The Goukamma Reserve has some of the highest vegetated dunes in the country.

Hiking tops all the great things to do in the reserve. The trails are all easy, through diverse scenery: on the coast, river or vlei, over dunes and through milkwood forests.
On the Buffalo Bay side some of the trails start on the opposite (coastal) side of the Goukamma River. To get there is an adventure in itself: You get into a tiny boat (a compulsory lifejacket is provided) and winch yourself to the other side with a rope.

From here, the 7 km Bushpig Trail seems to be the most popular: You hike along the edge of the fynbos to the escarpment, where there are viewsites looking out over the coastline, river and river mouth, before you return through a milk­wood forest.

Longer trails are the 12 km Porcupine Trail to Groenvlei and the 12 km Galjoen Trail along the beach to Platbank.

On the Groenvlei side you can walk the 6 km Cape Clawless Otter Trail next to Groenvlei. The 10 km Blombos Trail is a new circular route that starts at Platbank.
The reserve manages the 3 km Buffalo Bay Trail, which starts near the backpackers’ lodge and winds through a milkwood forest to the beach at Buffalo Bay.
Hiking is free, but get a permit and a map at the office.
And the best thing? You’ll probably see no one else!

Wise paddlers start by working their way upstream, and then come back down when their arms are exhausted.

 
You can rent a canoe at the office or at the gate (on weekends), or bring your own canoe or tube to float on the peaceful waters of the Goukamma River.
From the water you can see grey herons, cormorants, pied kingfishers and even a fish-eagle or two.
I hired a single canoe and had a great time, except that I lost my balance and landed in the water, along with my cellphone and camera bag.

You can paddle right down to where the river flows into the sea (the river mouth isn’t always open), or you can paddle some way in the opposite direction, beyond the bridge over the N2.
Karin says you can take padkos, but save your picnic for when you’re back in the reserve after paddling back, because some of the land en route to the bridge is privately owned.
Knysna Forest Tours ( www.knysnaforesttours.co.za) has a concession to lead guided canoe tours on the Goukamma River, which includes lunch and permits.

Cost: Paddling is free for over­night guests. It costs R50 a day for a single canoe and R80 for a double canoe for day visitors.

(Note: Prices accurate in May 2010)

The 1½-hour ride in the reserve starts on the beach between Sedgefield and Buffalo Bay.

Being on a horse at sunset on a pristine beach is truly idyllic.
Kathryn Liepner has just obtained a concession to lead guided horse trails in the reserve. During a 1½-hour outing (7 km) you ride along the beach and then join up with an existing horse trail inside the reserve.
“We just have ordinary farm horses,” Kathryn. They’re very well mannered.”

Cost: The 1½-hour outing costs R250 per person (maximum six riders).
Contact: Kathryn 071 113 055

Although the coastline is a Marine Protected Area, fishing (with a permit) is allowed.

You can cast a line in the sea, river or in the Groenvlei lake. Buy a permit at a post office.
It’s illegal to angle from a boat or collect bait or spearfish.
Kabel­jou, elf and harders are some of the species you can bag. Keep a tape measure and note measurements on a fishing roster at the office. Later, back at the rondavel, you can sit back and listen to your catch sizzling on the braai.

Mvubu Bushcamp is a wood, reed and thatch cottage on stilts, on the edge of Groenvlei.

The meandering river flows so serenely that I wonder for a moment whether it’s flowing at all.
That’s what the Goukamma Nature Reserve and Marine Protected Area does to you; it is gently calming. And how else with a view like this: the beautiful river mouth at Buffalo Bay, flanked by high dunes covered in shrubs and trees?

Dense milkwood forests and coastal fynbos shelter here. And as a soundtrack you have the constant, soothing rumble of the sea.
“Kwee-kwee-eee-eeyaa!” an African fish-eagle calls to its mate. A grey heron steps gingerly along the water’s edge. I look around me. There’s not another person or car in sight.
The marine protected area, which preserves the region’s sensitive ecosystems and endangered species, stretches about 18 km along the coastline from Buffalo Bay towards Sedgefield, but the “land” part of the reserve covers only 2 500 ha.

Goukamma consists of two sections: The Buffalo Bay side and the Groenvlei side. The beautiful Groenvlei – right next to the N2 outside Sedgefield – has no outlet to the sea.
On the Buffalo Bay side there are three selfcatering rondavels, and on the vlei there’s Groen­vlei Bushcamp and Mvubu Bushcamp.

“All things of value are vulnerable,” reads a line from a Dutch poem by the artist Lucebert. And so it is here at Goukamma, where the reserve had to close for more than a year after extensive flood damage in 2006 and 2007. The entrance gate had to be completely rebuilt. Work is still being done on the tar road next to the reserve in Buffalo Bay after the Goukamma River came down in flood. 

“I think people are attracted by water,” says Karin Bekker, tourism officer for the Garden Route. She’s lived in the reserve for four years. “You can swim anywhere in the river and people like having picnics and braais. And it’s isolated – there’s absolute silence here.”

In the evening I braai with Duckie and Moira du Toit, from Eversdal in Cape Town, who have come here for a short break. They’ve had a lazy day: An early morning canoe paddle, a bit of fishing in the afternoon and a gentle evening walk.

My rondavel is called Kabeljou. I page through the guest book and spot an entry written by a Stefan van Zyl from Durban: “Goukamma has been the place where I’ve come on holiday for 27  years, and it still offers the same peace­ful, relaxed atmosphere.”
Now there’s something to write home about.