4th - 7th February: Oyster Creek Lodge at Knysna

We are packed and ready to move on before breakfast and continue on the coast road towards Knysna. The road out of Hermanus is spectacular and we make our first stop for photographs after driving just a few miles, if we continue like this we'll never reach our next destination.

We then have to head inland to pass through Swellenham, though it proves considerably less interesting than the Eyewitness Guide suggests. But we do enjoy a coffee just off the main road. We spot a troop of baboons playing in the inside lane and on the hard shoulder and later an elephant is seen a short distance off the road. We stop off at Mossel Bay with the intention of visiting the Maritime Museum which has a replica of the ship Bartolomeu Dias sailed to this bay in 1488. The museum itself is a little disappointing, it's in urgent need of a makeover and update, but the museum complex is also the site of the Post Office Tree, the site of an amazing milkweed tree where messages were left by 16th century seafarers for subsequent arrivals.

From here we continue to our next accommodation at Knysna - Oyster Creek Lodge. This is an interesting wooden building constructed on stilts on the edge of the Knysna Lagoon, with a wraparound deck providing great views. From here we get stunning sunrises and sunsets and plenty of birdlife - especially plenty of ibis.

We

We have quite a few options for places to eat and each day we head for the Waterfront for our evening meal, eating in different restaurants for each of our evenings and particularly enjoying some stunning fish meals.