint and took in that rugged beauty from the top.
then did the beginning of the Otter Trail, which took about 1.5 hours to get to the waterfall (and a lil less coming back) — THIS HIKE IS NOT EASY. it’s hardly a trail, you are more traversing across boulders and rocks (which are marked with yellow arrows otherwise you would be like um am i lost) but it was STUNNING right out the gate and then keeps getting more stunning. forest/jungley area, along the coast the whole time, a patch of caribbean-turquoise (but freezing) water where we swam, a giant cave, the rocks are all this crazy orange and white colour. if i wasn’t so lazy i’d google what makes it this colour for you but ya go see for yourself :D the waterfall is gorgeous too, right on the ocean, but the water is dark so i wouldn’t recommend swimming. anyway, tsitsikamma is DEFINITELY worth a visit!
then… jumped off the world’s highest bungee bridge. this was looming over me the whole trip, i didn’t wanna do it, but i woke up and made up my mind that i couldn’t not. i can’t even get into it here (stay tuned for the post) but this was where i learned to conquer fear itself and i can promise you i’ve never felt like more of a badass in my life. that adrenaline rush lasted days. if you’re thinking about it, DO IT, you will NOT REGRET IT.

jeffreys bay, or as i like to call it, j-baybay

surfing and shopping!! there are billabong ripcurl quiksilver etc factory outlets so i stocked up on bathing suits!
stay at Island Vibe Jeffreys Bay, it is one of the most epic hostel setups ive ever seen. the waves were crashing right outside my window. also the vibes are alwayssss lekkaaaa
get the savoury french toast (pesto arugula) at infood coffee society yuummm
just such a nice stretch of beach, was so nice to chill here after my bungee jump and close out my trip here.

port elizabeth

the last stop on the garden route, a real city unlike the small town vibes along the garden route so it was nice to go out and see humans again!
partied at white tiger/beer shack, eat at charlie’s pizza & pasta cafe it’s trendy and adorable (there’s more than pizza & pasta here)
stayed at Island Vibe of course, it’s a giant manor with a view of the harbour and a fortress, very old and grand with lots of history!
met a local gem, said goodbye to my garden route boo Henry (no we are not dating), saw dolphins in the sea as soon as i looked out. was lovely :)

that’s it for me! again, holla if you have any questions — message me or write in the comments below! thanks for reading guys :) <3

A solo traveller's guide to the Garden Route of South Africa