Wellington wine route

Only 45 minutes outside of Cape Town, the Wellington wine route is one of the youngest wine routes in the Cape, although the viticulture heritage dates back to the French Huguenots of the late 1600s. Officially launched in the mid-1990s, the predominantly working but charming farms produce some top quality red and white wines.

The town of Wellington lies at the foot of the Groenberg Mountain with the majestic Hawequa Mountains to the east. This truly beautiful valley is home of the vines, quite literally - almost 90% of the country’s vines are grown in the nurseries (called ‘stokkieskwekerve’) here, before being transported for planting. The soils here are excellent as is the climate - hot, dry summers with a winter rainfall. The farms lie on the banks of the Kromme River in the heart of the valley.

The Wellington Wine Walk is a 3-day hike through vineyards, orchards and indigenous fynbos, which includes wine tasting and samplings of cheeses and olives with stay-overs at one of the four historic Huguenot farms.

The Wellington Wine Route, consisting of 26 wineries including five pot still brandy producers, is small and compact, with the cellars within easy driving distance from each other.

Make personal acquaintance with the winemakers on these working wine farms, and learn more about their wines, and the many medals they've achieved both nationally and internationally.

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Birds of Eden Bird Sanctuary

The world’s largest single span aviary, just a few kilometres east of Plettenberg Bay in the Garden Route, where birds are free to fly free provides an incredible experience for those who visit, and a wonderful way of life for over 2000 previously caged birds.

The completely unique venture of Birds of Eden is an enormous two hectare dome spanning a gorge filled with verdant, indigenous forest. Within it are some 100 species of incredible African birds, a few of them endangered that provide anyone entering the dome with a literal experience of paradise. There are 1.2 kilometres of wooden walkway to lead you through the beautiful place (unlike Monkey Valley, you don’t need a guide to take you through the refuge), over a river and behind a waterfall (part of the sanctuary’s mysterious ruin). Birds of Eden’s dome emulates thunder storms, complete with renditions of claps of thunder and short cloudbursts from the irrigation system in the dome structure.

The same group of people who created Monkeyland, the popular primate sanctuary that is just next door to Birds of Eden making a two-in-one day trip effortless, were behind the incredible project that provides a safe haven not only for birds and miniature monkeys, but for rehabilitated pet birds too.

But the overwhelming experience of being in the wild with hundreds of birds as they swoop, fly and call around you is what Birds of Eden is essentially about.

The park has seven dams, the largest of which has a floating bridge with seating at which you can order light meals; a 200-seater amphitheatre and a breath-taking canopy walk.

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Garden Route - South Africa

Dramatic river cut gorges, beautiful beaches, rocky headlands and deep tangled forests are the quintessential Garden Route images. Stretching from anywhere between Stilbaai and Mossel Bay in the west, to Stormsriver or Port Elizabeth (PE) in the east, it's a gorgeous stretch of coastal paradise strung out along the N2. Purists will squash it up between Mossel Bay and Stormsriver but, as the popularity of the Garden Route grew and small towns at its edge realised the marketing potential, it just seemed to spread. No problem - it spread to some cool places.

The towns generally accepted to be part of the Garden Route are Mossel Bay, George, Wilderness, Sedgefield, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Stormsriver. Stilbaai and Albertinia have snuck in on the West and Humansdorp and even Port Elizabeth are muscling in from the east. Inland, the Little Karoo and Route 62, which have no pretensions to being the Garden Route, are often treated as the same destination, as it's pretty easy zigzag between them by driving the many scenic passes over the Outeniqua Mountains. Initially the Garden Route was seen as very much a beach and/or family holiday destination, which it is, but there is also so much to do. There's great hiking, with rambles ranging from an hour to a few days covering rocky coasts, deep forests, pretty fynbos and long sandy beaches. The diving is good, as is the surfing, and there are some fun sea kayaking and flat water paddling trips. Some of the country's best mountain bike trails snake through the forests, and there are horse trails for every taste and level of ability. Tandem skydiving, paragliding, and a range of scenic flights all offer different birds eye views.

The Garden Route offers some of the best boat based whale watching in the world, flower lovers and birders will also have a field day traipsing off through the forest or the fynbos, and there are numerous national parks and nature reserves. Steam buffs will love the narrow gauge Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe. For the more culturally inclined, there are township tours, museums, lovely old buildings, funky craft shops, markets, art galleries and loads of live music venues. And, of course, a flotilla of great restaurants - many of which specialise in seafood - in each town. The Garden Route is a golfer's dream destination - you could play a different course every day for a week and still have a few left over.

Of course, this is not all good news as golf courses use an exorbitant amount of water and take up vast amounts of space but, as long as the golf-estate-building spree fizzles out soon, there should be sufficient space remaining between the fairways for a bit of forest, perhaps some shops and even a house or two. But that's not your problem, is it? If you fancy a round in paradise, get in now before it closes down. And if golf is too slow for you - there are more international standard polo fields in Plett alone than there are in the rest of the country put together. You could spend anything from a weekend to a month at a tailor-made polo clinic.

But what the Garden Route is most suitable for is relaxation - and even that's been somewhat institutionalised with almost every second hotel housing a wellness centre or spa. Not that that's a problem, mind. After a hard day on the beach you'll probably need a chocolate mud bath, colour therapy or hot stone massage.

Engela