Knysna
South Africa
It’s around a 1000km along the southern tip of Africa eastwards from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth – the so called Garden Route. Here is South Africa’s most spectacular and varied scenery from lush green valleys covered with vines with steep hill backdrops to arid bush lands frequently interspersed with either long sandy beaches or small steeply sided coves with headlands now maintained as nature reserves.
There are several good roads through the Garden Route which make for fast and easy driving whilst enjoying spectacular views, particularly along the R 62 Scenic Route which is less busy than the coastal N2 route. Stop at an Ostrich Farm or one of the many Animal Parks which whilst not offering the sort of Game Lodge experience of Madikwe Game Lodge will enable animals to be seen in a zoo-like environment.
Knysna lies at the heart of the Garden Route on the coast midway between Cape Town and PE behind a huge natural estuary fed by five rivers. This is a yachting paradise but is also a centre for adventure activities such as diving and snorkelling amongst the many wrecks, bungy jumping or abseiling from the 130m high spectacular Heads which guard the estuary mouth to the Indian Ocean.
Nearby Plettenberg Bay offers surfing, kite sailing, sand boarding, and dune buggy racing or simply tanning and relaxing on the miles of pristine sands. Nature lovers will enjoy the guided walks through the Featherbed Nature Resort with is great views of the estuary or the self-guided walks through the many nearby nature reserves.
Local tours of the Townships and hiking through the Knysna Forest – once the main stay of local timber industry – are also popular activities. Knysna is also the end of the line for one of South Africa’s few remaining steam railways – the Outenique Choe-Tjoe Train – and the two hour journey to George through natural wilderness and breathtaking scenery makes a good afternoon out.
Staying in Knysna makes a lot of sense particularly over the late April Pink Loerie Mardi Gras weekend festival when the town goes pink for the weekend and all the boys and girls from Cape Town flock to the area.
For a Tailor-made trip to South Africa please fill out our Enquiry form (top right hand corner) and we will be happy to quote and assist you with your travel requirements.
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