South
Africa - Day 11
Sunday 1st February 2026
Participants: Kev & Tam
We are up early at 7.00 am today as the aim is to go for a walk around the Robberg Nature Reserve and then relax around the pool this afternoon. We drive for 40 minutes towards Plettenburg Bay and it's a little overcast as we arrive at Robberg, park the car and pay the £3 per person to enter the reserve. We get a coffee and cookie from the stand at the entrance before starting our trek. There are 3 different lengths of walk and the paths vary between concrete steps, wood and sand steps or just plain scrambling over rocks.
The cloud cover makes it very pleasant when we set out, but the sun soon comes through and it gets really hot. At the first little overlook there is a guy with binoculars and a walkie talkie. It turns out he's a shark spotter and will communicate with the life guards to shut the beaches if one is sighted. This is Great White territory and you don't mess with those guys. As we climb higher there are glorious views down to the sea and beyond to Plettenburg Bay.
We pass a large colony of seals below us in the sea. They must among the noisiest, smelliest creatures on the planet, but fun to watch.
We reach the point where you make a decision as to whether to carry on to do the 9km hike or just do the 6.5km. Tam is feeling it a bit as it's so hot so we opt for the shorter distance. We walk across towards a small island connected to the main peninsular by a sandy spit with the sea on both sides. It's very beautiful and Tam can't help running down the sand dune to the beach. We stop for a paddle and watch one or two intrepid swimmers having a swim. It's all a bit too rough for my taste, a gentle dip in bobbing along waves is preferable to being smashed about by the surf in my book. There are also many warnings along the coast of rip tides and what to do if you're caught in one.
There's a small walk around the little island and we do this although Tam gets somewhat nervous at times as the wooden boardwalk is very close to a perilous drop in several places, but the waves crashing against the weird and wonderful rock formations makes it worth it.
Another paddle on the beach and we come across the largest jellyfish I've ever seen. Another reason not to go into the sea!
We walk and clamber back towards the car park. It's quite a strenuous hike and not for the strolling type, but it's well worth the effort.
We drive into Plettenburg for a look around and then go to a supermarket to pick up a few things for lunches and dinners along with some beer. Back to our accommodation for lunch and a couple of hours relaxing around our small pool.
Tam got all arty with the bottles of wine.
After a shower we're out at 5.45 pm to get an Uber to Thesen Island just across the lagoon. We have a beer in a bar overlooking the small harbour. It's a beautiful spot and it reminds us of Hilton Head in South Carolina.
We wander around for a while before stopping at the Turbine Boutique Hotel (everywhere seems to be boutique these days) for a glass of Chardonnay. This is a unique place. It's an old power station and they've retained all the old turbines and machinery. Even though it's one of the most expensive hotels in Knysna the bar prices are still equivalent to everywhere else we've been.
Dinner is at Sirocco Restaurant and we're lucky to get a lovely table by the window. We start with 4 oysters between us along with a glass of champagne. We both have the catch of the day (Cape Salmon) with prawns and rice. Eveything is very nice and the bill once again comes to around £60 with the tip. In the UK you'd pay more than £60 for the oysters and champagne alone.
An Uber gets us back home and we open up the windows and doors in the kitchen/sitting room. It's a beautiful evening to sit and enjoy a glass of red wine (Lucca from Beau Constantia). Bed at 10.00 pm.
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