The Garden Route (Tuinroete in the Afrikaans
language) is a well-known stretch of the East coast of South
Africa providing breathtaking scenery with it's lush forests
and lakes. It runs from Heidelberg in the Cape to the Storms
River which is crossed along the N2 coastal highway over the
Paul Sauer Bridge in the extreme western reach of the neighbouring
Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdant and ecologically
diverse vegetation encountered here and the numerous lagoons
and lakes dotted along the coast. It includes towns such as
Mossel Bay, Knysna, Oudtshoorn, Plettenberg Bay and Nature's
Valley; with George, the Garden Route's largest city and main
administrative centre.
It has an oceanic
climate, with mild to warm summers, and mild to cool winters.
It has the mildest climate in South Africa and the second mildest
climate in the world, after Hawaii, according to the Guinness
Book of Records. Temperatures rarely fall below 10°C in winter
and rarely climb beyond 28°C in summer. Rain occurs year-round,
with a slight peak in the spring months, brought by the humid
sea-winds from the Indian Ocean rising and releasing their precipitation
along the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma Mountains just inland of the
coast.
The Route is sandwiched
between the aforementioned mountains and the Indian Ocean. The
Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma indigenous forests are a unique mixture
of Cape Fynbos and Temperate Forest and offer hiking trails and
eco-tourism activities. Nearly 300 species of bird life are to
be found in a variety of habitats ranging from fynbos to forest
to wetlands.
Ten nature reserves
embrace the varied ecosystems of the area as well as unique marine
reserves, home to soft coral reefs, dolphins, seals and a host
of other marine life. Various bays along the Garden Route
are nurseries to the endangered Southern Right Whale which come
there to calve in the winter and spring (July to December).
