As the purpose of my trip is to learn about what South Africa can offer my clients, some of our trip includes specific excursions that should be on every itinerary. The Garden Route is the are along the Indian Ocean Coast located between the Wine Country and the city of Port Elizabeth, also known as the East Cape as this is the area east of Cape Town (which is in the West Cape). The small town of Knysna is in the center of this area and offers many different diversions, great shopping, superb food and accommodation, as you witnessed in my review of Phantom Lodge yesterday.
We took a superb excursion yesterday morning to the FEATHERBED NATURE RESERVE which includes a 30 minute or so small ferry across the lagoon (which is really an estuary) located just inland from the Knysna Heads, two tall headlands that allow a small sliver of water to flow into the "lagoon" creating a brackish water area that reaches as far as 10 miles inland! As you cross on the ferry, the local oyster beds are pointed out and apparently over 1 million oysters are below us!
On the far side we are taken to the top of the Western Head on a rickety tractor 4 x 4 and then you take a 2.2km hike all the back down through amazing nature, flora and spectacular views of the entire lagoon, surrounding mountains and Indian Ocean coastline.
At the bottom on the morning hike (ferry departs at 10m and returns at 2pm) you are treated to a superb buffet of local and regional cuisine from a chef who I applauded just simply for the best Spiced Roasted Potato Wedges I ever had in my life! Other dishes include Chili Calamari (these are much large rings than we see at home) with mild slightly sweet chili sauce. Cold Breaded Curried Fish (another very delicious item from the Cape Malay cuisine), Lentils that were seasoned with Turmeric, Chutney and other spices for a simply divine dish, Roasted Butternut Squash (all the veggies were indeed of the best quality and with the tastiest result), yummy roast chicken legs,
Beef with a light Mushroom Sauce, Kudu Stew with Rice and a plethora of desserts, which I kept away from and instead enjoyed the fresh fruit. A table of many salads from Greens to Waldorf (apples/blue cheese/strawberries) and more were also all dressed reasonably (often, a big problem for a buffet). A glass of ROBERTSON Merlot, from the inland wine region to the north of us was priced reasonably and even the cappuccinos were great. All in all, if you can make the steep walk down hill (they give you walking sticks), the meal is a great reward!
