On Safari in the Kruger National Park

We have had the most amazing week on safari in the Kruger National Park. We went on various game drives both in the evening and through the day time as well as early morning bush walks to get really close to the wildlife.

Our first night was spent in a game lodge on a private reserve and the rest of the week was spent in a treehouse in the Kruger National Park.

We were really lucky to see four of the big five; the African elephant, buffalo, the black rhino and a lion. We have taken hundreds of photographs on the camera but here are a few we took in the ipad.

Jeffrey's Bay

We loved staying in Jeffrey's Bay, a very chilled out surfer town, famous for its supertube waves. We took on the chilled out vibe and enjoyed many beach walks spotting dolphins, looking for shells and watching the surfers as well as lazing around and topping up our tans.

We sat watching the sunset one night, while enjoying our last bottle of Chenin Blanc bought on the Franschhoek Wine Tram tour, and saw the most incredible sight. It was dark and a blue light which looked like lighting passed through the water as the waves crashed. We have since learnt that this is a rare occurrence and caused by the water being a certain temperature and the friction between the sea water and a particular plankton, which must be present. Therefore we were very lucky to see it and was a special moment for us.

 

Storms River

We stayed in Storms River Village for three nights. Storms River is in the Tsitsikamma National Park, a coastal mountain region covered with forest and rivers leading out to the ocean. It is a haven for wildlife including hundreds of different types of birds. There is plenty to keep you busy in Storms a River with many forest trail walks, cycle paths and adventure activities on offer.

We hired mountain bikes and followed the 22km bike trail through the forest to the Storms River Mouth look out. Steven really enjoyed the trail as it was quite challenging in parts, cycling over rocks and varying terrain where as Louise found it difficult and was very nervous about falling off her bike, which she did in great style going straight over the handle bars. Although the day out was eventful we had a good day and Louise was pleased she actually managed the full course as at the half way point she was almost ready for getting off and pushing.

Plettenberg Bay

Our next stop along the Garden Route was Plettenberg Bay, a small coastal town with great beaches and a marine nature reserve nearby, the South African National Parks Robberg Reserve.

We walked out to the reserve via a 7km long stretch of wild beach. Once inside the reserve there are various walks of differing lengths along the coast line. We chose the 6km loop walk which took us out to the sand dunes, where you can walk across the sand bar at low tide to an island. The coastal scenery was fantastic and we saw hundreds of Cape Fur Seals. The winds got up in the afternoon making the sea quite rough so watching the waves crash against the coast was wonderful.

Knysna

We really enjoyed our time in Knysna, a small harbour town overlooking a beautiful lagoon. The town is famous for its wild oysters (it holds an oyster festival each year) so we made sure we tried those, which were delicious. It is also home to Mitchell's Brewery, South Africa's first micro brewery.  We took the brewery tour to learn about the production of their six natural craft beers. It was really interesting to find out how many different processes are used to reach the end product. Their beers are completely chemical free and only organic and native ingredients are used meaning the beers have a relatively short shelf life, quite unique. It was such a small production line with one man filling the bottles, another putting the tops on and another sticking on labels. After the tour we have a tasting tray each and we both really enjoyed all six.

We also treated ourselves to a fantastic meal at a highly rated seafood restaurant. We ate scallops, mussels and crayfish. Yum yum!

As well as eating and drinking we walked out to Knysna Heads to take in the wonderful views of the lagoon and out to the ocean where we saw a pod of dolphins swim by.