Knysna to Tsitsikamma - 175km

Keurbooms National Park
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The rest camp near Storms River Mouth offers a wide range of accommodation options and recreational activities, perfect for South African holidays in the forest. In addition to the famous 42-km-long Otter Trail, which takes five days to complete, there are several day walks. Especially popular is the Mouth Walk, which meanders to the suspension bridge spanning the Storms River Mouth.

Visitors can get close-up views of the awesome gorge, with its 150-m-high cliffs, by taking a boat cruise up the river. The numerous small bays and coves are ideally suited to snorkelling, while scuba divers can explore the offshore world by following an underwater trail.

BIG TREE

About 5 km east of the turnoff to the Storms River Mouth rest camp, a signpost indicates a parking area near one of several ‘Big Trees’ along the Garden Route. A short walk from the parking area leads to a mighty Outeniqua yellowwood (Podocarpus falcatus), which towers 36,6 m above the forest floor and has a crown spread of 32,5 m. Its circumference at chest height is 8,5 m, while the trunk is 18,3 m long with an estimated volume of almost 51 m3. A boardwalk has been built to prevent compacting of the forest floor by the large number of visitors.

STORMS RIVER GORGE

The road bridge spanning the Storm’s River was built in the mid-1950s at a cost of £100 000 to replace the historic Storms River Pass built by Thomas Bain. Designed by the renowned Italian architect, Professor Ricardo Morandi, the 192-m-long bridge consists of two arched sections which met perfectly when they were lowered from opposite sides of the ravine.

In recent years, the deep gorge has become a major South African holidays destination for adventure-seekers. Blackwater tubing trips are conducted in the gorge, while the Stormsriver Gorge Challenge involves a 110-m abseil, a two-hour blackwater tubing trip and mountain biking.

TSITSIKAMMA TOLL ROAD

Built at a cost of R58 million, the 27-km toll road between the Elandsbos River and Ladywood was officially opened in June 1984. Its main attraction is, without doubt, the three spectacular bridges spanning deep river gorges. With a height of 216 m, the 451-m-long Bloukrans Bridge offers adrenalin junkies the highest commercial bungi jump in the world: a seven-second freefall of 180 m.

The impressive Groot River is crossed by a bridge with a span of 301 m, 172 m above the river bed, while the nearby bridge over the Bobbejaans River has a span of 286 m and is 170 m high.

MONKEYLAND

This sanctuary is home to some 16 primate species, among them black and white ruffed lemurs from Madagascar, squirrel monkeys from South America, hooded capuchin, goldenhanded tamarin and blackeared marmoset. The sanctuary consists of 12 ha of indigenous forest which has been enclosed by a 6-m-high fence. Within the sanctuary, the primates – previously kept in zoos, as pets or bred in captivity – are able to roam freely.

Visitors are taken on a guided walk through the forest to water holes, hides, viewing platforms and a canopy walk, from where the primates and a variety of forest birds can be viewed at close range. The remaining 38 ha of Monkeyland serves as a green belt for animals such as bushpig, bushbuck, blue duiker, baboon and vervet monkey.


Plettenberg Bay. Beacon Isle Hotel
Page: 1 PLETTENBERG BAY
Originally named Bahia Formosa (Beautiful Bay) by the Portuguese navigator Manuel de Mesquita Petrestrélo, Plettenberg Bay was renamed after Dutch Governor Joachim van Plettenberg in 1779. The town developed around a woodcutters’ post established in 17 ...