Swellendam, South Africa, Africa
Cypress Cottage Guest House

I slept so well last night! I guess the full day of activities yesterday really tired me out. We had a nice breakfast at Bar-t-nique guesthouse and then packed up the car and headed out. We went to the tip of the peninsula in Mossel Bay and started a walk called the St Blaize Trail. It is a beautiful dirt path that goes along the cliffs and finishes in the small town of Pinnacle Point. It was a really nice morning for a walk, and the scenery was beautiful. We went down to a cliff edge and sat on a rock for a while enjoying the view. We even saw a pod of dolphins swimming right off the coast, so that was cool.

We walked back to the car and then found a place by the beach to have lunch. The restaurant was called Delfinos and we thought that since it was so busy, it must be decent food. We were wrong. It was one of the worst meals we’ve had in South Africa so far, but at least we had a nice view. There aren’t many times when we can sit by the beach and watch a few guys surfing in the bay, so that was cool.

We drove over to Pinnacle Point Golf Course, which is absolutely stunning. Compared to some of the townships we had to drive through to get there, it definitely didn’t look like it should be there. This is a massive estate with some beautiful houses and a huge clubhouse right on the Cliffside. We were there for a tour called the Point of Human Origins, and our guide was a local named Christopher. We took a walk down a few hundred stairs to get to the beachside and there were a number of caves. These are all archaeological dig sites that were found when they started building the golf course.

This was a really interesting tour talking about the people who used to inhabit these areas, the geology of the area, and the proof that people used to live in these caves tens of thousands of years ago. The tour lasted a couple hours and it really was fascinating. Christopher is the tour guide, but he works very closely with the head professor from Arizona State University, and head archaeologist on site, so he was very well informed.

We finished up the tour and drove over to Swellendam, which was about two hours away. By the time we got there it was pretty dark, but from what we could see it was a very nice and quiet little town. We found Cypress Cottage Guesthouse and met the owner Etienne, who is incredibly friendly. He gave us a lot of information about the area and the history here and then recommended a few places to go for dinner. He told us this town is completely safe to walk around, even at night, so that was a very nice thing to hear. It’s the first time we’ve heard this since getting to South Africa, so we took full advantage and went out for a walk.

Etienne had mentioned that the nicest place for dinner was a place called Field & Fork, and I’m so glad we took that recommendation. This was by far the best meal we’ve had in South Africa, and one of the nicest meals I’ve ever had in the world. Melissa had an onion soup as her main meal, and I had the pork tenderloin. It was incredible! For dessert we had an Amarula creme brulee and a sticky toffee pudding, both were absolutely amazing. I only wish that I was hungrier so we could have eaten more.

We were so happy after dinner we just came back to the guesthouse and are relaxing in the nice old country house. This place is really old and pretty, and with Etienne, it is one of the nicer guesthouses we’ve stayed at. There’s not much to see here in Swellendam, but I’m definitely glad we came here for a night!