Our final stop – Wilderness

On March 10th, we met up with Karen and Rich at the Cape Town airport and flew together to George. Once we landed, we picked up our rental car—a VW Vivo/Polo. It was a bit of a puzzle trying to fit all our luggage in. Even the fellow at the rental desk looked skeptical. But Karen and I were up for the challenge, and somehow, we made it work! It was a tight squeeze, but luckily the drive to Wilderness was only about 20 minutes, so we weren’t packed in for too long.

We always receive a warm welcome from Ruan and Gerhard at our apartment in Wilderness. Even some belated birthday treats.

Our apartment is walking distance to the beach and restaurants. It is an ideal location for us.

We spent 20 days in Wilderness; it was a fun, activity filled time and we loved it. A big thanks to Rich for being with us the whole time, Karen for joining us for 10 days, and Theresa and Todd for joining in while they were in Wilderness. You all helped make our time in Wilderness special.

We rented kayaks at  Kaaimans River Gorge, which was a short drive from our apartment. We enjoyed a late afternoon paddle.

No trip to Wilderness area is complete without a visit to Knysna Elephant Park, especially when there are two elephant lovers (Karen and Theresa). Although it rained, it was special to spend time with these amazing animals.

Redberry Farm in George not only has delicious strawberries, but it also has a Hedge Maze. The maze consists of seven strawberry stations, a 25m underground tunnel and a look-out point – all found within 10km of pathways. The goal is to find all seven strawberry stations hidden inside and to stamp your maze card with the unique icon at each station – if you get all 7 stamps, you receive a “I came, I saw. I conquered button”. Karen and I challenged Rich, and although we got all stamps, plus some bonus photos, Rich finished first and won the challenge and bragging rights. Larry decided to read his book and relax so he was happy. We celebrated our victory with strawberry waffles.

Rich cooked some amazing meals, including pizza for our dinner with Ruan, Gerhard, Todd and Theresa.

Unfortunately Rich and Larry won most of our euchre games. Now they did get good cards, but we do admit that they planned well.

Fynboshoek Cheese Farm is one of our favorite spots. Located in Tsitsikamma National Park, it’s about a 45-minute drive from Plettenberg Bay. To make the trip easier, we usually combine lunch with a tour led by John Kennedy from Wilderness Express. Along with our usual stops, like Old Nick’s in Plettenberg Bay, John always takes us to places we haven’t explored before.

Lunch at Fancourt Golf Course, George

Sedgefield is well known for its many beautiful mosaic sculptures, which can be found all around the town. These mosaics are part of the Sedgefield Mosaic Art Project, which was started to create jobs and teach new skills to locals who were unemployed. So far, we’ve only seen a few of the more than 70 mosaics found throughout Sedgefield.

St Patrick’s Day Dinner at Joslin’s – steak and fries

Gericke‘s Point in Sedgefield is a little gem more known by the locals. Luckily, Theresa and Todd found out about it from a local and it became one of our favourite beaches.

East Head Cafe and Lookout in Knysna is another one of our favourite spots.

Karen and Rich zip-lining in Mossel Bay.

On an overcast day in Wilderness, we decided to take a drive to Oudtshoorn, through the scenic Outeniqua Mountain pass . We stopped for a pizza lunch and on the way back the skies cleared and we enjoyed the stunning views.

Wild Oats in Sedgefield is a local farmers and food market open every Saturday morning until noon. This was our first time at the market, and we definitely will go again.

Rich’s birthday activities

Paragliding at the View – fun to watch

Ruan and Gerhard introduced us to Rambling Rose Restaurant, Rosie’s latest venture. Rosie, the former owner of Joplins and Rosies in Sedgefield, has brought her famous steak menu to this new spot — and it’s just as perfect as ever. We loved it so much, we went back two nights in a row!

This ends our two months in South Africa – we have so many wonderful memories.