10 Sep : TSITSIKAMMA - Start of the Garden Route

I decided to split the Tsitsikamma entry into Part 1 & Part 2. For one simple reason - ugly, bitchy memory stays on one page (part 1) and the awesome memory stays on another (part 2). Ha!

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THE GARDEN ROUTE
(click on map for bigger view)
Noteworthy: The N2 route is between the mountains and Indian Ocean... so you can imagine how stunning the scenary is. - map taken from Cape Town.net

Tsitskamma marks the start of the FAMOUS garden route. The garden route is the biggest tourist attraction for South Africa and its acclaimed fame is clear for all to see. The astounding views of mountains, nature reserves and the Indian Ocean (you can see it from the map).... at a loss of words to describe it. One has to personally experience it to know what I'm talking about.

I will save everyone the agony of reading my endless yaks about the Garden Route. There are enough websites around for that. EVERY tour operator that covers the garden route, will provide sufficient information. Just goodgle search "Garden Route" and you'll have a return of over 12 million entries. Need I say more?

Stiff competition but big ker-ching earner for tour operators.

[ On the way to Tsitsikamma ]

If I could fly... higher....
I seem to have endless photos of the sky huh? *chuckle*

"THE SHADOW OF MOUNTAINS"
This is one of my favourite memories. The shot is not the best representation but that shadow of mountain view.... wow! Loved it and still loving it. Mrs Tabasco said (translated from mandarin), "The neverending sights of mountainsin SA! We've been seeing mountains and water (the Indian Ocean) from the day we began our tour (starting from Drakensberg)!"

Pretty Field.
I am always tempted to do the 'Sound of Music' thing whenver I see mountain and field. Quite retard really.... but Maria keeps popping up in my mind.

The scenary changes along the way to Tsitsikamma were STUNNING. It would have been nice to have been able to do multiple stops to take pictures but that would mean that we will never make it to our destination!

Memorable sight :

• Misty Mountain - As the name says, the drive through the "Misty Mountain" range was... misty. But please do not be misled into thinking that it is misty every single day of the year. I am sure that there must be days of un-mistiness. We were lucky to have experienced it... how do I describe this.... Enigmatic.


• Tree-lined Roads - As we came closer towards Tsitsikamma, the N2 transitioned to generously lined of trees. It was like travelling through a forest on very well-maintained tar roads.

[ T S I T S I K A M M A ]

A very popular holiday destination especially school holidays. To start with, it is such a beautiful place with adventure-filled activities within this indigenous forest/national park is a great way for anyone to spend their holiday - both kids and adults.

Key activities @ Tsitsikamma: Abseiling, Scuba-diving, Hiking, Snorkelling, Boat rides up the Storms River, Canoeing and quite obviously, camping!

For more information, go to the TSITSIKAMMA NATIONAL PARKwebsite; hosted by the SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARK. The SA National Park website is great reference website of all the National Parks in SA.

I just remembered that I do have a little map of Tsitsikamma which shows the key attractions -

Oops! Can't remember which website I took this from... Yikes!

Tsitsikamma is a MUST-SEE place, preferably if one has a few days to spare. Be warned though, bookings should be made faaaarrrrrr in advance, especially during peak season and if you want to stay at the lodges or camps at the National Park. Obvious reasons. Not alot of brains required to figure out the reason.

::: STORMS RIVER BRIDGE :::

You will come to understand that the blue squiggly line means "river"

THE Storms River Bridge


views from the bridge






Mama doing her complacent "see? I can walk on my own" strut


::: THE BIG TREE :::

Signboard found on the hiking trail - the illustration on this sign board is amusing!


The Not-So-Big-Tree
I got fooled here. I thought this was the big tree.....


THE REAL THING!


i was missing uni days real bad... those were the days when I used my then-Canon E05 (the conventional ones) to capture such shots...






certificate of accomplishment???




::: TSITSIKAMMA-ON-SEA Gueshouse :::
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Drama Queen at it again.
I could diieeeeee.... diiieeeee....

For a good reason this time.

Tsitsikamma-On-Sea was.... THE BEST ACCOMODATION of the entire trip.
To die for!!!!

As the name says, it overlooks a majestic panoramic view of the sea and the decor of this guesthouse is.... WOW! That's all I can say, WOW! The owner, Mrs Marie Botes, who runs this fabulous place with her son, Paul Botes, is an incredibly hospitable host. She spent alot of time chatting with the folks and they enjoyed her company thoroughly.

Reason for the 4-star rating (as explained by Marie): Because they do not have a professional chef.

What the ???

I will give this place 5-stars anytime anyday. Who cares for a professional chef? She ain't that bad a cook herself! Dinner set-up was filled with ambience, elegance and class. So the food wasn't 5-star standard but who cares? We were too consumed with luxury-indulgence of that beeeeaaaauuutttttiiiffffuuullllll guesthouse that no one was too concerned about the food.

Bad news though. Marie is thinking of selling off the place! Due to its location, she does not get enough tenants to sustain the overhead of this place. In addition, I reckon the other reason is due to the high cost that does not make it appealing to most travellers. I suspect most visitors of Tsitsikamma would choose to stay at the economical lodges at the National Park and enjoy the convenience rather than pay a high price to stay at this accomodation. I can't remember the price anymore but it was not cheap, that's for sure.

But I know that the price includes dinner, breakfast and a complimentary bottle of wine for each room.

Anyway, it will be a real shame (without sarcasm) if Marie really decides to cease operation. Guess I was lucky to have found this place. An unforgettable experience indeed.

the honeymoon suite: the room with the best of everything

Guess who got this room? Definitely not me.

The Brass Taps of the JACUZZI Bath Tub

shower unit behind the main door

See that contented face?

Bet everyone got the answer right... They are the lucky 'honeymooners' who got this gorgeous room with the best view.

A Poster on the Wall? Nope. It is real trees framed by the brick wall. Nice eh?

And everyone wanted a memory of this room


the happy roomies' room




my room




living room


I liked the roof structure and the way it illuminated from the lamps from the living room.


the little reading corner




basement lounge

>I forgot to take pics of the basement lounge... Nice chill-out lounge furnished with a SNOOKER TABLE (but no one to play snooker with me), complete with a comprehensive bar. Guess what I was doing in there? But of course! Watching tennis! It was the US Open! Had to fulfil my tennis tv-junkie hunger even when I'm on holiday with the folks. Ha!

the sea front

Taking a slow stroll down to view the vast sea

Absorbing the wonderful view....


The Sea Front


early evening: views from the veranda

This is when I am ready to slap myself for being lazy and not bringing the tripod. So please stretch your creative mind a little and try to visualise the view from this incoherent sequence of photos.

take a breather....

Too much to absorb... let's pause for a drink... can you see the moon?

Mama found a new friend - Marie Botes.

Guess who has made Tsitsikamma-On-Sea their new home?
I would too if I were the birds!

dinner

The elated travellers with the gracious hosts - Marie & Paul Botes. (P.S. Paul is quite an artist! He does these really beautiful hand-molded leather mask-like things. No idea what those artworks are called. As usual, I FORGOT to take pictures of it. Someone... Slap me!)

Mama enjoying her favourite dish - the soup

Clearly happy 'honeymooners'

Cheers and good night


saying goodbye

This was the longest goodbye ever!

They chatted.
And they chatted...
And they kept chatting.

So I decided to go click-a-mania with the dogs.... so engrossed that I forgot to take photos of the gorgeous spread of rich green garden! Damn!

after an hour of goodbyes, one last shot with Marie....

Don't think any of us will forget this place for a long time to come....