I travelled the other way along the garden route – Cape Town to PE.
When we got to Cape Town – just walked around and tried to find the best deal on car hire and ending up using Hertz as they were the best for allowing us to drop off in PE and least expensive.
What to see and do all depends on what you enjoy.
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Going the direction you plan, here are some suggestions…
Addo Elephant Park just north of PE, which was very worthwhile for elephants viewing – not much other big game spotted.
Spent time in Jeffrey’s Bay, which is great if you enjoy surfing, swimming and beach walking.
Spent a few days travelling through Tsitsikamma National Park. This is a great place if you enjoy nature and walking/hiking, especially Nature’s Valley. You can go on a Tree Top Canopy Tour, abseiling, take boats trips, swimming (although a little cold when we were there).
For some adrenalin you can experience the world’s highest Commercial bungy Jump at Bloukrans Bridge and if you don’t want to Bungy jump, you can do a bridge walk, which is scary enough.
A little north of the garden route is Oudtshoorn – which I did not visit because of limited time. Apparently the Cango Caves make an interesting visit – and the town is popular for it’s ostrich farms. There is also a wild Meerkat conservation project in the area, which was recommended to me.
I suppose as you are in Africa and it’s on the way – you should visit Agulhas – the most Southern tip of South Africa – although I didn’t think there was much of interest around the area.
Gansbaai is where the shark cage diving is most popular. We did not book beforehand just booked at our lodge when we arrived. When we went in Feb the water was cold and visibility not so good – so I didn’t go into the cage. Apparently you could see more from the boat anyway. I think it’s worth the experience. There is not much else round here apart from the Cage Diving.
September is the perfect month for whale watching and Hermanus is the place. There is an annual Whale Festival in Hermanus – so if you want to be here when the festival is on, this is the one place that it may be adviseable to book accommodation in advance.
The onto Cape Town.
Spend a couple of days visiting Cape Point, drive along Chapman’s Peak and visit the Penguins at Bolders Beach. Definitely go up Table Mountain and allow yourself plenty of time…. there are so many walks at the top.
Here’s some photographs of the area
http://www.africaguide.com/country/safrica/photolib.htm#scenery
If you like wine – East of Cape Town are the famous winelands, around the towns of Stellenbosch and Paarl. As there are plenty opportunities for sampling the vintages but you may want to leave your car and take an organised tour this day
Cape Town is great, especially if you like shopping and restaurants and there’s some lovely beaches round the area… however the sea is COLD. In February is was very windy – some people said it always windy.
For accommodation, we never booked anything in advance during the month of February. We just drove and when we found a area we liked we check around the accommodation that was available – we could always find somewhere, mostly of quality. There a plenty of back packers places… not sure what you are looking for.
There a little guide that you can get in Tourist offices “Coast to Coast” gives details accommodation along the Garden Route – but I found it is mainly targeted towards backpacker establishments.
Hope this helps get you started….
