Oudtshoorn is actually located a fair click north of the Garden Route but is definitely worth a stopover if you like caves, ostriches, and petting cheetah’s and white lions! Although we ended up covering quite a bit today it didn’t feel at all hectic despite our early start. Today was also my most impressive meat-eating day managing to eat beef, ostrich, crocodile, pork and chicken!

• Cango Caves. These caves are reputed to be the best caves South Africa has and they are clearly a very popular tourist attraction. You must visit the caves in guided groups but there are two options – the regular tour and the adventure tour. The difference being that with the adventure tour (in addition to taking a bit longer) you get to do a bit of caving which includes squeezing into some tight spaces, climbing a bit, crawling. The regular tour will get you access to the amazing halls and formations but it’s the adventure tour which will have you raving about the Cango Caves. The adventure tour is not for those who are claustrophobic.

• Ostrich Farm. Although specialising in breeding ostriches the Ostrich Farm offers a guided and very educational tour of the farm. Not only do you learn all about ostriches but you get to feed them, ride them if you’re brave enough (and under 75kg), get an “ostrich massage” and you also get the chance to test just how strong an ostrich egg is (you can easily stand on one without breaking it provided it is nestled in sand or some other forgiving surface.) You will see a whole other side to ostriches after a visit to this farm – I know I certainly do!

• Cango Wildlife Ranch. Easily done in the afternoon this ranch is apparently one of the leading cheetah breeders in Africa. The main even is a guided tour that takes you through highlights of the ranch including an elevated walkway that takes you over and above the lions, cheetahs, tigers and alligators. For a fee you can also interact with cheetahs and white lions. Despite how it seems in our photos they are not actually drugged – it was just reaching the hottest time of the day and so they cats were all quite tired. Perhaps if you want the cheetahs and lions a bit more active its best to get there in the morning or later on in the day. This is also where I had my first taste of crocodile – surprisingly it was quite tasty and although the lady said it was a fish-like texture I thought it was more like a very tender chicken.

• Knysna – Hobbit accommodation and Spur Steak Ranch. After we were finished with Oudtshoorn we drove on to Kynsna which we were using as a base for a few days. Built on a large estuary the Knysna waterfront soon became our go to place – not only was it beautiful but it offered a convenient place to find dinner. For our accommodation we ended up staying at the Inyathi Guest Lodge. Very different accommodation you stay in wooden cabins it attempts to give you the feel of being in an African village. It felt more like I was staying in middle-earth. I liked it – then again I did get the main room with the en-suite bathroom whilst I sent Jules off to the smaller room with bunks and a sink! As for dinner I had to sample Spur Steak Ranch at some stage during my visit to South Africa. Spur is a South African franchise so I’m not sure why it uses Native American theming so extensively. The “official restaurant of the South African” family it was clearly very popular. Food quality wasn’t actually too bad in all honesty.