Unique Accommodation

Namibian sunset. 

Sometimes, I lie awake at night thinking of things in life I regret doing or conversely, not doing. One thing that bothers me is that I never wrote a blog post about The Turbine Hotel in Knysna, on the garden route.  While I can't fix every regrettable situation in my life, I can write about the Turbine Hotel now, even if we did stay there quite some time ago. 

I could also lie awake thinking about the fact that this blog post is not a literary masterpiece, but the hotels are interesting and I think the photos show that. 

I got to thinking about The Turbine because of Le Mirage Hotel and Spa, the very unique hotel we stayed at recently in Namibia.  Although these two hotels have little in common, they are both in Southern Africa (over 1700 km/1000 miles apart but still, Southern Africa.) They are two of the most interesting and memorable hotels I've ever stayed at and I've stayed in many a hotel in my life. 

The Turbine Hotel used to be a power station. It is situated on a canal in the quiet (at least when we were there in April) town of Knysna. What makes the turbine hotel special is that when it was transformed into a hotel, all of the machinery that was formerly part of the power station was restored and remains in the hotel even in the rooms themselves.

In the lobby.

Dining room. 

Front entrance. 

In the bar.

View from our room.

And below are some of the gorgeous views from Knysna which I thought I'd add while I am revisiting the subject. 

We were a bit confused as to whether Le Mirage actually was an old German fort, or it if was just built to look like an old German fort. I couldn't find any info on the website about this either. But regardless Le Mirage was gorgeous. I loved the way it just popped up in the desert in the middle of nowhere. Like a mirage. 

The Garden Route

After leaving Kichaka, our holiday continued as we drove a portion of what is known as the Garden Route. The Garden Route is a stretch of South African roadway that begins in the Eastern Cape Province and ends in the Western Cape. It is a beautiful area with picturesque views of the coast and lush green landscapes. From what I have read the actual Route is considered to be the section of road between Storms River and Mossel Bay. 

Jeffrey's Bay on a cloudy day.

Our first stop was Jeffrey's Bay about a two hour drive from Kichaka. I am sure that in the summer Jeffrey's Bay is a crowded beach town. The day we were there it was early fall and was quiet, cloudy and chilly. We did eat a yummy lunch at a Greek restaurant called "The Greek." The food was delicious and the restaurant was adorned with signs quoting Nikos Kazantzakis. Kazantzakis, in case you don't know (I didn't) was a famous Greek writer and author of Zorba the Greek. 

After lunch we continued to our next destination, Cape St. Francis where we had rented a beach house for two nights. Although we had seen photos of the house it was one of those situations where the beauty of the house itself and the views from the house can't be adequately captured. 

The beach house. This room was our bedroom so Mr. Deep and I had views from two sides. All of these windows were sliding glass doors which opened fully for maximum enjoyment of the sounds and sights of the Indian Ocean.

I love when I capture the waves mid-crash!

Did I mention that the beach house was gorgeous? 

When we first arrived at the house the care taker met us there. He was supposed to give us the keys and show us how to work the alarm. But he didn't seem to know exactly how to use the alarm meaning that the alarm went off the minute we opened the door. When the security company called, he explained the situation and I guess they agreed not to send the police. But we still really didn't know how to turn the alarm on and off. So we ended up not using it at all. 

We all loved the beach house but I think Mr. Deep loved it the most. Throughout our stay the kept wanting to brainstorm ways that we could stay in the house longer. He even said we should consider just staying and "squatting." When my parents and I went for a long walk down to the beach Mr. Deep didn't want to come, he just wanted to sit by the pool and look at the ocean. Of course it is possible (but not likely) that he was just tired of spending time with us!

Mr. Deep at the beach house. 

A path from the house to the beach.

Cape St. Francis is loved by surfers.

It really is!

At the port in Cape St. Francis the fishing boats were coming in and out. 

We left the beach house after two nights (much to Mr. Deep's dismay) and we drove to Storms River located in Tsitsikamma National Park. Storms River flows into the Indian Ocean. I had seen photos, but similar to the beach house it is difficult to capture the awesomeness of Storms River in photos.

We walked over the suspension bridges and then did a short hike. What the hike lacked in length it made up for in difficulty as it was quite steep. There is also something called the Otter Trail in Tsitsikamma. It is a 42 km trail which supposedly takes five days to complete. I would like to try that sometime. 

Storms River is famous for its suspension bridges.

My parents during the tough hike!

Great views! 

Not all the views were of the Indian Ocean. These are the Tsitsikamma Mountains.