indwe magazine – Nov 2005



For the Harassed Masses there is nothing that mellows the mind quite like the scenery, genuine hospitality and gastronomic delights of South Africa’s Garden Route, and the Knysna Gastronomica Culinary Festival in particular.

Text: Jay Marié
Images: © L’Esprit Photo
As I settled down in my spacious South African Express window seat and began the ascent from Johannesburg International Airport, I was filled with feelings of dread regarding my switched off cell phone that was no doubt rejecting signals from many an important acquaintance. I was not the only one having issues. My colleague, perched on the seat beside me, was clearly on a private mission to seek and destroy the smoke detectors while our flight attendant looked the other way.
On arrival in George, the first thing that struck me was the wind. It nearly sent me hurtling back into the plain along with my fellow unsuspecting inlanders. Regaining my composure, I held my skirt in place with businesslike dignity and scurried into the building with the other obviously flustered tourists. After some searching about I managed to locate my colleague who had apparently also had a rather traumatic experience with the weather, and we made our way to the exit.
There we were in the rainy land of sun and sea, blundering about in the airport parking lot, trying to locate our little rental vehicle (which could hold all the luggage as long as one of us sat on top of the third piece of hand luggage), groping for cigarettes, waving cell phones in the air and swinging laptops. Eventually we were neatly wedged inside the car, feeling quite harassed and very much like tourists, off to experience the Garden Route.
During the ride to our lodgings in Reebok, I began to feel overwhelmed by the beauty of the green scenery and noticed that a smile had silently spread across my face. Grassy rolling hills stretched away on either side of me, while before me lay the slightly ominous, though majestic and misty Swartberg mountains. Within an hour of rolling along the Garden Route, I was ready to chuck this whole working-holiday business out the window, quit my job, and settle down to live here under an alias.
The true purpose of my visit, of course, had more to do with indulging in food and other gastronomic delights, but ja-well-fine, you know how it is. From the balcony of the lovely little house, which I, my colleague, and all our Gauteng fussiness invaded for the week, I could watch in wonder as pods of whales came up close to the seashore, rising up and spouting salty grey clouds. Our immediate mission was to get the laptops all geared up and make sure civilisation still continued to exist without us, up in the urban madhouse. To our dismay it seemed that our employers were in fact still expecting our return.
The next day we were off to Knysna for the long-awaited Gastronomica Culinary Festival. Nothing could have prepared me for the wonderful experience that lay before me. We pulled in to Thesen Harbour Town, an island inhabited by the cream of the seaside crop, and traversed our way upwind to the ticket office where we were to be given guidance and, hopefully, a comb.
Once inside, the ever-friendly local staff, and PRO Lynn Giles in particular, blew all our composure away. We were ambushed and locked in a medley of bear hugs, generously swarmed by sincerely jubilant smiles and greeted all the way into a comfy sofa at the back where we had but a moment to recover from this ecstatic hospitality.
We were soon escorted to the Culinary Shack where we found ourselves in the midst of the Slow Food Market, (this being the opposite of fast food). Here we were swept into a world of exotic mustards, enormous olives, soya mince lasagne, elitist cappuccino and endless little fields of lavender, which tempted me with thoughts of frolicking in them as I passed by each one.
The following day we had the pleasure of a small tour of the lavish prosperity of Thesen Isle. Next up was the Young Chefs Slow Food Cook-off back at the Culinary Shack, where with wide grins, we gratefully accepted a kind invitation to the Mayor’s cocktail party the following evening. I was so excited that even the prospect of another round trip journey to Mossel Bay in our rented breadbox seemed like a small sacrifice.
At the Culinary Shack the next morning, my eyes must have looked like large saucers while I browsed the incredible chocolate art of world-renowned pastry chef consultant, En-Ming Hsu. Her abstract chocolate sculpture of blocks, curves, orbs and a magnificent white flower had me drooling but in spite of my severe craving for the chocolate, I knew I could never allow base desire to destroy anything as beautiful as this. I’m sure anyone would feel ashamed to eat a work of art, but fortunately both my sense of reluctance and my craving were satisfied with the chocolate tasting that followed, along with Felchlin’s expert discussion on identifying and tasting chocolate like a connoisseur.
After this decadent journey through the world of organic produce and with many magical memories and souvenirs, my colleague and I felt well pampered, well fed. Reassuring each other that we most certainly never came across as tourists, we said a sad and reluctant farewell to the rich beauty of a South African paradise.
The flight home was less tense and we felt the effect of our wonderful trip leaving a little space for relaxation as we touched down in Zimbabwe… oh, I mean Johannesburg… in a cloud of dust, to the moans and grumblings of our fellow ex-tourists. Thank goodness all is not lost as South African Express now offer an extended service to George. See you in Knysna next October!
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