south africa/capetown/garden route in feburary, what to do?

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kieran160

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five weeks till me and the moth :) go to capetown, five nights in cape town and from here we are renting a car and going on the garden route for a couple of weeks. what things/places are a must and whats best to avoid. where to eat etc.

we will visit cape town/ stellenbosch/ oudtshoorn/ knysa/ and port elizabeth

advice needed on what to pack, type of clothing to bring?

thanks all
 
i did it last summer, spend time in plettenburg on the garden route, you can go whale watching etc etc its excellent. There is also an elephant rescue centre, bird santuary and many other things to see. We stayed in the plettenburg hotel which was very high standard. Knysna is nice but not a great deal to do. Cape Town is very good. Book robins island online before you go as it is always booked up. Port Elizabeth is a big city very commercial. The boardwalk down by the beach is where youll find most things to do. Are you din any safari? I highly reccommend Shamwari for two or three nights. Its about an hour from Port Elizabeth but exceptional.

When we went it was raining and cold. Our summer is their winter. I dont know what the weather is like in february so cant help there.
 
We were there in Oct/Nov - its just a fabulous country - you're so lucky. Anyway, the Green Dolphin Restaurant on the Waterfront is a lovely spot to eat - Jazz band playing also. There are many restaurants on the waterfront to choose from and the standard of food is quite high but the Green Dolphin is just a little different.
Definatley book Robben Isl as soon as you can!
We did Franschoek as opposed to Stellenbosch but they are very similar and its easy to find the list of wineries to visit which is great fun. I found Franshoek area to be very pretty and there is a lovely pass to drive on betweem mountains giving beautiful views of the wineries.
Hermanus was probably one of our favourite spots. Stayed in Mist Waves Hotel which was beautiful. Went whale watching there but they came to the cliff line as well - 2 nights there is sufficient - some really nice restaurants there also - we used the Lonely Plant book as a guide.
Knysna was nice but really didn't do anything much for us - not much to do other than head over to the Featherbed Reserve - it was probably our least favourite place but to be fair that was because everywhere else was great!
We stayed in Hog Hollow past Plettenberg Bay - would definately recommend it - fab food and luxury chalets.
African Perfection was the name of the place we stayed in Jeffreys Bay which is about an hour/an our and a half outside Port Elizabeth. The was a lovely Boutique hotel with a lovely retaurant underneath. The town is a real surfing town and the dolphins come up quite close. There was a super shop at the other end of the town called Country Knysna and we bought lovely paintings and stuff there.
Shopping wise I founf SA to have very cheap crap or very expensive paintings/ceramics. That shop gave a bit more value for nice items.
There isn;t much in PE.
We stayed at the Lalibela Reserve (beside Shamwari) it was half the price of Shamwari but to be honest I don't really know what more you could get. We stayed in the Tree Top Camp where our luxuery tents were in the tops of trees with walkways linking us to the main eating area. Food was very good and drink was flowing in the evening. Its about €300 each per night (Shamwari around €5-600 each ) Not sure of those figures so please don't quote me. Safari definatley the highlight. 2 nights is plenty as you have 4 safari trips - you see most animals at that stage. Another couple had been to Koriega reserve and said that was good also but very different to Shamwari so you could look at that too.
Hope thats of help!
 
we went there as part of our honeymoon in february 2004. The weather was good all the time, not crazy warm but comfortable. I agree that Plettenburg is a very nice place to stay, we stayed in a lovely little B&B and did the same in Knysna, top floor, view out over the sea. Whatever you do, avoid a place called Mossel Bay!

It was nice staying in good quality B&B's, a bit more interaction with locals.

We also went to Shamwari and that was a pretty amazing experience.

Buy a Rough Guide and you are laughing.
 
I was there at the end of January/beginning of February a couple of years ago and it was VERY hot - hitting near 40 degrees some days. Make sure the car you hire has air con!
 
Outside Oudtshoorn the drive over the Swarthberg pass is great - very steep in places and unpaved, but doable in a regular car - you can make a loop via Prince Albert and De Ruust?? You'll see it on the map. (If you are feeling hardy you could extend this trip by going to Die Hel - a super remote valley that can be accessed via the pass.)

You can also go on a tour that drives you up the pass and allows you to mountain bike back down.

Jemima's restaurant in Oudtshoorn is very good.

In Cape Town, Bukhara is a fantastic indian restaurant. The Chapman peak drive down towards the actual cape makes for a spectacular drive. Top tip is to head up Table Mountain at the first opportunity, as it can cloud over quickly and stay like that for days.
 
I was there late Feb / early March in 2005. We just did Cape Town and Stellenbosch and were based in The Table Bay Hotel which is gorgeous. The weather was in the early 30's but didn't feel as hot as that temp would feel here - definitely load on the sun lotion though! In Cape Town, get the cable car up Table Mountain and arrange an abseil off it - there's a company there that do it and it's amazing. Also see Robben Island. We ate in a restaurant in Camps Bay one night called Blues (I think) and that was lovely. Another thing I'd recommend is a helicopter tour which is only about 15-20 minutes (not sure of cost) but it brings you right down the coast to where the Pacific meets Atlantic and the mountains and coastline is just out of this world.

Stellenbosch is just beautiful, the scenery is gorgeous, the people are so friendly and the vineyards are fabulous, we were in a few, one of them had a big hedge maze which was fun!

You'll love it!
 
As an earlier poster said, go up Table Mountain the first day it's clear because a lot of the time it's clouded over. Make sure you go down to the Cape of Good Hope and out to Robben Island (book this way in advance)I'd also recommend going cage diving with Great White sharks...it's about €130. They'll pick you up from any location in Cape Town at approx 05.30, it's a 2 hour drive up to Gaansbai where you get breakfast and then head out to sea. Getting that close to "Jaws" is a hell of an experience, plus you'll also see seals, dolphins, hump-back whales etc. You get lunch also and get home around 19.00. A great experience. Personally I like Camps Bay but there are also nice beaches out at Bloubergstrand. Definetely go out to Stellenbosch/Somerset West and visit some vineyards...I'd recommend the smaller less commercial ones but the Spier one is impressive (if very commercial) with animals etc.One thing though, the sea is freezing. You won't want to swim in it, it is literally like the Forty Foot on Christmas Day.Enjoy
 
You've had some great tips; a place I had on my list to do, but never managed to do it, was an overnight at the Lord Milner Hotel in Matjiesfontein which is a couple of hours drive from Cape Town. You can read about it here: http://www.matjiesfontein.com/ My son has been there and thoroughly enjoyed it, it's like stepping back in time.
 
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