Careening through the Cape
A version of this article appeared in The Irish Times
The Karoo — South Africa does New Mexico
THE BABOON seemed surprised to see me. Evidently, he didn’t expect anyone to be up and about at 6am, and in my case, nine times out of ten he would have been right. Staring at me from his perch on top of a 4WD, he lost the run of himself completely. Baring his teeth, he screeched at me, defaecated on the bonnet, then took to his heels across some scrubland. It’s been a long time since my arrival anywhere caused such excitement.
My baboon encounter happened near Oudtshoorn, the starting point in my search for the Little Karoo. “Wonderful!” I hear you say. “Is there a Big Karoo? And can it hop?”
The Great Karoo is, in fact, the magical semi-desert area of the Western Cape; the Little Karoo is its more fertile cousin.
My itinerary would skirt the Karoo, along what is reputedly the world’s longest wine route through the vineyards of Stellenbosch, before crossing over onto the Garden Route. Without a designated driver, an arduous journey seemed in store.
Route 62 is renowned not just for its wineries but also for its array of farms selling every type of cheese – and its restaurants. Montagu is a sleepy old town — in fact you almost feel you should be wearing carpet slippers as you wander the dusty streets. I stopped at Jessica’s Restaurant in search of Cape delicacies. After working my way through an escarpment of couscous accompanied by Camembert-and-almond spring rolls, dessert arrived. Heralded as Balls of Surprise, it wasn’t as alarming as it sounded. Jessica’s specialty was chocolate balls in potato batter with roasted walnuts topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. I offered to marry Jessica on the spot. Sadly, I was informed, Jessica was the faithful old family bulldog, and no longer with us.
A protea growing along The Garden Route
The Garden Route
ONTO the Garden Route proper now.
Let’s be clear: this is not a drive through herbaceous borders and well-tended lawns on a Sunday-afternoon jaunt. The road magnificently snakes between the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains and the Indian Ocean; 200km of forest and thick fragrant bush, known as fynbos, lines the road.
The wildlife is every bit as profligate as the scenery – sugarbirds with unfeasibly long tails, iridescent sunbirds, an astonishing variety of proteas (the South African national flower) – all in colours so ostentatious that Fabergé might have considered them gaudy.
Some of the world’s top avian celebrities live in this neck of the woods — flamingo included. The whole of nature is a conjugation of the verb to eat (active and passive), so look out for the odd black eagle scouting around to do lunch on a nice, succulent monkey.
THE GARDEN ROUTE begins around Mossel Bay, a seaside resort with buckets and spades in the shops and whales in the bay. It’s host to a cast of characters that includes butterflies the size of your hand and jackass-penguins strolling about. You don’t often get an intimate glimpse into the private life of these birds, but in Western Cape they’re numerous and, dare I say — despite their name — rather dashing.
But time to move on. This being South Africa, something else exciting, sensational, challenging or downright bizarre will happen before very long.
At Hermanus Bay I bought a CD of whale music. When I got home, turned out it was a dolphin tribute band.
OK, not quite, but the whole town of Hermanus seems to live off the southern right whales which make the bay their home for substantial periods of the year. So you wouldn’t blame dolphins (pods of bottlenose specimens frequent the harbour) to get in on the act.
Meanwhile, you can sit in a café having breakfast and watch whales basking no more than thirty yards away — even if you didn’t order them.
These huge mammals, each about the weight of 40 African elephants, live off the rich growth of plankton found in the deep waters of Hermanus Bay. They rise in the water, then tip slowly back into the deep waters with enviable languor.
To be honest they’re a bit ugly, although entirely lovable. (Bit like myself, really).
Blooming show-offs — The Garden Route is host to several hundred species of plants and flowers, some exclusive to this small corner of Africa
The Garden Route is non-malarial, and regarded as relatively free of crime. Yet everywhere security is in your face. Magazines carry ads selling “Burglar bars with style”, toll roads promote themselves as “safe, regularly patrolled and dependable”, holiday homes all proclaim: “Armed Response Security”.
Having said that, nothing untoward happened to me or anyone else in our party, although our European sensibilities were regularly challenged. One small incident: myself and a fellow journalist needed to get ourselves from hotel to railway station, with luggage. “Is there a cab about?” I asked Willie, the elderly receptionist. “Cab? To the railway station? It’s only a half-a-mile,” he said, incredulously. In a jiffy he was out front, piling suitcases on his back and cameras around his neck, and off we marched to the railway station. He would absolutely brook no help from us – the full taxi fare was going to be his.
So there we were, an elderly black gentleman piled down with luggage, striding along, while we followed sheepishly behind through the town. The ultimate nightmare for any white European liberal.
** Mal Rogers was a guest of Safari Consultants www.safari-consultants.co.uk
See also www.tourismgardenroute.co.za
A-weem-a-weh — this one will sleep tonight alright; probably most of the day too. It's a tough job being an alpha predator, but somebody has to do it
Game reserves, parks and safaris
The highlight for many on a trip to South Africa is a glimpse of the country’s Big Five: lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and Cape buffalo. Many reserves in the Cape are home to the famous Five, along with giraffe, cheetah, various species of gazelle, hippos, zebra and wildebeest.
But there is a wide difference in what each game reserve has to offer. Here’s three of the best, all malaria-free:
White rhino — one of the Big Five animals that call South Africa home
The Gondwana Game Reserve
Trying to decide what to have for breakfast at the Gondwana Game Reserve. Should I go for the grass followed by some more grass?
One of the biggest of the of the Cape's reserves, Gondwana is right in the heart of the Garden Route near Mossel Bay. Here you can study kudu grazing or gazelles pronking from the comfort of your veranda.
Gondwana's free-roaming Big Five have some 11,000 hectares to call home. Ten varieties of antelope keep them company, watched over hungrily by cheetah. The fastest member of the cat family, any cheetah makes a thoroughbred racehorse look like a milk delivery nag.
The Blaauwbosch Game Reserve
In the Eastern Cape, Blaauwbosch has six luxury chalets (five-star). Aside from the Big Five animals there's hippo, cheetah, giraffe, zebra, antelope also wandering (or stalking) about. And you’ll regularly see vultures wheeling above a kill some alpha predator has had first dibs on.
If you want moral justification for game reserves, here’s a riddle: what’s worth nearly twice its weight in gold, has no medical or therapeutic value whatsoever, and is made from the same stuff as your finger nails? Well done — rhino horn. Strenuous efforts are made to minimise poaching, and these reserves are often the main refuge for both white and black rhino. They also regularly introduce zoo-born rhino (and other threatened species) back into the wild.
The Kwandwe Game Reserve
Close to Port Elizabeth, Kwandwe is a relatively small private reserve in the rolling hills around the Great Fish River valley. There are only four luxury lodges, the guides are knowledgeable and friendly, and the food is exceptional (something all the big cats also say about Kwandwe). Grassland dotted with acacia, wild teak and yellowwood is packed with antelope and gazelle.
Kwandwe is home to black and white rhino, buffalo, elephant, hippo, giraffes, lions, leopards and cheetahs, plus the odd vagrant pack of wild dogs — the latter being much more interesting, nay, spectacular, than they sound. These aren't feral dogs, but Canids from the genus Lycaon — so, further removed from the domestic dog than, say, the wolf. Highly socialised, they are a joy to watch.
Trunk route — several hundred tons of elephant on the move (Image: Simon Greenwood)
Knysna Elephant Park
On the N2, midway between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay
A pachyderm park full of elephants that have mostly been saved from culling. Daily tours give visitors the opportunity to feed the gentle giants.
Astro Tours
Festooned with seriously exotic plants, at night the Karoo air is heady with the scent of jasmine and camphor. An African soundtrack plays – in the distance a jackal howls; nearby myriad crickets, locusts and assorted flying things click and whirr. It's ideal conditions for a star safari.
Of the 88 officially recognised constellations in our solar system, 45 are in the southern hemisphere. Starfaris take advantage of the clear dry atmosphere and near-zero light pollution to show you the African skies. You'll seldom see the Milky Way milkier.
You’ll be dazzled by the Southern Cross, Cassiopeia and Ursa Major. It’s just a pity Orion is upside down. Still, you can’t have everything.
Where to stay
Cape Grace Hotel, with Table Mountain providing a suitably grand backdrop
Cape Grace
W Quay Rd, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town, 8002
+27 21 410 7065
A five-star waterfront hotel in Cape Town, this is one of the top 100 hotels in the world. It’s elegant and sophisticated, and your friends will be extremely jealous.
Double rooms from £516 per night
Schulphoek Guesthouse
181 Piet Retief Street, Sandbaai, Hermanus
+27 28 316 2626
A comfortable, friendly hotel, looking out on Hermanus Bay —just the job for cetacean spotting.
Double rooms from £320
Birkenhead House — prime location for surveying the Cape's many marine residents
Birkenhead House
119 11th St, Hermanus, 7200
+27 28 314 8000
A stylish bolt hole in Hermanus, ideal for whale watching.
Double rooms from £270
Rosenhof Country House
264 Baron Van Reede Street, Oudtshoorn
+27-44- 2723021
A Victorian manor offering five-star accommodation in the capital of the Little Karoo.
Doube rooms from £140
Altes Landhaus
Oudtshoorn, 6620, South Africa
+27 44 272 6112
A traditional Dutch-style homestead set in beautiful gardens. Birds with rainbow plumage flit about, and there’s crocodile carpaccio for tea (tastes like turkey, since you ask).
Double rooms from £140