Port Alfred to Plettenberg Bay and back to Stellenbosch, South Africa

2 - 5 Dec 2007

The Dolphin Trail

It was a pleasant flight in fine weather to Plettenberg Bay (VFR 1:46 hrs). We rented another car there and drove to Storms River mouth in the Tsitsikamma National Park, where we stayed overnight in a chalet. This is the start of the two-day Dolphin Trail along the coast. We’d planned to do some walking nearby in the afternoon, but it started pouring with rain and there were thunderstorms in the evening and during the night.

3 December 2007. Not a good start to the Dolphin Trail hike: it was raining and the boardwalk giving access to the pedestrian Storms River suspension bridge was burnt down during a major fire 5 months ago. In addition, the Storms river boat was out of service as it had almost been destroyed during the recent flooding. We were transferred by car to the Misty Mountain chalets with a short 1-hour walk there between rain showers.

4 December 2007. A beautiful sunny day! We had a great 6 hour hike along the coast with our guides Marius Sky and Nico to the luxurious Fernery Lodge, where we stayed the last night of the Dolphin Trail hike. Beautifully designed room, and huge bathroom with two adjacent showers and an old fashioned style bathtub by large windows looking out on trees with pretty birds looking in at us. My only complaint is that they gave us too much to eat for our ‘picnic’ lunch which was delivered by 3 people in a 4W drive van along our path. As a result, I hardly had any appetite for the gourmet dinner served at the Fernery.

5 December 2007. Plettenberg Bay to Stellenbosch (IFR 1:52 hrs).
After breakfast, we were transferred by 4WD to Storms River mouth. From there we drove our rental car back to Plettenberg Bay airport. We had the usual 20 knots on the nose at FL100, where we were on top of an overcast. As forecast, it cleared up just west of the mountains to the east of Stellenbosch with great views of Capetown and Table Mountain.