Twin Peaks Restaurant
How To Have The Time Of Your Life In The Garden Route Of South Africa
If you ever visit South Africa, you should definitely include the Garden Route area in the south of the country in your itinerary. This is a stretch of coastline beginning at Mossel Bay and ending at the Tsitsikamma Forest in the east (near the town of Plettenberg Bay). Between these to points you will find a number of quaint resort towns, as well as the commercial hub of the area, George.
If you arrive from Cape Town's side, the first town you will encounter is Mossel Bay. This old town with its many colonial buildings has a different atmosphere than the more modern towns to the east. It used to be the least developed of the Garden Route towns, but during the past two decades it has started to develop into a tourist town of note. The standards of hotels and guest houses are high - we noticed that our guest house even had baby bath tubs for those traveling with infants.
The twin towns of Groot Brak River and Klein Brak River are situated a few km east of Mossel Bay. Both have been holiday hotspots for countless South Africans for generations. When the Northern hemisphere is sighing under a mantle of snow during winter, it's of course summertime in South Africa. This is part of the reason why the country is getting more and more overseas visitors during the European winter.
George is the major town of the region. Here you will find all modern conveniences like shopping malls, movies and loads of good restaurants. To the east of George lies the renowned coastal resort town of Wilderness. Once again wide open white sandy beaches and many restaurants. Over weekends you will also find live music at many of these restaurants. I prefer to make my own music though: my martin acoustic electric guitar, has been a source of great pleasure for many an evening.
After George the road is flanked by the beautiful green hills of the Southern Cape most of the time, with the sea visible now and again. Forty kilometers from George you go through Sedgefield, where there is apparently a fine costume jewelry wholesale distributor (although we couldn't find it any more the last time we were there). The town is also surrounded by several beautiful lakes and is therefore a favorite holiday spot.
The beautiful historic resort of Knysna is located sixty kilometers from George. Strictly speaking it's not a seaside resort (it's on the shores of a lagoon), but the southern part of town, called The Heads, does overlook the sea. This has become a tourist town per excellence over the past few decades. There are more restaurants per capita than in any other town on the Garden Route.
Plettenberg Bay is the last town of the Garden Route. This is a hangout for the rich and famous. There are numerous upmarket guest houses and hotels and the residential area called Millionaire's Mile is exactly that - a residential area for millionaires. Not far from town you can visit another famous tourist spot - the Tsitsikamma rain forest. In this lush oasis of ferns and waterfalls, you might even run into a real elephant: there are still a few of them wandering around.
Twin Peaks Bikini Carwash - Lewisville 6.13.09
