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Garden Route and Little Karoo, including Otter Trail
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Garden Route and Little Karoo, including Otter Trail

OK. This is going to be a very basic datasheet, mostly dealing with the Otter Trail the town of Wilderness, and gaming mostly in the Backpacker circles in this area.

The Area:
The Garden Route is a scenic area between the South African cities of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. The exact beginning and end is only loosely defined, but I define it as the coastal area between the towns of Mossel Bay and Jeffreys Bay. The Little Karoo is the equivalent inland area just over the barrier of mountain ranges, and is a lot drier than the Garden Route.

Why should you go there?
If you are visiting South Africa on holiday you will invariably visit this area. It is popular with both locals and visitors for the warm, but not too warm, weather, the beaches, what remains of the indigenous forest and the scenery in general. The Garden Route is probably the easiest and safest area in the country to travel independently and lots of tourists rent a car in Cape Town, travel the route, and fly out of Port Elizabeth. Many do not go inland to the Little Karoo, but you should not make this mistake. To be honest it is probably a more interesting area to most foreign visitors due to its dry climate, spectacular mountain passes and weird geological formations.


The towns/places of interest:
I’ll list a few starting from the Port Elizabeth (PE) end, describe what they are about and add a couple of items of specific interest to Rooshites. Wait, that doesn’t sound kosher. To RooshV members, rather.

Jeffreys Bay (J-Bay):

The town itself is either crap or so-so, depending on your mood on the day. But people don’t go there for the architecture, or man made attributes in general. They go there for the surfing. It’s been hyped up beyond belief, but the town really does have good waves, especially in Winter. It’s been hyped because the cult 60’s surfing movie “Endless Summer” concluded that the best surfing waves in THE WORLD occurred in the area. Don’t know about that, but lot’s of surfers move to the town for extended periods from all over the world to find out for themselves.

The town of J-Bay itself is weak as far as gaming is concerned. The surfers who move to town are mostly male, and like I said the town is not so great. Your best bet is to make friends in your general age group in the bigger SA cities, mention you are going to the area, and hope to connect with people with holiday houses in the nearby resort town of St Francis Bay. That will get you invited to house parties there if dates coincide, and will be a much better bet than bars in J-Bay. Think crazy rich girls in party mood. At a pinch you can try day-game at the beaches, or probably better at the mall on the outskirts of town (Fountains Mall). Street game isn’t feasible in SA in general since hot girls will very rarely be on the street.

Tsitsikamma National Park and Otter Trail:
Don’t miss this National Park. Aside from the spectacular coastal scenery it exerts some sort of strange magnetic force on hot girls. I’ve been there many times and never fail to encounter a few hotties, even on very slow days. It really is very strange. A few days ago I was on a short day-trail there turned a corner and nearly collided with a hot girl(8/9) who was, I swear, doing the trail - which is not hard, but not that easy either- in a cocktail dress, with her hair and makeup done as if she really was at a high-end cocktail party. It was…unexpected. What I suppose wasn’t unexpected, since I read RooshV, is that she was speaking a Slavic language. Not Russian, I don’t think, but definitely Slavic. Really, replace her flats with heals and she wouldn’t have be out of place at any embassy cocktail party. Improved my mood after having to shoulder check some very rude and obese Israeli’s a minute earlier who were hogging the trail. (So this is why people don’t like Israeli tourists? But to be fair I met some cool Sabra’s from the same group at another venue later.) This was on the Storms River Mouth Trail

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, which leads from the restaurant to a series of suspension bridges. It’s very popular, so you can meet many people on the way.

But that’s just a short trail. If you have the time and inclination consider doing the very demanding Otter Trail (http://www.sanparks.org/parks/garden_rou...tter.php). It is a 4 night/5 day trail that starts at the Tsitsikamma Park entrance and passes through spectacular coastal scenery

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, ending in the village of Nature’s Valley. It is the most popular trail in SA, and appears in some “Top 10 trails in the World” lists, so many groups book a year in advance so that they can secure the exact dates they want. But there are cancellations, so you can also get spots at short notice as well if you’re flexible with your dates. I did this trail recently for the first time. The reasons I would say you should consider doing it is to challenge yourself physically, and also for the almost exclusive access to a genuinely spectacular stretch of coast. Only 12 people are allowed on the trail each day, and if you leave each overnight hut early, before the cleaners come in, you aren’t likely to see anyone other than your 11 hiking mates until you reach the end of the trail. But don’t underestimate the difficulty of the trail. I did this. The km’s covered per day are small. E.g What I now consider the most difficult day, the second day, is only 7.8 km long. I mean, who can’t walk 7.8 km, right? But the trail rises and falls, many, many times during this 7.8 km, and you are carrying a heavy backpack, and it's 32 deg Celsius. It’s not as easy as it appears on paper. Also, be very careful on the 4th day. You have to cross the Bloukrans River at its mouth, and this is really only safe to do at low tide.

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So you must arrive at the river before low tide, even if this means leaving the previous hut at 3 AM (It is about a 4 ½ hour hike from the hut to the river). If you try to cross the river when the tide is higher you run the risk of having your backpack (which you float beside you in a survival bag) being washed out to sea by unseen riptides (next stop…Antarctica), or worse you could be washed out to sea yourself… There is an escape route you can take if it is too dangerous. Once you get a cell phone signal you can phone a ranger and they’ll find you and help you out. Don’t miss the awesome natural infinity pool on the 4th day.

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Unfortunately we couldn't stop for a swim (in any event it was raining) since we were rushing to get to the Bloukrans River by 9:30 AM. The trail is relatively well provisioned. Each overnight stop has two very solid huts, each with six bunk beds, an open deck and a table to prepare food. Firewood is supplied at each hut for a braai (barbeque). Hint: As long as you get your butcher to properly vacuum pack your meat in individual daily portions and freeze them solid beforehand they will last for 3 of the 4 nights. No eating canned rubbish and reconstituted soy meal for you…This is what I did, and it was very hot on the first 3 days. No food poisoning. Each hut also has garbage cans, a cold water shower and water flushing toilet (often with a view).

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[Image: DSC00181%20%28480x640%29.jpg]

Not much game advice here. Groups of unattached people do do the trail, but it’ll be the luck of the draw whether there are any suitable girls to game. There weren’t when I did it.

Plettenberg Bay:
I really like this town. It is built on a hillside overlooking long beaches, the bay and the Tsitsikamma Mountain Range in the distance. It has SA’s most expensive holiday houses, but is accessible for all budgets, with backpacker's and camping in the area as well. There are some beach bars and restaurants on the beach, but I prefer the atmosphere on Main Street up the hill better

[Image: DSC00243%20%28640x480%29.jpg]

, even in daytime. Europa Café in Main Street is a good day gaming spot. Don’t have a night venue recommendation, but top of the list would be to get invited to house party in one of the mansions. Crazy rich girl game rules apply. If you’re into dance music there are trance festivals in the area, but not town, in the peak Christmas/New Year Summer holiday period. If you are young (High School or gap year) early December would be good. The town hosts 1000’s of young people who travel there in late November/early December to party after writing their last High School exam ever.

Knysna:
I won’t really comment too much here since I have what I admit is a partly irrational dislike of this town, despite it often winning “Best Town in SA” awards. I really should like it since it’s set on a big recreational lagoon and is surrounded by the largest traces of indigenous forest left in the country, but I just….don’t like the place. Its Main Street looks like a Ghetto to me, and its new glitzy waterfront entertainment area is sterile and boring. But if you go, reach your own conclusions. Clearly many people love the town. Also, it is the centre of a big Rastafarian community so people into Reggae and/or 420 lifestyle may enjoy spending a few days there.

Wilderness/George:
These two places are very close. George is much bigger, but don’t stay there. It is an OK town. Probably a good place to live as a family, but is a bit boring for tourists, especially singles. Also, it is somewhat inland, whereas Wilderness is on the coast and lakes. There are a series of lakes that run along the coast close to, and parallel to, it. The town of Wilderness is on the Eastern end of this series of lakes. It is a small place, but has a good vibe. There are a couple of hotels and fancy guesthouses in the town, but these are best for couples or families. Honestly, as a single you’re better off in a backpackers, even if your budget could easily handle something much better. The nearby National Park Restcamp also offers accommodation, but this is also probably best for couples and families. Backpackers have a social vibe that isn’t going to exist in the other places. There are a few restaurants in the town. I’d recommend Cocomo, which also has a separate bar. This is pretty much the only place in town, aside from the Backpackers own bars, that is single friendly. They have live music at weekends and the vibe is relaxed. The waitresses are friendly. Hell, one even got her parents, who were eating there at the time, to give myself and a German girl I was with a ride back to our backpackers after our ride back left us in the lurch (though this was mainly our fault). The other restaurant I’d recommend is Flava, which is almost next door to Cocomo, even if for no other reason than because one of the chefs there, Jacques, does some of the best impersonations I’ve ever heard. Everyone was left in stitches. If you’re there ask him (he looks like a chef...) to do a South African rugby commentator impersonation, though you’ll have to know some Afrikaans to really get it. Other than that the action is mostly at the Backpackers own bars. There are a couple in town. The one I’d recommend, for both staying and hanging out at the bar(cheap drinks), is Fairy Knowe Backpackers (No, not those sorts of Fairies). I know a lot of guys here think they are above backpacker game, but in this sort of place this is where the action is. Quite a few decent looking girls passing through and they are on holiday and ready to party. You know the deal with backpacker girls. The suburb of Victoria Bay is also worth looking in at. It is VERY popular with surfers, and the waves were pumping when I was there a few days ago. It can be reached by walking along the abandoned railway line from Wilderness, though this means walking through a few tunnels and over a fairly long closed bridge (with no-entry signs), the Kaaimans River Bridge, that was damaged in floods a few years back.

[Image: 2075.1117489800.jpg]

Some of the boards you walk on on the bridge are a tiny bit dodgy, but it’s not all that dangerous, though a fall could well spell death, either by impact with the sand at low tide, or drowning at high tide. You can also get there by road, of course, but good luck finding parking.

Little Karoo/Cango Caves/Mountain Passes:
Heading less than 100km’s inland from George you enter a completely different world. As you pass over the mountains the climate becomes much drier, and as a result of course you also have completely different vegetation. Getting to the Cango Caves is easy. The roads are excellent that far, but if you can make the effort and travel further inland over the Swartberg Pass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swartberg_Pass). It is a dirt road but is fine for a regular car as far as the top of the pass (from Oudsthoorn). Down the other side to Prince Albert is a bit more difficult, but I drove it in a regular car, as do many others. You just have to drive painfully slowly. It is a spectacular pass, probably the best in SA, and not to be missed if you enjoy dramatic scenery.

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Not much to say game wise here. Probably best to arrange to come up from the coast with someone. Definitely visit the Cango Caves (http://www.cango-caves.co.za/) and go on the full “Adventure” Tour. It is actually a little hard core towards the end of the tour for a commercial operation. Definitely not a Disney experience. You have to be a bit of a contortionist and squeeze yourself through some very small spaces for a relatively long period of time to complete the tour. If you suffer from even a hint of claustrophobia you are headed for a pretty serious panic attack. But you know what they say about “danger” and horniness, so bringing a girl who can do the tour and is at least a little into you already may push things ahead a bit.

Conclussion:
In conclusion I’d suggest that if you travel to SA don’t miss the Garden Route or Little Karoo. Almost nobody misses the Garden Route since it is so popular, but many miss the Little Karoo and the drier parts of the interior of the country in general. Don’t be one of them. The area is fascinating, and to most people from developed countries probably more interesting than the Garden Route in fact. Game wise, I’d say consider becoming a sometimes loathed (on this site) backpacker. I honestly think that the backpacker scene in this area is better for singles than expensive hotels and guest houses. If you want to go big, it’ll be better to do this in big cities like Cape Town.
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