Cape Town Travel Forum

I am posting this question both in the Knysna and the Cape Town Forum, because we are looking into different possibilities to experience a tiny bit of the Garden Route while visiting South Africa this coming March/April.

We do have a pretty tight schedule, staying with friends in Cape Town, planning various day trips from Cape Town, weekends with friends and hoping to find just a little bit of time to see a little bit of the Garden Route.

Our wish would be a 3 day/2 nights tour from Cape Town to whereever (Knysna) seeing as much as possible (or as different as possible). What we do NOT like all that much is all this commercial/artificial kind of stuff: Aloe Factory, Ostrich Eggs/Farm/Riding/Petting..... if you know what I mean! And, what seems to make it even more difficult: we do NOT drive, so we need some sort of transportation other than a rented car!

We were hoping to either find a 3 day tour to Knysna and back or go to Knysna, stay there for 2 nights and book (half) day trips from there....

Do you have any advice, if this is feasable? Any Knysna B&B recommendations? Bus recommendations? Tour operator recommendations?

Any advice is highly appreciated!

Thanks a lot!

Well, if you don't have the freedom of own transport, those tours will take you to the "commercial/artificial kind of stuff". Seriously consider renting a car and driving yourself out and around there. It really is relaxed easy driving on good safe wide roads.

Thanks, Gerald, for your reply(s)!

Even if you state that driving is easy, it is no option for us! And yes, I am aware that the organized trips will visit the well known places, but I was hoping that we would still get a feeling for the beautiful landscape on the Garden Route!

Just enough to make us want to return one day and do a longer tour (and then maybe even with a rented car)...

I have used Package Tours recently to do a minisafari and have liked their service. They also offer Garden Route visits.
Keep in mind that this is a budget operator, that caters mostly to backpackers and hostels, so the average age of the clients can be 20 to 25 years. However, it worked out fine for me. I would assume they would also be able to organise something tailor-made that fits your necessities.
http://www.packagetours.co.za/index.php/Garden-Route.html

Here a link to a choice of different offerings. http://www.sa-venues.com/travel/gardenroute/touroperators.php

Contact Carol at CapeCarol Travel http://www.capecarol.com/index.html and I'm sure she'll be able to accommodate your wishes. Arranging transport from Cape Town to Knysna should not be a problem and she'll tailor-make a tour that will cater to your interests.
We stayed at her Cape Town accommodation, but I'm pretty sure she has accommodation in Knysna too.
Cheers!

Thanks so much - I appreciate all your advice!!!

Here is a well-regarded one man tour guide "company" that does personalised Garden Route tours out of Cape Town:
http://ilovecapetown.com/

An example of photos he took of his guests during a tour:
http://www.ilovecapetown.com/tours/sewell/sewell.htm

See also:
http://www.allexperts.com/ep/227-18959/South-Africa/Selwyn-Davidowitz.htm

Gerald,

this is really interesting!!! I did talk to Selwyn about it, and he says that 3 days simply is not enough in his opinion!

We will go on a (what I am sure will be a) fabulous one day tour with him called "Cultural Heritage Tour". He is REALLY booked, so we were lucky to manage to book this tour!!!

Have you met Selwyn? He won a Tour Guide Award in 2007, did you know?

Thanks Gerald. I know it wasn't for me but I used the first url and it was most interesting. I had visited many of these places so really enjoyed the presentation.

I havn't met Selwyn, but I have read a lot about him. (His background and attitude is very similar to mine). I have hesitated in mentioning him before because I don't think he will appeal to everyone.

He has done lots of impromptu web pages for his guests - they can be found with an advanced Google image search. Here is a canned version: http://tinyurl.com/a7e2j4

I did this on my first trip to SA a few years back and I dont drive, I did the journey by Translux which is the coach /bus operator. The journey was really cheap and very comfortable. Try the trip to the elephant orphanage they do a dusk walk through the bush with the ellies, which at the end, if you are brave enough, you can ride for a short while before heading back to orphange lodge and sipping a couple of cold beers on the porch in the evening
Try web site called safarinow which is CT based but has a comprehensive directory off all types of accomodation through SA including Knysna, all prices and genuine reviews, I have used them on all of my trips so far and never had a problem

Good Luck !

Lorraine,

this was really special:

just yesterday (which was my day off) I had looked into various bus options and narrowed it down to either Translux or BazBus and had also looked at some apartment with SafariNow!!!

Good to hear that you were satisfied with both companies!

Right now our "Plan K" is like this:
Monday: go from CT to Knysna
Tuesday: Steam Dream Day tour to George - Mossel Bay - Knysna
Wednesday: Walking tour around Knysna (found some nice options there), maybe Sundown Cruise on the Lagoon in the evening
Thursday: return to CT

Thanks everybody for your input!

What is this Steam Dream tour?

It is a day trip from Knysna to George and then a trip with the Choo Tjoe Train to Mossel Bay and by car back to Knysna

http://www.kontours.co.za/steam_train.html

Thanks, I just wanted it to be clear that Knysna is no longer visited by a steam train. The touristic steam train ran between George and Knysna before the line was damaged by rainstorms. Now they run the less spectacular route between George and Mossel Bay. Some websites may still use the photos of the George/Knysna route showing scenes that will not be seen today.

Also realise that there is a good chance that diesel will be used instead of steam:

" The Outeniqua Choo Tjoe may be forced to operate with diesel locomotives from time to time. This is because the line runs through an ecologically sensitive area in which there is a considerable risk of veld fires. For this reason Transnet Heritage Preservation has entered into an agreement with Local Authorities that steam traction will be replaced with vintage diesel locomotives on days when the Fire Danger Index exceeds 52. (FDI depends on factors like wind and rainfall recorded over the preceding days. Forecasts of rain are not taken into account- and thus it might happen that the train will run with diesel in pouring rain- especially after a long dry spell. Also note that steam locomotives can haul a maximum of 5 coaches on this line and on rare occasions- when demand requires additional coaches- diesel locomotives may have to be used."

Tini, on your homepage I see you got back home yesterday. Did your Garden Route experience work out okay? When are you coming back for a longer visit? :-)

Gerald,

thanks so much for following up on our trip to South Africa!

Well, we are back home now and to sum it up in a few words: it was an awesome vacation! We saw much of Cape Town and the Peninsula, went to Stellenbosch and the Cederberg Region, visited Kalk Bay and Hermanus and had an impressive visit to the Township of Kayamandi near Stellenbosch.

We did not manage to fit in the Garden Route - and after all that has been said, we just decided that this would have to wait for another visit to SA!

I will try to post some infos on our trip in the near future, so please do try to check on my page every once and again!