The Garden Route: Port Elizabeth, Knysna, to Mossel Bay, South Africa

                       PORT ELIZABETH, Dec. 14-15   Thursday, December 14th, we left Zimbabwe for Port Elizabeth, South Africa. We said goodbye on Wednesday to all our friends on the Harare, Zimbabwe temple site, packed our bags, and were off! After a 3-hour layover in Johannesburg, we made it to Port Elizabeth at night. I booked an Airbnb close to the airport, so we took an Uber car to our cute little "Walmer Cottage". We were delighted to find a quaint little private cottage with a lot of character where we met our host, Mike. In the morning, we went on a run/jog looking for a bite for breakfast. The neighborhood felt safe and quiet. We found a place with enjoyable vintage decor. and good food. We enjoyed meeting Barbie, the host's wife, and touring her pottery studio. I loved the vintage floor she made out of scrapbook paper and glossed it to the cement floor. Very creative! I even bought a few small bowls and Christmas ornaments.

 Port Elizabeth, 2023.12.15

Dec. 15th: Jeffery's Bay and Knysna "Thesen Island"

    Friday, we rented our car and headed for Jeffery's Bay. We enjoyed the beach and sunshine of this favorite beach spot for Christmas and Holiday vacationers. We were warned to never leave anything unattended or it would "walk" off. We also continued to tip "self-appointed" parking attendants, who offered to watch your car in the parking lot and keep it safe. We had our 2 large suitcases wrapped in plastic in Zimbabwe, so they'd be protected in the South African airports. We also worried because it was obvious in our little compact car we had a car full of luggage that could be robbed. We fortunately felt very safe and had no mishaps besides all the warnings.

Jeffrey's Bay, 2023.12.15

Being senior missionaries has the added advantage of being able to take a dip in the ocean and enjoy these beautiful white sandy beaches.

    Bruce did a lot of driving along the Garden Route the first day. We enjoyed the beautiful mountains and rest stops. Above is a gorge of the "Storms River" which we walked the bridge way. It's fun to see the Afrikaans "Dutch" signs.

In the afternoon we made it to the beautiful harbor village of Knysna. After being misled by Google Maps; we phoned our Airbnb host and made it to "Thesen Island" Harbor Village. Google took us up the mountain to a dirt road which was about 5 miles out of the way, but we got a beautiful view. Paula, our hostess, met us at the guarded entrance and Bruce had to give his fingerprints for "biometrics" to enter the village. We stayed in a wonderful upper loft within the Island's waterway. We had the most comfortable bed and it was within walking distance of great shopping and restaurants. We had some great seafood and delicious melba pudding, a South African favorite with ice cream and custard.

    Dec. 16th, Knysna "Feather Bed": The next morning we enjoyed the best breakfast of our lives in Knysna Harbor at a French pastry shop. I ordered a delicious avocado toast and Bruce had French toast with berries and creme. We traded halfway through each enjoying the other's breakfast dish.

    We decided to take a harbor and hike adventure on Thesen Island called the "Feather Bed" experience. The sailors called the beach area, "The Feather Bed" because, after life at sea, the beach felt as comfortable as a feather bed when they rested there. This area in Knysna had a terrible fire in 2017 and 80% was burned along with 800 homes. Only eight people died in the fires, but they had to leave all their possessions and get out quickly. The regrowth of this vegetative mountain has beautiful regrowth and flora. We took a ferry boat to the trailhead and a 4x4 bus to the trail. We then hiked down a pleasant trail with beautiful ocean views. A buffet lunch of assorted African foods and fruits was also provided. We made friends with a man from Bangladesh, Abujala, and traded being each other's photographers along the way. Bruce shared the gospel and the Book of Mormon with him.

Feather Bed tour on Thesen Island, Knysna, 2023.12.16

Dec. 16-17: Mossel Bay: After enjoying the island and packing up we drove toward our next destination, Mossel Bay. This seaside bay is another local South African vacation spot. In fact, we loved talking to families "caravanning" along the beach in their elaborate tents for 3-4 weeks during the Christmas holidays. It's similar to our camp or RV parks many people do for their summer vacation. Of course, this is South Africa's summer and Christmas vacation. We loved meeting people and listening to their Afrikaan's accents. They all thought we had marvelous accents and were very friendly to us as Americans. There were lots of kids and families enjoying the warm weather and beaches.

We asked the locals for the best restaurant for seafood and we went to "King Fisher". Bruce enjoyed a pleasant surprise of comfort food in a "fish pie". We enjoyed the sunset along the shoreline.

Again, we had a nice Airbnb with a friendly host and a comfortable bed. We really had great success staying at Super Hosts and not paying more than $75.00 per night. We had another private cottage retreat and were able to share the gospel with another good Christian South African woman. We love how religion and God are still alive and well in Africa.

Our Mossel Bay Airbnb and breakfast at a fun historic remodeled bakery, 2023.12.17

We found this fun saxophone Santa like the one we gave Ben years ago and brought out every Christmas at home. His is a much smaller model. We found a boutique crafts mall and bought some cool "flour sack" South African overalls and shorts for the "tourists".