Back roads of the West Coast

DAY 1: ARRIVE PORT NOLLOTH

Travel in your own time to Port Nolloth a town and small domestic seaport in the Namaqualand. Port Nolloth is 701 kms from Cape Town via the N7 and Springbok. It is 1 305 km from Johannesburg on the N14 via Upington and Springbok.

The port was previously a trans-shipment point for copper from the Okiep mines, and diamonds from the Namaqua coast. Since the 1970s the principal seagoing activities have been fishing and small-vessel tourism. Today the town is a sleepy commercial hub with a few holiday homes and a caravan park at the adjacent McDougalls Bay.

Ensure that you arrive by 17:00. Check-in at the hotel.

18:00 – Group members will meet our tour guide, Dudley Wessels, in the main dining area of the hotel. Dudley is from Hondeklipbaai and are extremely passionate about the West Coast. It is not an exaggeration to say that Dudley is one of the most knowledgeable people on the West Coast and its vegetation. Dudley is described as “an extraordinary guide with unparallel knowledge about this particular part of our country”.

19:00 – We kick-off the tour with dinner at the hotel.

O/N Scotia Inn, Port Nolloth (or similar) (dinner)

DAY 2: PORT NOLLOTH - KLEINZEE

Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out.

We will drive to Alexander Bay in the extreme north-west of the country. The town is located on the southern bank of the Orange River mouth. From a view point you will see the mouth of the Orange River … our journey will take us from the mouth of the Orange River to the mouth of the Berg River over the next couple of days.

We return to Port Nolloth for a light snack lunch and then proceed to Kleinzee. Here we visit the museum with its exhibits of shipwrecks, geological, paleontological, and archaeological finds. If time allows, we will also visit the Molyneux Nature Reserve with its over 100 indigenous plant species.

O/N Houthoop (or similar) (breakfast, snack lunch, dinner)

DAY 4: HONDEKLIPBAAI DUNES

Enjoy breakfast and check-out.
Depart for Koingnaas with an opportunity to refuel. From there it is a 20 km drive to reach the dune area. Here you will deflate tyres and receive a briefing from the guide about dune driving as we are going to play in the dunes this morning.

Enjoy dune driving with regular photo stops. Your guide will also point out archaeological sites and will tell you more about the Khoi-Khoi, the early inhabitants of the area.

Picnic lunch will be in the dunes followed by a fun sandboard activity for those who are adventurous. Drive to Hondeklipbaai and arrive early afternoon. You will then have time at leisure.

It is believed that Hondeklipbaai got its name from a rock next to the police station that resembled a sitting dog. That was before it was struck by lightning. The village was originally used as a harbour to export copper ore from the mines near Springbok. Today the town serves the fishing and diamond-mining community. The diamond dredgers use the bay as their base.

Dinner will be at the Rooi Spinnekop Restaurant.

O/N Hondeklipbaai – different self-catering units (breakfast, packed lunch, and dinner)

DAY 3: SHIPWRECK ROUTE

Enjoy breakfast.

After breakfast we enter the De Beers restricted area. Live the Journey needs to book the permits in advance. For this we will require a copy of your ID. We are going to drive the Shipwreck 4x4 route today and visit four shipwrecks. This is a particularly beautiful drive. Expect gravel roads, soft sand, pebble beaches and rock. In between the wrecks there are a series of historical, archaeological, and geological sights, but your guide will tell you more about this. Later in the afternoon on the return journey, there will be an opportunity to do some dune driving. Few get the opportunity to drive here in these white sands of West Coast. We can promise a memorable day.

19:00 – Dinner at the Houthoop

O/N Houthoop (or similar) (breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner)

DAY 5: GO OFF THE GRID

Check-out. Breakfast will be a the Rooi Spinnekop.

After breakfast we will depart on a beautiful, rugged route. The day will be relatively long, but we should be in time to watch the sun set on the West Coast in Strandfontein.

We will cross the border from the Northern Cape into the Western Cape between Brandsebaai and Groenriviermond. Our route will follow a tweespoor track via places like Brandsebaai, Malkopbaai, Abraham Villiersbaai, Groenriviermond, Kwaassebaai and Skuinsbaai until we arrive in Lutzville.

From Lutzville we will proceed to our overnight stop in Strandfontein. The group will be making use of different accommodation units in the town. All meals will be at one venue.

19:00 – Enjoy dinner. Meet Hilda who is famous for her catering and mouth-watering meals.

O/N Strandfontein – different self-catering units (breakfast, dinner)

DAY 6: STRANDFONTEIN TO VELDDRIF

Check-out and enjoy breakfast.

After a relaxed morning in Strandfontein we depart around 11:00 for Doringbaai. In Doringbaai we stop for a wine tasting followed by a light snack lunch. Then we venture further south along the West Coast. We will drive via Elands Bay and Dwarskersbos to reach our overnight stop. Elands Bay is a typical West Coast town that draws visitors during the flower season and surfers who are in search of the perfect wave.

Arrive late afternoon in Velddrif which is situated on the Berg River. The name Velddrif is derived from a local farmer, Theunis Smit, who took his stock through a drift in the field (Afrikaans: veld), to find grazing across the river. In 1899, a pontoon ferry was built to cross the Berg River. The nearby estuary is an important bird habitat. The area is home to 30 000 birds, including up to 80 species which are endemic to the Cape coast.

Our overnight stop is situated on the banks of the Berg River just outside of Velddrif.

19:00 – We end the tour with a delicious dinner

O/N L’Ermitage Quagga Lodge, Velddrif (breakfast, snack lunch, dinner)

DAY 7: DEPART HOME

Depart on a morning game drive. The lodge owners breed, among others, with exotic game (weather permitting). They are doing pioneering work that we will experience first-hand. The quagga project is fascinating. It started in 1987 and is an attempt to bring back an animal from extinction and reintroduce it into reserves in its former habitat.
For more information visit www.lermitagelodge.co.za/the-quagga-project.

08:30 – Breakfast and check-out.

It is then time for sad farewells as you will depart home in your own time.