By Ilana Sharlin Stone
Seaside holidays are the things that make great childhood memories. The trouble is that many of the things that rev children's motors fill the hearts of weary, stressed-out parents with dread.
One can only listen to the maddening sound effects of video arcades for so long before a desperate need to trip the electricity sets in. It is a challenge to find a place that is as pleasing to the over-30s as it is to the little angels.
One such place is the new Garden Route. The homely, the kitsch and the sticky candyfloss are still there, but so is a new platinum lifestyle, complete with luxurious places to stay, golf courses and plenty of other options for wildlife-lovers. And best of all, those long stretches of wild sandy beach still remain, beckoning to people of all ages who need a break.
An ideal place is Mossel Bay, because of its central location on the coast, its near perfect weather and the new Pinnacle Point Beach and Golf Club. This new family-friendly resort rests on the fynbos-covered cliffs just west of Mossel Bay.
A long stretch off the main road completely cuts Pinnacle Point off from its surrounds. The location of a spectacular championship golf course (set to open in mid-2006), the resort overlooks the Indian Ocean, playground to whales and dolphins for much of the year.
Also in the plans are a game reserve and equestrian centre. Despite the on-site hotel, casino and self-catering guest lodges, the place exudes peace. The New England Cape Cod-style wood shingled lodges are luxuriously furnished and perch above the sea. For the kids, there are many beaches nearby, a noisy games arcade and golf carts, which are the only mode of transport at the resort.
South Africans have always loved the Garden Route for its beaches and dense fynbos, but if anything has put the Garden Route on the international tourism map, it's golf. This year's First National Festival of Golf held in July celebrated the region as the premier golfing destination in Africa, with all of the top courses in the South Cape participating.
There are 12 courses between Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay - that's roughly one golf course for every 12km.
Beginning in Mossel Bay is the Mossel Bay Golf Club, in action since 1905 with a revamped course that boasts seaside views from every tee. A short distance away is Pinnacle Point, due to open next year. It promises to provide many heart-stopping challenges for players, as it literally hangs over the sea. The championship course will boast eight holes playable across churning waves and pristine beaches. Until the course is completed, guests at Pinnacle Point's hotel and lodges receive reciprocal golf privileges at nearby Mossel Bay Golf Club.
Down the road in Herold's Bay is the recently opened Oubaai, where golfers go to catch a glimpse of champion Ernie Els swinging a club on his signature course.
Moving inland towards George is Fancourt Estate. With four 18-hole courses, it is considered the reigning king of the area, at least for now. Fancourt has got something for everybody: two parkland courses, a links course that might fool a Scot if it weren't for the near-perfect weather, and a fourth hybrid course that gives golfers a taste of parkland and links.
Nearby Knysna boasts a trio of golf venues, beginning with Simola Lodge & Country Club, with its Jack Nicklaus signature course in the hills overlooking the lagoon. Knysna Golf Club flanks the Knysna estuary with tree-lined fairways, and because of its location, is almost as popular with local bird life as it is with golfers.
The most glamorous of the three is Pezula Estate, which offers a challenging championship course as well as ultra-luxurious accommodations and spa.
Further to the east is Plettenberg Bay, with another Gary Player-designed course at Goose Valley bordering the Keurbooms Lagoon. And the Plettenberg Bay Country Club is all peace and serenity, set in a lovely nature reserve.
Port Elizabeth businessman Adriaan Gardiner was the first to create a luxurious private game reserve on the Garden Route. Shamwari, just outside Port Elizabeth, began as a family retreat in 1990 and, fuelled by Gardiner's passion for restoring the land to its original state, has grown into a vast 20 000-hectare game reserve - a complete ecosystem that can now sustain predators like cheetah and wild hyena. Many others have now risen to the challenge of correcting the damage done by years of hunting and overgrazing. Now, there is more than a handful of game reserves set back from the coastline.
Botlierskop Private Game Reserve is one of the newest, half an hour from Pinnacle Point and Mossel Bay, near Great Brak River. The lodge and accommodation nestle in a picturesque valley below Botlierskop on the 2 400 hectare reserve.
Game drives take place in an old army Samel, an open 4 x 4 that was built specifically to cross the toughest of bushveld. Rhino, lion, buffalo, giraffe, Cape mountain zebra, and eland are easily spotted on grassy open plains. Unique to Botlierskop is its black impala breeding programme, started nearly 10 years ago by owner and wildlife veterinarian Dr Dirk Neethling.
Black impala are extremely rare, largely because their colour makes them easy prey for lions and leopards. They can be successfully interbred with the far more common red impala, and by doing so, Botlierskop has grown its population from one black impala to 120, almost half of the 300 or so that exist worldwide today.
Also on offer are elephant-back rides. Sam and Tsotsi, orphaned after a culling programme in Zimbabwe's Zambezi Valley, now earn their keep by gently carrying visitors over the reserve.
Botlierskop has eight (soon to be 12) luxury tented suites that look out over the picturesque valley and river below. The Fireplace Restaurant serves excellent dishes. Botlierskop also caters to day visitors, and provides a variety of packages including game drives, quad bike trips, nature walks and lunch.
The Meet the People Tour, which originates in Mossel Bay, is a must. Five ordinary folk are the stars of this tour that takes you via minibus from Mossel Bay's township area through the Outeniqua Foothills on rural roads not normally travelled by tourists. You might meet Millie, who makes jams out of wild watermelons and rose petals, or Janneman, a paraplegic who makes leather handbags.
Energetic tour guide Jauckie Viljoen is a powerful force of upliftment and inspiration in his corner of the Garden Route.
Also very entertaining is the one-hour Seal Island cruise on the Romonza. Populated by up to 5 000 seals, it is a memorable feature for kids. During whale season, which is June through October, the Romonza also does whale-watching trips twice daily.
To commemorate the 500th anniversary of Bartholemeu Dias's discovery of Mossel Bay in 1988, the Portuguese community of South Africa sponsored the building of an authentic wooden caravel. A crew of 17 then sailed the vessel from Portugal to Mossel Bay, where it is now the centrepiece of the Maritime Museum in the Bartholemeu Dias Museum Complex. You can climb aboard and see how sailors once lived, without the rum of course.
This is a surprisingly large museum complex for a city of only 85 000, and also includes a culture museum that celebrates the Khoi-San, the area's first residents, as well as a Shell Museum and small aquarium.
No matter how much talk there is about the new Garden Route, with all of its golfing, game tracking, bungee jumping, shark diving, 4x4-ing and other adrenalin pumping activities, you can't miss the fact that its greatest attribute is still its natural beauty. It shines through as the lush, soul-soothing backdrop for all the action and luxurious living it inspires.
- This article was originally published on page 8 of The Sunday Independent on September 25, 2005