The Noble Wanderer: Our Holiday Part 1

We have realized it was most fortunate that Gretchen stumbled into the Go Experiences store. Before the arrival of Meredith, Gretchen was trying to figure out what we were going to do while Meredith was here and plan out our trip to Cape Town after she left. While I was at school, Gretchen went down to the Boardwalk and went into a store ran by the Jeep company called Go Experiences. There, she met a woman named Taryn who was more than eager to help plan our trip. She had just gotten back from her honeymoon to Cape Town and had so many ideas for Gretchen that the two of them spent close to four hours together. The best part is that her services are free. Taryn and the other woman who works there, Leanne I believe, work on a commission. However, they also have information on places which they recommend that are not connected with the store. When it was all said and done, Taryn gave Gretchen a ten page packet full of places to stay and things to do along the Garden Route to Cape Town. The Garden Route is a road called the N2 that goes along the coast. For our purposes, it stretched from Port Elizabeth all the way to Cape Town. However, the route is incredibly scenic and there are many places to stop along the way.

This meant Gretchen and I had a lot to do on Thursday after Meredith left. We needed to decide where we were staying, make reservations, rent a car and plan each day of our seven-day trip. The hardest part was renting a car. With the short notice we were giving, many of the car renting (or car hiring as they say here) services had no cars left for us. Some had cars, but they were manual. Although we could have driven a manual, we decided that since neither of us was used to driving a manual that it would be better to simply find an automatic. Finally, we booked a Volkswagen Polo with Dollar/Thrifty. (Affordable car hire offered to hold Chokey for us, but we declined the opportunity to have a breakdown in the middle of nowhere between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town). Our itinerary was set, reservations were made and Saturday arrived.

Saturday Morning, Kavish picked us up at our humble abode in Cape Marina and took us to the airport to pick up the car. Our car was a 2009 model with automatic windows, without a choke and had a distinct absence of wires hanging out of the bottom! Satisfied, we headed for the N2.

The first stop on our holiday was at Tsitsikamma National Park. Words cannot describe how beautiful this place is; pictures will make an attempt. We pulled up to the entrance with me hanging out window trying to take a picture of the Tsitsikamma sign in the stop and go traffic. Once again I was a trend-setter…Gretchen laughed and pointed out that the cars behind me decided to do the same. (It must have been a very amusing sight for the attendants giving out passes).

Once in the park, we drove down a hill the wound back and forth to such an extent that I felt I was in a Mazda commercial (Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!). Much to the dismay of those behind me, I decided to follow the speed limit and only used the break to keep under 50 kilometers per hour. Gretchen and I found the trail that would lead us to the suspension bridges over the Storms River mouth. As we both are daredevils, we threw caution to the wind, ignoring signs that demanded we use proper footwear and proceeded onward in flip flops. There were actually three different suspension bridges to be walked on, but only one of them stretched across the mouth of the river. Here are some pictures from that part of our hike in Tsitsikamma.

On our way back over the bridge, I urged Gretchen to quicken pace as there were other daredevils testing the posted 25 person limit. We walked across the two other bridges which were quite a bit shorter, then made our way back to our parked car.

The trails in Tsitsikamma were filled with obstacles such as low branches, overgrowth and a group of 10 to 12 Germans creating congestion only the Los Angeles interchange can appreciate. However, further along the trail, Gretchen and I were the guilty party forcing all to stop. We found a group of monkeys (or primates or whatever…I really don’t know which category the animals fall into). I cannot imagine they simply appeared there, we must have passed them right by before.

While we were traveling out of the National Park, we both agreed that a few nights in Tsitsikamma would have been most agreeable. However, Knysna beckoned us with promise of a bed and breakfast as well as golf.

We arrived in Knysna and checked in to Beauchamp Bed and Breakfast. It is a great place ran by an older couple. They were very friendly and pointed us in the direction of Simola Golf course. We had a tee time there the next morning and wanted to see how much time we needed to reserve for travel. Gretchen and I found the entrance and my excitement grew. So did my hunger level, however, so we drove to an Italian restaurant recommended by the hostess at Beauchamp. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant, but it was very good. What was more impressive was the view. The restaurant was situated at a place called ‘The Heads’. Apparently, this was one of the most dangerous places for ships in years past. When you see it, you know why. There is a very narrow waterway for ships to travel through and rocks stick up out of the water. Here are some pictures of The Heads.

The very narrow channel of 'The Heads'.

Our view from the resaurant

The morning brought a misting rain and disappointment. When we awoke, the fog was so thick that anything beyond 10 meters was difficult to see. As the morning progressed, however, the fog lifted. The rain continued, but not enough to deter us from our planned golf outing. Breakfast was magnificent (which is something that was consistent throughout our trip). There was a cold buffet including yoghurt, cereal, fruit, toast and cold drinks. Then, the owner came and took orders for the hot portion of the breakfast. Everything tasted great. Well-fed, we headed to Simola Golf Course.

I chose Simola for a specific reason. My cousin, Sam, and I played the video game Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Wii. We found a course in South Africa on the game and I was %100 sure it was Simola. I was so certain; in fact, that I did not bother to research and validate my belief…I was wrong. It does not appear in this game or any other game to my knowledge. Where I pulled that name, I have no idea.

As it turns out, there is a golf course along the Garden Route that appears in the video game. In my opinion, I still made the right decision even in retrospect. Simola’s golf course is absolutely gorgeous (even when the weather is less than desirable).

Simola is a Jack Nicklaus signature course, and as the brochure says, “He does a perfect job of creating a golf course to suite the lay of the land”. I was able to get a student discounted rate and Gretchen was allowed to ride along for free. So, 18 holes of golf with a cart, club rental, 20 golf balls and lunch all cost me around $50.00 US.

Practicing on the putting green

(you can see The Heads in the Background)

Our halfway meal

One thing that Gretchen and I found extremely amusing was the wildlife. On a golfing trip last year, my father, my brothers and I played on a course where there were deer everywhere…Here, I played with baboons! An added bonus of playing at Simola is an experience I did not foresee: This was the first (and probably last) time I had to take a drop because of a baboon! It was on a par three and I hit it slightly to the right of the green. A man behind me joked that I would have to play surrounded by baboons. As we laughed, one of the baboons picked up my ball and threw it, kicked it or in some other way moved it into the woods. I was able to find it, but Gretchen and I took a few minutes to stop laughing at the fact that I was taking a drop due to baboon interference!

A baboon running across the tee box

The rain started to come down harder just as I was putting out on the 18th green. As we pulled into the golf cart parking lot, were grateful that the starter allowed us to tee off an hour early. For the first time since Gretchen and I had arrived in South Africa, it was raining hard during the day. After a quick perusal around the pro shop, it was time to head out on the road towards Cape Town.