Family Trip: Garden Route and Shamwari

It might sound a bit boring but I Just had to come back to Shamwari one more time this year! Not because it was the best experience I've ever had (whenever on my top 3 in South Africa in 2022) - it was more about bringing my whole family along to this beautiful place this time. Furthermore we've combined Shamwari with some days in Cape Town and a scenic drive on the Garden Route with some excursions beside of that to add even more to this trip!

We've started our journey in Cape Town with a trip to Simon's Town and the Chapman's Peak Drive, because we had done the Cape of Good Hope several times already, but the penguins in Simon's Town are always worth a visit when we are in the region. We stayed in the center of the city at the Taj Hotel, which we have chosen for the third time: Nice staff, great rooms - the Presidential Suite in this hotel is out of this world especially!

Imagine having a barbecue on the roof top terrace with an uninterrupted view of the Table Mountain, the Lion Head and the whole city of Cape Town combined with freshly prepared food in complete privacy next to a fireplace. It's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Panoramic views of Cape Town's cityscape with Table Mountain in the background.

Simon's Town - Boulders Beach

Let me give you some impressions about the penguin colony in Simon's Town (Boulders Beach) first, before we start our journey to the Garden Route and finally to Port Elizabeth:

African penguin displaying its distinctive black and white plumage against light background.

Baby penguin chick with fluffy down feathers standing on sandy ground.

African penguins walking along sandy beach with reflections in shallow water.

Baby penguin with fuzzy brown feathers sitting on ground.

Group of seals resting on rocky surface in a row.

Aren't they adorable?

Heading towards the Garden Route

After a few fun days at Cape Town with a lot of enjoyable experiences (and shopping!), we started our journey towards the Garden Route. We didn't take the route to George next to the coastline - we were heading first to the wine region and to the Little Karoo desert.

In Oudtshoorn we visited the Cango Caves - which had nothing to do with animals - but was anyway very impressive. We visited the first six chambers of the caves, because we aren't that adventurous to do the special tour, which leads deeper into the system of caves, where you have to crawl, slide and squeeze yourself into small pathways. Think about the names like Lumbago Alley, Devils Chimney and the aptly named Devils Postbox and just guess, what you could expect. I even heard a story, that they had to squeeze somebody out of the Postbox with oil in the past...

The guides did an amazing job and the lights and sound in the cave was just an amazing experience. Let me give you some examples of it with some pictures I took on-site:

Illuminated limestone cave with dramatic stalactites and rock formations.

Ancient cave interior showing impressive stalactites and stalagmites lit by artificial lights.

Natural cave formation with hanging stalactites illuminated by blue and amber lights.

Illuminated cave interior showing colorful rock formations with turquoise and amber lighting.

Visit of an Ostrich Farm

Oudtshoorn is not only well known for its caves - they are even known as the capital of Ostrich Farms. We of course visited one of them, where they produce several products with their feathers - such as decorations for hats and dusters. During a tour they explained everything you need to know about ostriches and you will see them - from the egg to the fully grown-ups. You can step on ostrich eggs (which have an extraordinary thick shell and doesn't break - even if a 100kg person is standing on them) and you are even able to get a special "Ostrich Massage" - but my wife didn't give me her allowance to post that pictures (LOL). It doesn't hurt: But it is not as relaxing, as it sounds.

Close-up portrait of an ostrich head showing white feathers and pink beak.

Series of ostrich head close-ups showing different angles of its features.

Close-up of an ostrich head and long neck with fluffy gray feathers.

Close-up sequence of ostrich faces showing distinctive features and expressions.

Heading down to George

After all the caves and ostriches we finally drove down from Oudtshoorn to George - the place where the real Garden Route starts off - the Outeniqua pass with scenic views en-route. We've visited the train museum there and even took a train ride on top of the Outeniqua mountain with a nice picnic on top there, which was a pleasant experience too. After that, we took the road along the coast to Knysna (which is one of the most beautiful little cities in my opinion). We didn't had the best weather when we arrived there. It was rainy and foggy. But the next day it cleared up and the views of the Indian Ocean were incredible:

Rocky coastal landscape with crashing waves and rugged cliffs against blue ocean.

Monkeyland

The next day we drove to Plettenberg Bay - another beautiful place to be right at the beautiful coast of the Indian Ocean. On the way there we made a little stopover at the Monkeyland - a huge park, where you can see (guess it): All kind of monkeys! It's a very natural place, where they provide tours. The monkeys are not in enclosures - they can freely move around a huge terrain and are being fed in a natural way. They are even into making this place bigger. Let me be clear: I'm against zoo's and enclosed habitats for animals. I'm against shows with trained animals, etc. But this place was really natural and I can (just) recommend it. Let me give you some impressions from this place:

Close-up view of a squirrel monkey peeking through green leaves in natural habitat.

Baby ring-tailed lemur climbing on tree branches in a forest setting.

Ring-tailed lemur walking with its distinctive striped tail shown from behind.

Black and white lemur hanging upside down on a branch against blurred forest background.

Ring-tailed lemur climbing among tree branches in natural habitat.

Finally: Shamwari

After a short tour in Port Elizabeth (which wasn't really worth of it, when this city has so much of potential), we've arrived at Shamwari Private Game Reserve.

This was the moment: My wife is back at Shamwari and in the wilderness of South Africa after a decade. I was really hoping, that she would enjoy it as much as she did about 18 years ago. We've stayed in Long Lee Manor again - especially because of the huge main pool to enjoy, if you are not going to go on a Safari or if you like to relax in-between of them, but after an impressive first drive with our ranger Mino (who is a true professional and my personal chief ranger on my journeys this year), she didn't miss even one drive. Our kids even did one drive more than us, because they went on a night safari together with Mino and left us behind in our cozy bungalow at the lodge.

I know: I wanted to write about the family facilities at Shamwari if you read my last blog post from here. But I've missed the chance to get pictures of them, because my kids always wanted to be on Safaris, instead of using the numerous facilities for kids here. But please be advised that "Kids at Shamwari" are a non-brainer: The best playgrounds I've ever seen in my life can be found at the Riverdene Lodge at Shamwari (which could be used as well from out of all the other lodges there). Furthermore they provide kids meals and amenities. I've seen some other kids clubs and so on: But hey are really sub-par Shamwari by far. So under the line: If you travel with kids and wanna experience wildlife: This is the place to be.

If you like to have any more information about Long Lee Manor and Sindile Lodge, please check out my other blog posts about Shamwari from my last stays there. You will find plenty of photos of the lodges and the wildlife there as well.

Male lion with majestic mane resting in the grass during golden hour.

Southern Pride Youngster

Springbok antelope leaping and pronking across African grassland.

Jumping Springbock

Male lion walking purposefully across savanna landscape at sunset.

Jack - the Nomadic Lion

Big Elephant Bull

Brown hyenas prowling through grassland at dusk with pack members in background.

Jackal yells at a Brown Hyena

Close-up portrait of Greater Kudu showing distinctive spiral horns and facial features.

Male Kudu

Two lionesses showing affection by rubbing heads together in tender moment.

Head bump of two Lionesses

Mino (the Indian Ranger) and all the other staff at the lodge did a great job again. I do especially love his "third person language" whilst referencing to himself, like "Mino finds the lion for you" or "Mino knows that you like to see the babies" - LOL. He is a true professional and very experienced field guide with an excellent customer oriented mood. He won't disappoint you and tries to get you the best experience in your lifetime at all times.

But as in my last trip report: The reserve is really behind the current expectations in the terms of food. I don't like to write again about the lack of an African food option there - I rather prefer game meat than beef - I prefer a local fish compared to salmon - and I don't care about fancy dishes like oysters and mussels (which did taste fantastic): I want sample local food, or at least as an option. The Western food should be the option under the line, so foodwise, it is really sub-par other game reserves I've been to. Furthermore: For longterm guests, there is still a repetition of the dishes every 3-4 days. The best dish at Shamwari is the breakfast in my opinion. It is NOT about the kitchen crew and the food quality. It is about the management, who need to change the menus and the rotation of dishes to make it more attractive for returning and long-staying guests. I've told them again: "Just introduce a 5th African option and you are fine". But I'm still not being heard by the management (yet).

The reserve, its size, the quality of the safaris (thanks to Mino - but I really think as well with all the other rangers) were fantastic and I'm glad to be back in a few weeks again, hopefully with some better food options, but it was not about the food: It was about the animal sightings. Let me give you some insights of my shots there - and let's start of with some of the cutest things ever: Lion cubs...

Lion cub crawling through grass with alert expression.

Young lion cub resting in green grass with curious expression.

Lion cub walking through wilderness with determined look.

Adult lioness walking with playful cub on dusty ground.

Lion cubs playing and running on dirt path in natural habitat.

Lion cub walking and exploring on dusty ground in natural habitat.

Adorable lion cub showing various playful expressions while sitting in grass.

Young lion cub exploring and playing in natural habitat surrounded by green vegetation.

Cute lion cub practicing stalking moves on grassy terrain.

Cuties? Yes! But be aware about reading the next paragraph!

Aren't they cuties? They are just about 3 months old. We had the chance to see them, when their mother was picking them up for a meal. The first few weeks the lioness is just feeding them with milk and hiding them from the others in the pride. As of a certain age (as soon as they have teeth), she will pick them up, if the pride was successful on a hunt - and usually if the males are not around. Lion cubs are very vulnerable and even whilst playing around with the bigger brothers can hurt them seriously.

As having said that, please jump down one paragraph, because the upcoming story is nothing for Disney fans...This is wildlife - and wildlife includes the "wild" in its name. I really wanted to give you better news and even more pictures of these lovely lion cubs. But it seems that their bigger brother played too hard with them. If there is a lack of food or the others in a pride are still hungry (or even if another male lion is coming into another pride with different genes): They will just kill them. I know: It is not the way we like to have it. But that's nature.

Nature is about to survive

Nothing to love about it

I'm not proud about showing you that kind of pictures. I'm not even proud of shooting that picture. I felt sad, I had tears in my eyes and I think this is the worst picture (scene wise) I've ever taken. But if you want Disney, get Disney+. If you want to get wildlife, you need to handle this as well. It's not always a pleasure to be a wildlife photographer.

Btw: This jackal wasn't the bad guy who killed this cub. He just took advantage of it to find its carcass and started eating it.

Some more (nicer) Impressions

I feel sorry about the last sad picture! So let's see, what other things we've seen on our safaris at Shamwari. And I promise: I don't have any of these sad pictures anymore in my pocket. So let's enjoy the Disney-style safari photographers journey:

White Rhino

A close-up rear view of a baby elephant showing its wrinkled skin and large ears in green grass.

Elephant Cub digging

A baby elephant walking through green vegetation with its trunk curled downward.

Little Elephant Cub

Close-up front view of a rhinoceros face showing textured skin and prominent horn.

White Rhino Horn

Silhouettes of giraffes against a vibrant orange sunset with the sun creating a dramatic backdrop.

Giraffes at Sunset

Three giraffe silhouettes stand against an orange African sunset with a bright sun.

Giraffes at Sunset

Two giraffes silhouetted against a dramatic orange sunset with one standing tall.

Giraffes at Sunset

A lone giraffe silhouette stands majestically against a setting sun in an orange sky.

Giraffes at Sunset

An African elephant walking through tall golden grassland against a light blue sky.

Big Male Elephant walking

A close-up portrait of a giraffe's head and long neck against a blurred natural background.

Giraffe Art - without Photoshop

Majestic Kudu

A herd of Cape buffalo move in single file formation across dry grassland terrain.

Buffalos in a row

Close-up sequence showing an African elephant's wrinkled face and tusks while walking.

Huge Elephant Male

Sequence of zebras fighting and kicking in golden grassland during territorial dispute.

Zebra Fight

Nyala - what an Antelope!

Lionesses drinking

Lioness prowling through savanna grassland displaying hunting behavior in sequence.

Lioness Walking

Series of giraffe necks and heads showing their distinctive spotted pattern in natural habitat.

Giraffe Baby and its Mom

Zebras standing on red sandy hill against blue sky background.

Zebra on a Hill

Cheetah walking through savannah grass in golden afternoon light.

Cheetah on a hunt

Conclusion

Once again: Sorry for the picture in the middle of this blog post. I really want to make it unseen. But I've decided to show it anyway. Because it's nature and whenever you are in Africa, you've got the chance to see it as well. This is life - wildlife. But I really hope, that you've enjoyed the rest of my recent journey and that you got some impressions what to expect from Wildlife, South Africa and Shamwari.

Again: I don't receive special rates. I'm a returning customer and going along with that, I got better rates. But I'm not staying for free (far away from it). So all my information and experiences are from myself and I'm not being paid for it at all. It is important for me to mention that: Because I'm not a fancy influencer. I give you my own view on the places I visit which should be completely trustworthy.

I like to thank Mino (my super-duper-fantastic-mega-giga-yay-ranger) and everybody else from the staff of Shamwari! You are great: But please: Press the management to improve the food selection! It's for your best ;-D