3 Day Road Trip

We have wanted to do this trip for so long. After a brief chat with Claude to plan the route and a budget check we decided to just do it and I am so glad we did. Five provinces, hundreds of kilometers, countless liters of coffee, miles of canola fields, millions of sheep, some angora goats, corn fields for days and too many trucks later we have created memories that will last forever.

I decided to use my work bff, Claude AI to help me plan this trip because it was easier and quicker) than me trying to figure out distances and places to stay. It took a few adjustments but we got there in the end.

The Route

The basic route – Villiersdorp ➡ Knysna ➡ Gqeberha (overnight) ➡ Addo National Park ➡ Camdeboo National Park (overnight) ➡ Pretoria

We decided on a 3 day trip back home from Villiersdorp where we were staying. We knew we wanted to go along the coast but not much else. I also wanted to try give the kids their first hotel experience, so Gqeberha seemed like the perfect night one stop.

The first leg of the trip was around 7 hours which meant we didnt have to leave too early and could make a few stops along the way if we saw something fun or interesting, which we did. We also did a stop to see the Knysna heads – the kids and I have never been before and it was worth it. The weather was perfect – bright blue skies and not too much wind. The views were spectacular.

We arrived in Gqeberha in time to have dinner on the beach and watch the sunset. Gqeberha holds a special place in my heart, not only is it beautiful, it is a city Cameron and I explored a few years ago. We had such an incredible time together. We stayed at the Southern Sun Marine which was lovely, a little old but a fun experience for the kids. It was also the only one of the bigger hotels to have a family room.

For night two I booked us 2 safari tents at Camdeboo Nature Reserve which was only about 3 hours from Gqeberha, which meant we had a lot of time to explore along the way. We drove through Addo National Park, spotted some elephants and a million warthogs and then headed to Graaf-Reinet to stock up on a few things for the night. Camdeboo Nature Reserve is simply stunning, it does not have the big 5 or any real predators but the beauty is the landscape. After checking in and unpacking we drove to the Valley of Desolation, which is in the reserve but has to be accessed via a different gate as the Sundays river recently flooded. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

I wish we had more time here, they have a few hiking trails I would have loved to explore.

Note on Camdeboo: the tents do come with linen, blankets and even a heated blanket but it got super cold the night were there, so pack warm. There is no crockery or cutlery in the communal kitchen, so make sure you pack your own stuff. (We didn’t, but it just added to the adventure.)

The last leg was pretty uneventful, except for the freezing cold start, we were all quite keen to get home but the days leading up to it where enough of an adventure.

This trip definitely sparked a little light to explore more when we travel. There are so many incredible places in South Africa and Jack and Emma are older now so travel is a lot easier in general and they are happy to explore with us.