A few weeks ago, we, namely Georgie, Taylor, Ilana, Izzy, Molly, Jack, and I, took a tour of the garden route, commencing with a very bizarre early morning cab ride to the rental car company. The Garden Route is a popular scenic stretch of the south-eastern coast of SA. Starting in Cape Town, the excursion is a simple, but not-so-brief drive up the N2 coastal highway. For someone who can’t find her way out of a parking garage, I was thrilled to hear that our driving directions never deviated (yet, I did manage to drive the wrong direction on the N2 for about ten minutes...so sad).
The first day, we made our way up the coast to Tsitsikamma National Park, a coastal reserve well known for indigenous forests and dramatic coastline. We arrived in the early evening, in time for dinner at an Elvis Presley-themed diner next to our backpackers (what Safricans call hostels). It felt odd to be looking at old Ford convertibles and jukeboxes in the middle of a national park in Africa. Before we headed out the next morning, I took a brief run around the area, only to run into a big family of monkeys playing on the side roads. TIA. We left early and arrived at Bloukrans Bridge in Storms River around 8:30 am. The bridge stands at height of 216m above the Bloukrans River (which forms the border between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape), making it the highest single span arch bridge in the world. It is known as the World’s Highest Commercial Bungy Jump. It took them a total of 15 minutes to suit us up and lead us to the bridge. In that time, I must have peed about four times. In order to get to the jump spot, you must walk along a corridor overlooking the river, over 700 feet below.
Then the music starts. It’s quite nice to drown out the magnified bass of your heartbeat with a little house music, blaring from the speakers on the arch of a bridge over 700 feet from the ground. There is a camera filming the jump itself so you can see your friends fall as you wait for your moment on the bridge. I was so stoked once I saw people jumping; it’s exhilarating, as if new live were pumping through your veins. When it’s your turn, they set you up and hop you to the edge (your feet are bound) so that your toes hang over, peaking at the ground far far below. The moment you jump, the world goes silent. It is just you and air and a feeling of pure weightlessness; you are flying. It’s as if you are still and the atmosphere moves around you. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done. I was giddy; like a little kid in toys r us.
From there, we sped off to Plettenberg Bay and went kayaking. I offered to kayak in a double with the instructor so my paddle workload was much easier—a good thing, considering I fell asleep in the kayak every time we would pause to check on the group. After a refreshing, relatively warm, ocean swim, we journeyed to Knysna and took a sunset oyster cruise around the large warm-water estuary that the town is built on. It is a truly beautiful place and very attractive for fans of water sports. My friend Dylan had generously offered that we stay in his house that night and even drove to Knysna to spend some time with us. We all went to dinner and then back to Dylan’s for our first night sleeping in a proper house in months. Of course, he had a perfectly good, single bed frame outside and, regardless of the extra beds available inside, I chose to sleep under the stars in my sleeping bag. It was a wonderful night’s rest under a full moon.
The next day, after a run and a short swim off of Dylan’s dock, we all hiked down to a river outside of Knysna. This location is remote and relatively unknown, so we were the only people there for the majority of the time. We spent the day swimming upstream through slender passageways and into open pools, cliff jumping, and basking in the sun on the rocks bordering the river. It was serene and adventurous all at the same time and a great break from the touristy aspect of traveling the garden route. When the day came to an end, we said our thank yous and goodbyes and headed to Wilderness.
Wilderness is a seaside town known for its long white sand beach and lagoons. We arrived to our backpackers in time to race to the beach for sundown. Taylor and I were so awed and excited by the beauty of the beach (and the warmth o the water) that we began running along the water’s edge down the coast in our bathing suits. After a while we stopped and ran back, laughing all the while. It was a sight to be seen; the beach stretches on for miles and has such a sense of raw beauty. Later, that night we went to dinner. Taylor, Geo, and I awoke at 6 am the next morning to catch sunrise over the ocean, and I took a morning dip in the warm water and a walk down the beach a ways. Then we were off to the Cango Caves and eventually, after a long, traffic-filled drive (yes, I did drive- for hours in fact), we ended up back home again.
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