Garden Route accommodation: Mossel Bay as your base

Day trips from Villa Palmera

• George and the Outeniqua Pass - 40 minutes. Botanical gardens, Fancourt and the start of Route 62.
• Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves - 1 hour over the Robinson Pass. Ostrich farms, the Swartberg and the Karoo.
• Wilderness and the lakes - 50 minutes. Canoeing up the Touws River to the waterfall.
• Knysna and the Heads - 1 hour 15. Lagoon cruises, oysters, the forest.
• Plettenberg Bay and Robberg - 1 hour 45. The Robberg Peninsula walk.
• Gourits River and Herbertsdale - 30 minutes. Bungee jumping, river cruises, farm stalls.
• Still Bay and Witsand - 1 hour west. Whale watching at the Breede River mouth.
• De Hoop Nature Reserve - 3 hours. Best done as an overnight; Andrea's tips are on the blog.

Why base here rather than further east

Mossel Bay has the warmest, calmest sea on the route, the most sunshine, the airport twenty minutes away, and prices that are kinder than Knysna and Plett. And when you get back from a day out, there is a solar-powered house, a pool and a fire pit waiting.