Run For The Hills!

Want to escape the summer crush on the coast? Head inland to the Outeniqua Mountains – there’s pinot noir to be sipped and cool forest trails waiting to be explored.

- Jon Minster

The Garden Route is booming. Word on the street is that up to 30 families are moving to the coast every month from elsewhere in South Africa. Mossel Bay, Hartenbos, Klein Brak, Groot Brak, George… There’s hardly a gap between them anymore, with new houses springing up on every available hillside.

It’s even busier during school holidays when everyone who isn’t living there already arrives in loaded Fortuners towing Venter trailers for a week or two of fun in the sun.

The buzz is great, but it can get exhausting – and that’s where the Outeniqua Mountains come into play. A few kilometers inland and it’s almost like you’re in a different world. Mountains loom in your windscreen and quirky farm stalls tempt you with tea and scones. You can ride your mountain bike or – if you want to disappear completely – you can hike a forest trail and have a picnic lunch under a 900-year-old yellowwood with only Knysna turacos for company.

Jump in and let’s go!

Lions for breakfast

The Garden Route is not just a popular holiday destination for South Africans, it also draws thousands of international visitors annually. Catering to the demand for “wild Africa”, there are dozens of game reserves where Sven from Sweden can get a glimpse of a buffalo or a zebra. Having been spoiled by real wilderness in parks like the Kruger and the Kgalagadi, I have never seen the appeal of visiting one of these smaller reserves. But that’s about to change…

“Go to Botlierskop,” says Meike Prenzel, of Avenues Guesthouse in Mossel Bay where I spent the night. Meike and her husband Martin moved to South Africa from Berlin 14 years ago, and they have their fingers on the tourism pulse in this part of the world. “We always send our guests there. It’s not what you’d expect.”