Travel to Wilderness

incredibly beautiful natural landscapes

The areas of Wilderness and Sedgefield are located in the Garden Route, some 400 km east of Cape Town.

The name Wilderness derives from the 1830s, when a new English landowner dreamed it up in an attempt to entice his bride to move here. Even back then it was rather tongue in cheek, these days it’s a clear misnomer.

This stretch of coastline represents everything we love and hate about this part of the world.

The landscape is naturally stunning, with broad sandy beaches, vegetated dunes and a network of beautiful lakes, against a backdrop of forested mountains.

But what kills it stone dead for us is the way that the main N2 highway has been ploughed right through the middle of the prettiest areas, now flanked either side by a proliferation of modern retirement home developments.

The Garden Route is considerably less seasonal than most other parts of Africa.
Most notably it experiences a good deal more consistent levels of cloud and rain year round, in contrast to the Cape which has a much more pronounced dry summer Nov-Mar.

The climate is still very pleasant, but you can expect a little bit more weather out here. For this you are compensated by the wonderful verdant landscapes and rich forests for which the area is named.

Summer : Nov-Apr

This period is generally considered to be the preferred time to visit, with pleasantly warm temperatures, longer days and marginally higher average sunshine hours.

Winter : May/Oct

This period is notionally winter, but temperatures are only a few degrees below their summer levels, average sunshine hours about the same and rainfall just as unpredictable. But the days are definitely shorter.

Where to stay

Most international visitors are surely best advised to tear through this area on the main road without stopping, or to take the old road between George, Knysna which travels instead through some lovely rural areas further inland.

We generally try to make an even greater detour, travelling the inland R62 through the Little Karoo rather than suffering this drive.

There have been rare occasions when this place is suitable for an inclusion in a trip, although we can’t recall exactly why!

we usually head for more pristine areas