Cape Town: 5-Day Garden Route & Addo Safari with Cango Caves

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/28

Duration5d

GroupUp to 13

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Five Days Through South Africa's Garden Route and Elephant Country

You travel by air-conditioned vehicle through five days of South Africa's most varied landscape — from semi-desert caves and coastal forests to elephant herds and whale-watching cliffs. Your accommodation, park entries, game drives, and most meals are included, and the route loops back to Cape Town without backtracking. The fixed itinerary means you don't have to book each piece separately or worry about timing; you show up at the Cape Town departure point and the rest is arranged.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Cape Town to Oudtshoorn via Route 62

Depart Cape Town at 6am
Drive Route 62 to Oudtshoorn
Visit Cango Caves
Visit ostrich farm
Overnight in Oudtshoorn
Enjoy ostrich dinner

Day 2 — Oudtshoorn to Storms River via Garden Route

Leave Oudtshoorn for Garden Route
Stop at Wilderness 'map of Africa' lookout
Visit Knysna Heads and Waterfront
Explore Knysna markets
Pass through Plettenberg Bay
Overnight in Storms River Village
Opportunity to bungee jump

Day 3 — Tsitsikamma to Addo Elephant Park and Jeffreys Bay

Explore Tsitsikamma National Park
Walk coastal route to Storms River hanging bridge
Visit Addo Elephant National Park
Drive through Jeffreys Bay
Overnight in Jeffreys Bay

Day 4 — Jeffreys Bay to Garden Route Game Lodge

Travel to Bloukrans Bungy Bridge
Optional bungy jump at Bloukrans
Arrive at Garden Route Game Lodge
Late afternoon safari drive
Overnight at Game Lodge
Enjoy buffet dinner

Day 5 — Garden Route to Cape Town via Whale Watching

Morning safari drive
Depart for Hermanus
Whale watching at Hermanus
Return to Cape Town via False Bay

The Experience

Hands gripping the railing of a bridge 216 meters above a gorge, feet planted on solid wood, the Bloukrans River far below — that's the Tsitsikamma bungee, and it's one of those moments on this 5-day tour where you decide whether you're jumping or watching. Either way, you're standing at the world's highest commercial bungee bridge, which sits right in the middle of a journey that loops through the Garden Route and into Addo Elephant National Park. The tour departs Cape Town at 6am on day one and doesn't return until late afternoon on day five, which means five full days of driving, stopping, and seeing things most people miss when they're rushing through on their own.

Day one takes Route 62 — the world's longest wine route — inland toward Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo semi-desert. You'll stop at Cango Caves, a limestone system that opens into cathedral-sized chambers, then visit an ostrich farm where you stand next to birds that weigh 130 kilos and move like they own the place. That night you sleep in Oudtshoorn and eat ostrich for dinner, which is the kind of detail that sticks with you. Day two swings back toward the coast through Wilderness and Knysna, a town that gets voted South Africa's favorite every year for reasons that become obvious the moment you arrive — the Knysna Heads are two sandstone cliffs that frame the harbor entrance, and the waterfront has markets and restaurants that pull you in without trying. Then you push on to Storms River Village, where the real landscape starts to feel like something from a different planet.

The morning of day three is Tsitsikamma National Park — a coastal forest so thick and green it feels like the trees are holding their breath. You walk to a hanging bridge over Storms River Mouth where the water crashes against rock and the air tastes like salt and fern. After that, the tour heads to Addo Elephant National Park, where the game drive puts you in an open vehicle looking for herds of elephants, buffalo, antelope, and if you're lucky, the Big 5. If Addo doesn't appeal, the tour reroutes through Jeffreys Bay, South Africa's surfing capital, where you can walk the beach instead. Day four brings you back west to the Bloukrans bungee and then to Garden Route Game Lodge, where you sleep in proper comfort — not a backpackers hostel — and do an afternoon safari drive on the lodge's own reserve. Dinner is a buffet at the lodge, and the morning of day five starts with another game drive before heading north toward Hermanus, the best land-based whale-watching site in the world if you're traveling between June and December. The Southern Right whales come close enough to shore that you don't need binoculars. Then the drive follows False Bay back to Cape Town, and if the timing is right, you'll see dolphins.

The whole thing is air-conditioned and all-inclusive — accommodation for four nights, entry fees to the parks and caves, the ostrich farm, the game drives, and meals where they're listed. There are no hidden costs, which matters when you're five days into a tour and the guide isn't suddenly asking for cash at every stop. Groups stay small enough that the vehicle doesn't feel crowded, and the guides know the routes well enough to take you off the main paths where the animals actually are. If you're thinking about a safari but worried about malaria, Addo sits in a malaria-free zone, so you're not taking prophylactics for the whole trip.

What’s included

Your five days include four nights accommodation (three in guest houses or backpackers hostels, one at Garden Route Game Lodge), air-conditioned vehicle transport throughout, entry fees to Tsitsikamma National Park, Cango Caves, Addo Elephant National Park, and the ostrich farm, two game drives at Garden Route Game Reserve, a visit to the Cango Ostrich Farm, Betty's Bay Penguin Colony entry, and most meals (breakfast on days four and five, dinner on days one and four). The Bloukrans bungee bridge stop is included, though jumping is optional and costs extra.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availablePublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditions

Operated by Bokbus Garden Route Adventure Tours Safaris

Is this one for you?This tour suits travelers who want the Garden Route and a safari experience without arranging transport, park tickets, and timing across five separate days — the fixed itinerary and all-inclusive pricing remove the logistics, leaving you to show up and move through the landscape.