Our first official stop on the Garden Route—other than the McDonalds in George (our first trip to the golden arches of the trip)--was Knysna and Buffalo Bay. 
We arrived in Buffalo Bay at the tail-end of the most beautiful sunset, and after checking out the stars and our accommodations, we decided it was worth staying another day just to see the sunset again.
The Buffalo Bay Backpackers was by far my favorite camping spot of the whole trip. We parked our truck right on the beach. The hostel itself had a nice central fireplace, which everyone gathered by. It also had free wi-fi—a luxury after the lack of internet at the campsites in Namibia.
We spent an afternoon shopping in the nearby Knysna. The town was cute and had some adorable shops. After three months of wearing the same clothes, I went kind of crazy.
That night we made sure to make it back in time for the sunset, which was nothing short of breathtaking.
Earlier in the trip, I had seen an Ernest Hemingway quote that said, “I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy.” Thinking about all the mornings I had woken up on freezing cold or miserably hot buses or all of the poverty in Africa, I wondered if Hemingway had ever really been here. But, if you modified that quote to read, “I never knew of a sunset in Africa that did not make me happy,” I would have to agree. The sunsets here are spectacular. The sun moves quickly from low to huge bright-pink orb to gone completely in a matter of minutes. Almost every night of our trip—certainly of the camping portion of our trip—we would drop everything to watch the sunset.
After sunset, we took advantage of the cooking facilities to make curry and the campfire to introduce Alex to the joys of s’mores.
These s’mores were made all the better by the yummy coconut-crusted marshmallows and hazelnut chocolate bars that are standard fare here.
Our next stop was the aptly-named Wilderness. We started by exploring the Kingfisher trail, which involves a pontoon crossing and ends at a waterfall.
(By Regina)
(By Alex)
We arrived in Buffalo Bay at the tail-end of the most beautiful sunset, and after checking out the stars and our accommodations, we decided it was worth staying another day just to see the sunset again.
The Buffalo Bay Backpackers was by far my favorite camping spot of the whole trip. We parked our truck right on the beach. The hostel itself had a nice central fireplace, which everyone gathered by. It also had free wi-fi—a luxury after the lack of internet at the campsites in Namibia.
We spent an afternoon shopping in the nearby Knysna. The town was cute and had some adorable shops. After three months of wearing the same clothes, I went kind of crazy.
That night we made sure to make it back in time for the sunset, which was nothing short of breathtaking.
Earlier in the trip, I had seen an Ernest Hemingway quote that said, “I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy.” Thinking about all the mornings I had woken up on freezing cold or miserably hot buses or all of the poverty in Africa, I wondered if Hemingway had ever really been here. But, if you modified that quote to read, “I never knew of a sunset in Africa that did not make me happy,” I would have to agree. The sunsets here are spectacular. The sun moves quickly from low to huge bright-pink orb to gone completely in a matter of minutes. Almost every night of our trip—certainly of the camping portion of our trip—we would drop everything to watch the sunset.
After sunset, we took advantage of the cooking facilities to make curry and the campfire to introduce Alex to the joys of s’mores.
These s’mores were made all the better by the yummy coconut-crusted marshmallows and hazelnut chocolate bars that are standard fare here.
Our next stop was the aptly-named Wilderness. We started by exploring the Kingfisher trail, which involves a pontoon crossing and ends at a waterfall.
(By Regina)
(By Alex)Although the area was beautiful, especially the birds, the trail itself was kind of boring. It was a boardwalk almost the entire way. We managed to keep ourselves entertained, though, with Alex demonstrating the famous french move, making fun of the bird people (Alex and Kaitlin),
hugging trees,
and taking a nap at the waterfall.
(Photo by Regina)
That night we stayed at my second favorite campsite, Wild Farm.
It is a hidden gem that has not yet made it to the Lonely Planet guidebook. We had another amazing campsite at the top of a mountain with ocean views. Among other amenities—satellite tv, free wi-fi—the Wild Farm has a huge garden that its guest can freely pick from. We went crazy pulling beets, carrots, onions, and strawberries. Needless to say, we ate very well that night. And, the next morning, Wild Farm provided the best free breakfast of the trip—lots of fresh fruits, yogurt, and cereal.
We supplemented it with the fresh-baked banana bread we had bought in town the day before. While Regina and Alex explored another trail, Kaitlin and I took a lazy day to journal, download photos, and read.
That night, we ended our journey together with dinner out at the Blue Olive. The sweet-pickled figs with blue cheese were the star of the dinner, but the mussels were nothing to sneeze at either. I made the mistake of ordering the Blue Olive martini, which did me in pretty early. Luckily, I was in good company. It was sad to say goodbye to our truck and Alex not just because we had, had such a good time with them, but also because it was a painful reminder that our trip was coming to an end.
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