Surrounding Areas

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Tsitsikamma Segway Tours – Tsitsikamma 5 of 5

One of the newest attractions in the Tsitsikamma is the Segway Tours that starts in Storms River Village.  After a short introduction and a training run on the lawn, the tour heads out through the village before entering the edge of the forest and the adjoining pine plantation.  Family Firefly absolutely loved the experience and even though the minimum age is 10 the guide allowed my 7 year old Drama Princess to go, holding on to her segway just about every step of…

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30/12/2012
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Tsitsikamma National Park – Tsitsikamma 4 of 5

In my book the Tsitsikamma National Park is one of the most beautiful places in South Africa.  Indigenous forest, deep gorges and sheer vertical cliffs reaching down to black rocks being battered by the Indian Ocean.  A shoreline enviable by many other places.  The Tsitsikamma National Park was proclaimed in 1964 and became the first marine protection area in Africa.  Today it's one of the most visited places on the Garden Route with most visitors opting to do the 1km walk to the Storms River…

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29/12/2012
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Treetops Canopy Tour – Tsitsikamma 3 of 5

The Treetops Canopy Tour in the forest at Storms River Village was the first forest zipline experience of its kind in South Africa and over the years has developed into an activity that one just cannot miss when in the area.  The Treetops Canopy Tour consists of 10 "fufi" slides through the indigenous forest.  Some of the platforms between the slides are as high as 30 meters up and one gets some magnificent views of the forest during your 2 1/2 hour adventure.   

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28/12/2012
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Hiking in the forest – Tsitsikamma 2 of 5

There are numerous short and medium length hikes through the indigenous forests of the Tsitsikamma.  The Plaatbos Nature Reserve next to Storms River Village has some great trails which will take one deep into the forest, over various streams and along the old Storms River pass.  The Kidz love the walks with Chaos Boy and Drama Princess normally having a running battle over who should lead the way.  

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27/12/2012
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Tsitsikamma Village Inn – Tsitsikamma 1 of 5

The Tsitsikamma is located on the Garden Route about 160 kilometers west of Port Elizabeth.  It's ideal for a weekend breakaway from the city just to go and unwind and as most people are on holiday at the moment I thought it suitable to do a short Tsitsikamma series for this who follow the blog and isn't.  A little cyber holiday as to say. The Tsitsikamma has some fantastic accommodation establishments ranging from hotels and luxury guesthouses to self catering cottages and…

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26/12/2012
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Citrus fruit

Port Elizabeth has two of South Africa's premier export citrus growing areas both within a hour's drive from the city.  The Sundays River Valley to the north around the towns of Addo and Kirkwood and the Gamtoos Valley to the west.  Over the weekend we visited the Citrus Festival in the town of Patensie in the Gamtoos Valley and all along the road one can see the citrus, specially oranges, hanging on the trees.

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19/06/2012
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Fresh fruit and veg

On Saturday morning I loaded the family into the car and headed out to the Gamtoos Valley west of Port Elizabeth for the annual Patensie Citrus Festival.  There were a couple of reasons for our little outing the first and foremost being the fact that I loaded a boot full of fresh fruit and vegetables for a fraction of what I would have paid for it in a supermarket in the city.  Plus it was absolutely farm fresh.  The Gamtoos Valley…

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18/06/2012
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Bushmans River view

A week or so ago I did a post of a couple of guests at Amakhala Game Reserve enjoying the view of the Bushmans River Valley during their game drive.  I thought I would post a picture showing the actual view they were enjoying.

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04/05/2012
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Oudtshoorn

Today out tour of all the towns surrounding Port Elizabeth (and a little further away) ends in Oudtshoorn. From George and Mossel Bay the road takes you over the Outeniqua Mountains into the Klein Karoo (Small place of Thirst). It is a area flanked by the Outeniqua Mountains in the south and the Swartberg Mountains in the north. The climate here is much different from that along the coast. Its is dry and hot. Ideal ostrich country. The main attractions…

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06/07/2009
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Mossel Bay

Mossel Bay is the last of the Garden Route towns we visit. From here heading west towards Cape Town the road goes via the Overberg which is mainly farming area. I don't really have any photos of this area to show.Mossel Bay was the spot where the first European explorer set foot in South Africa. Bartholomew Diaz landed here in 1488 and in 1988 for the 500 year anniversary a replica of his caravel was built and sailed from Portugal.…

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05/07/2009