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GARDEN ROUTE DAY TOURS

      

• Full Day Trip (1)
  Depart George at 08h30 and will proceed along the N2 to Knysna. We then visit St. George’s Anglican Church. From there we will board a Ferry. The Ferry will take guests on a scenic trip across the Knysna Estuary to Featherbed Nature Reserve. Here guests will disembark and continue for an informative tour of the nature reserve. Guests are transported to the top of the nature reserve by tractor and trailer. On reaching the top of the Western ‘Knysna Head’, guests will take a leisurely walk back to the restaurant. (Guests can also return to the restaurant making use of the tractor and trailer). Lunch will be enjoyed at the Featherbed Nature Reserve Restaurant. Guest will then  be taken as close as possible, by Ferry, to the mouth of the Estuary, where the ‘Knysna Heads’, made of Table Mountain sand stone, stand guard. Weather permitting, beautiful photographs can be taken of the magnificent ‘Knysna Heads’ and scenery. After returning to the mainland by ferry, the tour continues to the Knysna Waterfront where our guests have time to walk around and visit the arts and craft shops at the Waterfront and in the main street of Knysna. ‘Feather’s of Knysna’, where our guests can view the carving and painting of beautiful indigenous birds and animals. To round off the tour, guests will be taken to view points where they can observe the breath taking views of the Estuary and ‘Knysna Heads’. Return to George. (Lunch to own account included)
  
  
• Full Day Tour (2) Knysna and Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe:
  Guests will be collected in George at 08h30 and will continue on to the Outeniqua Transport Museum where the past can be relived, viewing steam trains from yester-year. We then proceed along the scenic N2 to Knysna. On reaching Knysna, guests board the John Benn Ferry where they will be able to enjoy the scenery and the beauty of the Knysna Estuary, while having lunch (lunch to guests own account). This hour and a half cruise will take you as close to the ‘Knysna Heads’ as possible. After the cruise, guests will have some time to walk around the Water Front before continuing on to the St. George’s Anglican Church (British influence), which was designed by Sophy Grey. The tour then continues up to the view point on the eastern head for breath taking views of the Knysna Estuary. The tour then returns along the N2 stopping at Dolphin’s View Point. Guests can observe the panoramic view of the Wilderness Beach before returning to George.
  
  
• Full Day Trip (3)
  Collect guests at 08h30 and proceed along the N2 through Knysna and continue onto the Knysna Elephant Park for a guided tour. Guests can feed and touch the tame elephants. The tour then continues onto the ‘Garden of Eden’, for a walk in the forest. If guests are lucky, they might see the very shy Knysna Loerie. We then return to Knysna for a pleasure cruise on the John Benn Ferry. Guests will be able to enjoy the scenery and the beauty of the Knysna Estuary, while having lunch (lunch to guests own account) on the ferry. This hour and a half cruise will take you as close to the ‘Knysna Heads’ as possible. On returning to the Waterfront, guests can view the local arts and crafts. On the return journey to George we visit the Scarab Paper Gallery and Art Gallery at Sedgefield and then stop to view the breath taking Wilderness Beach at Dolphin’s View Point. The tour then returns to George
  
  
• Full Day Tour (4) Depart George at 08h15 and continue over the Outeniqua Pass to Oudtshoorn. On reaching Oudtshoorn we visit the Safari Ostrich Farm for a guided tour of the farm. Here guests can learn more about these big birds and the history of the ostrich industry in South Africa. The tour then continues along a scenic route to the Cango Caves, one of the 23 cave systems know to be in the Swartberg Mountains. Here guests can enjoy a guided tour of the caves. We then continue to Wilgewandel Country Restaurant for lunch. After lunch we proceed to the Cango Wildlife Ranch, where cheetahs, white tigers, lion, different species of big cats, crocodiles and many other animals can be seen. Guests over the age of 16 years can touch the tame cheetah or the young white tigers at an extra cost. We then return to George via the Outeniqua Mountain Pass stopping at the Four Passes View Point. Return to guest house in George. (Lunch & Dinner to own account) ;
     
  
  
  
• Full Day (5)
  Depart George at 09h00 and travel along the N2 to Mossel Bay. On reaching Mossel Bay we will visit the Maritime Museum, which houses the replica of the Bartholomew Dias Ship, which landed in Mossel Bay in 1488. We then proceed to the Post Office Tree, where in the 1500’s, passing ships would collect mail from an old boot hanging in this tree. The boot has since been replaced by a boot shaped letter box and any letters mailed here, receive a special franking mark in the shape of a boot. The tour then proceeds to the Shell Museum, which houses an international collection of shells and other sea related items. We then continue to the St. Blaize Cave, which was inhabited many years ago by the Khoi/San and is today a National Monument. Lunch can be enjoyed at one of the local restaurants. After lunch we proceed to the Mossel Bay Station where guests will board the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe Train for a scenic trip back to George. On reaching George there will be time to walk through the Transport Museum before returning to the guest house in George,
  
  Boat trip to Seal Island, which is home to some 5 000 seals, 2 000 of which are on the island at any one time. Return to George. (Lunch to own account)
  
  
• Full Day (6)
  Depart George at 09h00 and travel along the N2 to Mossel Bay. On reaching Mossel Bay we will visit the Maritime Museum, which houses the replica of the Bartholomew Dias Ship, which landed in Mossel Bay in 1488. We then proceed to the Post Office Tree, where in the 1500’s, passing ships would collect mail from an old boot hanging in this tree. The boot has since been replaced by a boot shaped letter box and any letters mailed here, receive a special franking mark in the shape of a boot. The tour then proceeds to the Shell Museum, which houses an international collection of shells and other sea related items. We then continue to the St. Blaize Cave, which was inhabited many years ago by the Khoi/San and is today a National Monument. Lunch can be enjoyed at one of the local restaurants.
  
  A 2 ½ to 3 hour guided game drive through Botlierskop Game Reserve where lion, rhino, buffalo, giraffe and a large variety of buck, birds and flora can be seen. This is a must for any tourist visiting the area! Return to George.
  
  
• Half Day (7) morning or afternoon 3 hour Game Drive
  Departure Time in the morning 08h00, return to George +/- 12h30 Departure Time in the Afternoon 14h00, return to George +/- 18h30 Collect Guests in George and continue onto Botlierskop Wild Game Farm, for a guided game drive through the farm where lion, rhino, buffalo, giraffe and a large variety of buck, birds and flora can be seen. This is a must for any tourist visiting the area! Return to George.
  
  
• Full Day Tour (8)
  Collect guest at 08h30 and view the ‘Slave Tree’ with chain imbedded in it. Continue onto St. Marks Cathedral, said to be the smallest Cathedral in the Southern Hemisphere. Designed by Sophia Grey and consecrated in 1850. The Drostdy (George Museum) was built in 1811 for the first landrost and now houses the George Museum. Dutch Reformed Church, which took 12 years to build and was taken into use in 1842. Main features: Yellowwood ceilings, door made of teak, stinkwood pulpit and yellowwood pillars. This is also a National Monument. We then enjoy a trip in the Outeniqua Power Van where guests will experience the following: forests, waterfalls, tunnels, fynbos, proteas, four passes, bird and animal life of the Outeniqua Mountains. Heritage Railway Museum, housing a large collection of steam engines, vintage cars and South African railway history. A visit to a local leather factory show room will end off the tour. Lunch to own account.
  
  
• Full Day Tour (9)
  Collect guests at 08h15 and continue along the N2 through Knysna to Plettenberg Bay. Scenic drive through Plettenburg Bay and stop at The View Point on Signal Hill. Guests can ejoy a two and a half hour Ocean Trip around the Robberg Peninsula as well as the Plettenberg Bay Area where you can view whale (during whale season if in the area) and dolphin, and seals at the Robberg Colony. Lunch (lunch to own account). Continue on to Robberg Nature Reserve. Robberg consists of beautiful rock formations, fossils, an excavation site in a cave; seals, fantastic flora and shipwrecks can be seen in the ocean below. (This hike is for fairly fit people). For those not wishing to do the hike, the beautiful view can be enjoyed. Return to George.
  
  
• Full Day Tour (10)
  Guests will be collected at 08h00 and continue on to Natures Valley, where we take a scenic drive through the Bloukrans Forest and over the Pass. We Stop at the Paul Sauer/Storms River Bridge (opened in 1956), which was designed by Richardo Morandi, of Rome, a single cantilever bridge, 186m long and stands 120m above the waters of the Storms River. 30 years after the bridge was first opened, it was widened and now incorporates a walkway on both sides of the road, a great tourist attraction. We take a walk over the bridge and look down at the breath taking view. We stop for a walk through the Tsitsikamma Forest and visit the Big Tree, an 800-year-old yellowwood as well as the Fallen Tree, also a yellowwood, indigenous to South Africa. The tour then goes onto the Tsitsikamma National Park for lunch (lunch to own account). After lunch, our tourists have about an hour and a half to walk around the park, which has breath-taking views of the sea breaking against the rocks and peninsula. If you would like to, you can walk along the boardwalk up to and over the hanging bridge, which crosses over the Storms River. Return to George. Lunch and alcoholic beverages to own account, entrance fees included.