Garden Route

Day 3 of early starts and we were into our early wake up routine and guide Matthew picked us up and off we headed for our final safari at Kariega. Just our family today! Each safari we went on Matthew took us to a different area within the 10,000 acres of the reserve. Incredibly Matthew spotted the two male lions on a mound in the distance between trees as we were driving. We made our way down and observed the kings of the jungle as they slept, not bothered by us watching in awe. One of them had a scar over its eye due to a fight with its brother - reminded us of Scar and Mufasa! On our way to find the female lions we came across a herd of elephants and a cute baby elephant tried to scare us off by flapping his ears and then he ran away. We found the female lions lying on an open field near a herd of impalas. Clearly they were still full as the impalas were close enough to be hunted. We made our way for a coffee break down by the Bushmans river. A gorgeous and tranquil area where we had our coffee and muffin break with the giraffes and impalas until Ted jumped and they were scared away. Karma had its way as Ted ended up with a prickly pear in his foot much to the hilarity for us. We drove back via Settlers Drift and back to the lodge for a big breaky. The food has been delicious and varied. We said a fond farewell to Matthew. We were so lucky to have had Matthew as our guide as he has been doing it for over 20 years and gave us such a unique experience. On the road to Knysna, Ted asked if we were passing Jeffreys Bay, which is a world class surfing beach and where Mick Fanning was attacked by a shark. It was a short detour to a lovely seaside town. We enjoyed a delicious and cheap lunch, a good half way stop for our drive. We arrived in Knynsa after a 4.5hr drive and are staying at Belvidere Manor, a 3 bedroom garden cottage, maintaining the heritage design of the original manor house. Pretty on the outside and quaint on the inside. There are power outages to preserve power and it only came on at 6pm. A mad rush to charge all devices. Kids chilled, Pete and I went for a walk through the gardens and along the coast followed by a drink at Bell Tavern. We had dinner there, enjoying some funny stories, and we are now ready for bed, all a little tired after the long day.Read more