I booked a package to go away for the weekend with Mr. King. The package included flights, accommodation & car hire so we didn't have to think too hard. Flights on 1Time, car hire with Budget and accommodation at Knysna Hollows Country Estate, bed & breakfast.
The flight on 1Time was VERY noisy as we were near the back of the plane. We were delayed because of the fog in George so had to wait about half an hour before we took off. The plane was rather far from the airport building and while on the bus to the plane we began wondering if we were being bussed to George instead of being flown.
The chicken mayo sandwich & custard danish were not too bad. We tried sleeping although it was not too comfortable. When we arrived we picked up our car, a white Chico with NO AIRCON! I had forgotten to call ahead & ensure that we had a car with aircon. Mr. King was not too happy - he LOVES his aircon.
We drove towards Knysna & decided to stop off at Wilderness as we were too early to check in at Knysna Hollow. We found a cosy Italian restaurant called Pomodoro with a very friendly waiter. It was quite empty & we chose a table overlooking the street. It certainly felt like a holiday destination & we could feel how chilled out everyone was. A welcome change from the busyness of Jozi.
Mr. King had a burger which was pretty terrible but my bruschetta with tomato, pesto & mozzarella was fantastic. The dish was appetisingly presented, with deep red tomatoes, thick slices of moist cheese & dollops of very fresh, herby pesto. It was accompanied by a large green salad which was sadly missing onions. I would definitely go back for the sandwich but if you go, please avoid the burgers.
We left Wilderness & headed for Welbedacht Road which is 2km before you reach Knysna Town. Knysna Hollows is a beautiful country estate with a gorgeous brown ball in a pot fountain as you enter. The staff are very helpful, dressed in safari-looking outfits. They had arranged for an early check-in & gave us one of their chalets, Cottage No. 8.
The room was larger than a regular hotel room with a fireplace and two large green wingback armchairs. There was also a bar fridge which we love for chilling our drinks (non-alcoholic of course). The bathroom had a very large oval bath as well as a shower. I am someone who usually only showers but I could not resist trying out the bath. Aside from the lack of bubble bath, it was SO relaxing. There is something special about a really LARGE bath! I have noticed that many hotels no longer provide bubble bath, why is that?
I had found information about a night market in Wilderness on Friday nights. We had planned to go but as it got later we got lazier. We noticed a scarecrow holding a notice about a night market near where we were staying so decided to go there instead.
As we pulled up we saw lots of cars & lots of families sitting on the grass chatting, eating & generally having quality bonding time. We pretended our car was a 4x4 & parked on a little hill. The open area was flanked by food stalls almost all the way around. There was SO MUCH FOOD to choose from... schwarmas to wraps to curry to bobotie to pizza. We chose to buy Thai Chicken Curry from a stall run by a cooking school (I should have made a note of the name). The curry was fantastic with tender chicken strips & a selection of seasonal veggies.
We asked one of the stall owners how long the market had been there & she said at least 8 years. She told us that a lot of the locals frequent the night market which takes place every Friday night, and that the same people sit in the same spot week after week. So the market has become like a regular meeting place for the locals.
I smiled a lot as I watched all the parents running after their small children & the many couples enjoying one another's company as the sun set. I would love to go back as the market had such a homely, familiar atmosphere. It made me want to move to Knysna immediately - an idea I have been trying to sell to Mr. King since we left!
After the night market we drove to the Waterfront to have a look around. Then we decided it had been a long day & that we wanted to relax in our room. We love watching movies so we proceeded to scour Knysna town for a video shop. We were very happy to find Mr. Video and found two movies we have been wanting to watch; What happens in Vegas & 21. Now that I think about it, both were about gambling which I totally do not believe in!
This morning we had a lovely breakfast at Knysna Hollows and headed to town to return the videos. As we were making our way out of town toward Plettenburg Bay we saw a bright yellow mini hurtling sraight towards us! Mr. King swerved to the left to avoid him & I thought we had missed hitting the mini, but as it went past, it hit the rear driver's side & slammed into the back of a stationary white Toyota Corolla. We found out that the brakes had failed & the driver had been trying to bring his car to a stop. So we spent the morning at the Knysna police station reporting the accident. If any of you have had an accident you know how long that four-page accident report takes to complete.
I had called Budget to report the accident and they were extremely efficient. Ernest from the Plettenberg branch drove to Knysna to bring us a replacement car and we swapped our dented Chico for a beige Honda Civic 1.8 - SO MUCH NICER. It turns out that we got our aircon after all.
We finally got to Plettenberg Bay and went to a tourist info centre to find out what we could do. It was an overcast, very drizzly day so we decided to go to Monkeyland & Birds of Eden. These two places are part of a route called Cruise the Crags. We arrived at a rather wet Monkeyland & bought two combo tickets (if you pay for entrance to Monkeyland and Birds of Eden, the cost is R184pp). The next tour was leaving at 14h05 so we had a quick snack and met the tour guide at the entrance. We were told to keep anything that could be grabbed out of sight or tightly secured , i.e. cameras, glasses, food, etc. Our tour guide was a very knowledgeable young man named Surgeon (not sure of spelling). We asked him lots of questions & he answered them all. The walk was about an hour & we got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Word of advice if you go... LOTS OF REPELLANT!
There are 9 species of monkeys at Monkeyland including a few species of lemurs. It was fascinating seeing them in their natural environment & watching them interact with one another like miniature human beings. We crossed the longest suspension bridge in South Africa, a slightly unnerving experience when the bridge starts to swing.
After Monkeyland we headed over to Birds of Eden - the largest enclosure of its kind in the world (I think). You are left to wonder through the enclosure on your own & had it not started to rain quite hard we would have stayed much longer. The pathways are built in the trees and it is a peaceful and calming experience. I spent a good few minutes watching a loerie eat its lunch; the birds are accustomed to human visitors so are not very skittish which means you can get up close & personal to quite a few of them. I had never seen flamingoes so close to me & it is truly amazing how they balance on one leg as you can't even see where he hides the leg he has up.
I would love to go back to Birds of Eden & spend more time with the birds. There are numerous places along the pathway where they have seating for visitors to relax & watch the birdlife. I was very impressed although would have liked an information booklet so that I could identify the birds I saw. Or even signage along the path as I did not know the names of all the birds I saw.
We are now at The Protea Hotel, Keurbooms River. I stayed here a number of years ago & really enjoyed the environment. The decor has been modernised and it has a clean, minimalistic feel. We had a club sandwich & pasta with prawns in a tomato sauce. Unfortunately both were terrible so not keen to eat here. Mr. King is in the mood for seafood so we may head for the Waterfront if we get hungry later.
I could seriously move here for a few months for a break from the helter-skelter rush of Jozi. It is a wonderful place for a getaway although a week would be better than 2,5 days.
