Tsitsikamma Tarzan
Emo, our guide, shows us how the foefie slide works. Two American tourists, Shauna and Rachel, and I listen intently.
The wooden platform we stand on is built around the trunk of an enormous Outeniqua yellow­wood. I can feel how the tree moves slowly beneath our feet. We are high up in the canopy of giant yellowwood, stinkwood and ironwood trees, about 30 m above the ferns and creepers on the forest floor. “Pee-ooo!”, I hear the call of a forest buzzard as it soars past.
Canopy tours were first invented in 1992 in Costa Rica’s tropical forest. Ashley Wentworth took over the concept here and started the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tours in 2001 – the first in Africa and a conservation initiative that offers work to about 50 local people. Each year, about 28 000 people get harnessed up here to do a tour.
It’s a safe eco-adventure for the whole family: Anyone from 7 to 70 can do it. (The weight limit is 120 kg. Kobus Wiese would have to stay behind to look after the car.)
Ten steel cables run from tree to tree. It’s not really a Tarzan experience: You’re strapped into a harness with a crash helmet on your head. You wear a thick glove, and you slow yourself down by gripping the line with your gloved hand. At the next platform there’s always a guide ready to catch you if you don’t brake in time.
Right, we’re ready to roll. The first few rides are short. Shauna lets out a yell as she glides between the trees. “She never screams,” Rachel giggles.
At each platform, Emo tells us more about the forest’s plants and animal species while we admire the view – still safely hitched to the tree.
“Wow. This is fabulous,” Shauna shouts. Two Knysna turacos fly past, but the elusive narina trogon is nowhere to be seen.
“Hoe-hoe-hoe-hoe!” I shout on the eighth slide, 90 m-long. The adrenaline is pumping. Moments later, a Knysna turaco answers me with a hoarse “kau-kau-kau-kau”. This is fun!
The whole outing takes about two hours, after which we get a complimentary burger. What shall I do next? I still have a whole afternoon ahead of me.

Fast Facts
Where? Storms River village is just off the N2, 65 km east of Plett.
When? Every half-hour, every day of the week.
Cost: R450 per person (including a light lunch). A dvd costs R145.
Contact: 042 281 1836; www.treetoptour.com
Other things to do: The Woodcutters Journey is a historical tour to the old Storms River Pass. Or wander through the forest on the 2 km Goesa Trail.  

Water under the bridge
Nibbling stray burger crumbs that had escaped to my beard, I drive 15 km to the Storms River Mouth Rest Camp in the Tsitsikamma National Park, the starting point of the 42 km Otter Hiking Trail.
I was last here in 1997, just after my matric exams. Most other school leavers went to celebrate their freedom at Plett, but two of my friends and I decided to rather camp at Storms River.
One of the worst storms in a decade broke that night. The tent was ripped to shreds and in the early hours of the morning we went to seek shelter in the laundry. There, I had a taste of my first Savanna Dry.
This afternoon the weather is perfect. I go for a pre-dinner walk along the Mouth Trail (2 km) to the 77 m suspension bridge that stretches across the river mouth. Most of the people I meet along the way greet me in foreign accents.
This popular trail is now a circular route. You can cross the suspension bridge and return via two new smaller suspension bridges (90 m combined), closer to the sea. Your path will rejoin the boardwalk.
I pause on the old bridge to watch the sun set. The waves roar in the heartland of the Tsitsikamma – a Khoi word that means “place of much water”. I take pictures of the full moon peaking over the mountain.
Then I head back to the restau­rant. It’s time for a Savanna.

Fast Facts
Where? The Storms River Mouth Rest Camp is about 68 km east of Plett.
Accommodation: I spent the night in a neat wooden chalet. Visit www.sanparks.org for accommodation options and prices, or call 012 428 9111.
Other things to do? Hikes, boat rides, snorkelling, scuba-diving.
Contact: 042 281 1607 (Storms River Mouth); www.sanparks.org 

Monkey Business and parrot talk
Monkeyland was opened in 1998 by Tony Blignaut and Lara Mostert, as a sanctuary for a whole range of primate species.
It’s like the United Nations of primates – exotic lemurs and gibbons from Madagascar, capuchin and squirrel monkeys from South America, and even our own vervet monkeys, all swing, chatter and play here. Most were once pets or kept for laboratory experiments.
The approximately 400 animals roam free through 120 000 m² (that’s like 12 average soccer stadiums together) of Tsitsikamma forest.
“It really is a concept for the future,” says Bert “Langasem” Vos, one of Monkeyland’s curators. “Especially as far as the emotional wellbeing of those animals that were kept in captivity. Where zoos stop is where we start.”
Bert accompanies me on the 800 m safari trail through the forest. His knowledge is impressive and he’s a primate whisperer of note. A large gibbon walks past us. “Sometimes he walks with both hands in the air, like a ballerina,” he says in a David Attenborough whisper.
I meet the shy Brad Pitt, the only black lemur here. His mate, Angelina Jolie, unfortunately died.
I watch a ring-tailed lemur tuck into the fruit at one of the feeding stations. He looks just like Julian, the “I like to move it, move it” lemur king in the animated movie Madagascar.
Monkeyland is just half the fun, because right next door is Birds of Eden, opened in 2005. It’s the world’s largest aviary for free-flying birds: It’s a huge space of 32 000 m² (bigger than three soccer stadiums) enclosed with a wire mesh canopy as high as 50 m. In this space, 3 000 birds of 200 species fly, flap, strut and glide while they chirp, coo, screech, whoop and chatter.
You can visit Birds of Eden on your own or with a guide. There’s a river, waterfall and amphitheatre that seats 200 people. As I walk with curator Lee Dekker, Zaza, an excitable rainbow lorikeet, sits on my shoulder the whole way, chirping unintelligible directions in my right ear. (Maybe she was looking for hamburger crumbs – Ed).
I see colourful parrots, hornbills, flamingos and even a shy fruitbat hanging upside down.
It’s an amazing experience to spend time with all these winged creatures.

Fast Facts
Where? Monkeyland and Birds of Eden are 13 km east of Plettenberg Bay at The Crags. Follow the signs from the N2.
Hours: 8 am to 5 pm daily.
Cost: A combo ticket (for a guided tour of Monkeyland and entrance to Birds of Eden) is R192 per adult and R96 per child between 3 and 12.
Contact: 044 534 8906; www.monkeyland.co.za; www.birdsofeden.co.za 

Hook, line and sinker
My friend JP advises me not to take seasick tablets the night before our deep-sea fishing outing, and makes me a few strawberry jam and ham sandwiches instead. “If you get sick, the jam takes away the worst of the taste,” he explains.
JP, another friend, Scott, and two local residents, Rodger and Michelle, join us on the trip run by Plett Fishing Charters. It’s a proper five-hour deep-sea fishing expedition, with everything from rods to bait provided.
Shortly after sunrise we leave from Plett’s Central Beach. Our boat cuts through the swell, and within minutes we see a whale, only 100 m away. “Just look at that monster!” skipper Graeme Pollard shouts.
We go about 5 km offshore. Everyone chatters excitedly about what we might catch – hake, red roman, kabeljou, geelbek... gigantic fish like those that get featured on the cover of Tight Lines?
Eric, the helper on board, gives a reality check: “Fishing is like mining; sometimes you go home empty-handed.”
But then he boasts of an earlier catch: “That geelbek was as big as me,” he says with his arms stretched out like a cricket umpire signalling a wide.
Eric helps me to bait my hooks with sardines and cast my line. I just have to wait… as soon as something strikes, I jerk the line and begin reeling in like mad.
After a few misses, I manage to boat a modest kabeljou. I’m sweating. I begin to feel seasick...or maybe it’s JP’s sandwiches.The hours fly by. A flock of gulls badgers us with “kleeeuw- kleeeuw” calls.
JP, Scott and Michelle catch some hake and kabeljou, and Rodger bags a red roman.
On the way back we see a pair of whales displaying off Keurboom­strand.
Graeme says the water was a bit cold this morning for fishing, but we don’t mind. Just being on the open sea was wonderful.

Fast facts
Where? The Osprey leaves from Central Beach in Plettenberg Bay.
When? Speak to Graeme.
Cost: R600 per person (minimum of four people).
Contact: 083 324 6331; www.deepseafishing.co.za 

3 km above the Garden Route
My mother’s maiden name is Rens. She told me that some of my ancestors were circus people. But she had sleepless nights about my latest trick: a tandem skydive over Plettenberg Bay.
“Oh no!” was her shocked reaction when I shared my plans with her.
It’s Monday morning, just after nine. Beautiful sunny weather. I’m trembling a bit as I get into the harness. Jeff Bergh, my tandem master, is an old hand. He reminds me of that Jethro Tull album title: Too Old to Rock ’n’ Roll: Too Young to Die!
I ask him how many times he’s jumped.
“Seven-and-a-half,” he says.
“What’s half a jump?” I ask a bit suspiciously.
“No... seven and a half thousand,” Jeff corrects me.
That calms me down. My mother needn’t worry about me.
The Cessna 182 waits on the runway. It’s really small. One of Jeff’s colleagues, Reinier, is coming along. He’s going to do a solo jump.
Jeff, who records everything on DVD, knows no end. “If all else fails, walk towards the bright light,” he jokes. “Don’t follow us.”
We take off. Jeff points out on the instrument panel how high we are climbing.
1 000  feet…
2 000  feet…
3 000  feet...
Plettenberg Bay gets smaller and smaller. The bay forms a U-shape, between Robberg over there and Storms River Mouth. I can see why they say this is one of the most beautiful places on Earth to skydive.
At 7 000 feet I kneel down in front of Jeff. He straps himself to me. The airstrip below is now just a thin pencil line.
“Now you’re going to find out why the birds sing!”
At 10 000 feet (3 km) he opens the door. The wind is deafening. I stand next to him, breathe deeply, smile at the camera… and we’re flying! Andrenaline pumps through my body, but I can’t get a sound out. Jeff taps my right shoulder: “Blow kisses!”
From nowhere, Reinier appears next to us. We high-five, laughing, before he leaves us. Our parachute whips out a few seconds later. Now we are drifting in silence and I get a chance to steer the parachute. (Later, I’ll find out that the free fall lasted for 36 seconds at a speed of 220 km/h)
After 5 minutes we land safely at the airstrip. I am in tears: This was easily one of the best experiences of my life.
While I wait for the DVD, I read a Leonardo da Vinci quotation on the wall: “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
I send my mother an SMS.
She replies: “Wow, Erns, you’re a real Rens – you’ve got that circus blood.”

Fast Facts
Where? At the Pletten­berg Bay airstrip, 5 km outside town in the direction of Knysna.
When? Seven days a week. In a good month 200 adrenaline junkies jump here.
Who? An eight-year-old and an 86-year-old great grandpa have jumped here. A tandem jumper may not be heavier than 100 kg.
How much? R1 600 per person. A DVD costs R400.
Contact: 082 905 7440; www.skydiveplett.co.za

A walk on the wild side
Robberg Nature Reserve has three circular hiking trails, each of differing length and difficulty.
I decide to tackle the longest trail, the Point Circuit (9,2 km). You walk all the way around the Robberg Penin­sula, sleep over at the remote Fountain Shack, and return to the parking area the next morning.
CapeNature supplies a bag of braai and cleaning utensils at the gate. I attach the bag to my rucksack and head off. At Robberg you have to keep an eye on the tides: The entire route traverses rocks, and it can be dangerous during high tide.
The views are breathtaking. I can see Beacon Isle, Plettenberg Bay, Keurbooms and the rest of the coastline all the way to Nature’s Valley.
It’s a quiet Monday afternoon. Aside from a German family, I don’t encounter anyone.
A little further, between The Gap and Witsand, I hear a hoarse barking noise. About 30 Cape fur seals play on the rocks.
At Witsand’s dune you can take a shortcut, but I press on along the longer route. You have to watch your step here – the rocks are often wet and slippery. It’s getting late and high tide is minutes away. I left my route map in the car. I phone the NSRI to find out how far I still have to go to get to the Fountain Shack. Fortunately only about 500 m, the man reassures me.
Fifteen minutes, just before sunset, I reach Fountain Shack – a neat little wooden hut with eight bunk beds, a kitchen and a braai.
I make a fire, sit on the stoep and marvel at the view.
Even though Plett isn’t far away, you can only reach this hut on foot, and since the hut at the tip of the peninsula was flattened by a freak wave in September 2008, this is the only overnight place in the reserve.
I feel like Robinson Crusoe – or perhaps that should be Robbergson...

Fast Facts
Where? 8 km south of Plettenberg Bay. Turn off the N2 onto the Piesang Valley Road towards Plett.
Hours: 7 am – 5 pm every day (from 8 am in December and January).
Cost: R25 per adult and R12 per child; free with a Wild Card. Staying over at Fountain Shack costs R360 a night in the low season and R1 040 in peak season; maximum 8 guests.
Contact: 021 659 3500; www.capenature.org.za
Other things to do? Visit the archaeological site at Nelson Bay Cave. 

Get a kiss from the ellies
In the late 19th century hundreds of Knysna elephants were slaughtered by ivory hunters; this tragic story was the inspiration for the creation of the Knysna Elephant Park in 1994.
Until recently, experts thought there was only one elephant left in the Knysna forest. DNA testing of dung, however, has shown that there might be six or more.
These wild elephants are elusive, however, unlike the ones at the Knysna Elephant Park. Most of them were orphaned and they’re very tame. You can feed them, stroke them and even pose for a photograph next to one of them.
A tractor tows our wagon-load of 15 visitors to the elephants. Ten trunks wave enthusiastically as they reach for the buckets of food – mostly carrots and spinach. The guides keep a watchful eye and encourage us to touch the elephants. A father even lets his two-year old son sit astride a calf.
Harry has been here since 1994 and is quite aware of his status as the dominant bull. To one side is Tosha, an elephant cow. We may not go near her. She’s still mourning the loss of her calf, Bubi, which died of pneumonia a few weeks ago.
I stand next to Harry with my cheek against his rough, wrinkly skin. How could people hunt these beautiful, sensitive giants?
In the exhibition area, words by the poet John Donne strike a chord: “To know an elephant is to be touched by him – these gentle giants humble mankind. He is nature’s greatest Masterpiece.”

Fast Facts
Where? On the N2 between Knysna (22 km) and Plettenberg Bay (9 km)
When? Every half-hour from 08.30 am to 4.30 pm. The outing lasts 45 minutes, but they won’t throw you out if you linger.
Cost: R160 per adult and R83 per child between 3 and 12.
A bucket of food costs R28.
Contact: 044 532 7732; www.knysnaelephantpark.co.za
Other things to do: A ride on an elephant’s back, sun­downers and exclusive sun­downer safaris. Visit the website for information.

Circles in the Forest
I join Dennis Carlisle of Bhejane 4x4 Adventures early in the morning. We set off in his 4x4 Condor on a half-day tour.
As we drive along the 22 km “Petrus se brandpad” route in Diepwalle, he tells me that only 2 % of the original forest remains. A few hundred years ago it would have stretched all the way from George to Humansdorp. Dennis lives for the forest. “You should look at it as one huge, living organism,” he says.
I can’t help thinking about the characters in Dalene Matthee’s Circles in the Forest as the gravel road penetrates deeper and deeper into the indigenous forest.
Aftand is the name of the last elephant that was shot here in 1967. “Who knows? There could be 10 elephants standing here looking at us. Elephants are shy, like ghosts.” Dennis laughs. “The elephants and the woodcutters had lots in common. Both wanted to get away from people.”
Dennis also tells me about the Italians who lived here with the woodcutters. They apparently hoped to make money out of silkworms, but nothing came of it.
The migration paths of the elephants – which were later used by the woodcutters and forestry workers – are still visible.
“We may have a bigger chance of running into fairies and goblins than elephants,” Dennis says with a grin.
We stop regularly to admire the ferns, huge yellowwood trees and fungi. After about four hours in the forest, we stop at the Diepwalle Tea Garden, where Aunty Clara serves up delicious vetkoek and milk tart.

Fast Facts
Where? Meet Bhejane 4x4 Adventures at Garden of Eden, on the N2 between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.
When? Arrange with Bhejane 4x4 Adventures.
Cost: R350 per person (which includes lunch).
Contact: 044 535 9257; www.bhejane.com
 

Sleep like Royalty
In the 1960s, entrepreneur Don Lindsay landed on Noetzie Beach after a paragliding flight and decided to build his own castle there. I spent two nights in the Lindsay Castle. You get breakfast and a lovely three-course dinner included in the price.
Julia and Wayne, who manage the castle on Don Lindsay’s behalf, make sure that there’s a fire in the hearth and the glasses are full.
The castle is right on the secluded little beach – with no other people, animals or buildings in sight.
A real princess was once booked to spend the night here at Lindsay Castle: A framed letter from Buckingham Palace tells a tragic story. It’s dated 8 July 1997 and confirms Princess Diana’s booking (under the name of “MacEwan”) for two nights in September of that year. (She died on 31 August.)
There are several other castles on this beach, but they are private property and part of the luxury Pezula Group.
It’s an unusual, old-world experience, ideal for a special anniversary or a romantic week­end breakaway.

Fast Facts
Where? Turn off the N2 at Noetzie, 8 km from Knysna.
Cost: Lindsay Castle is closed in December (when the owners are home). From 15 January, the rate is R880 per person for dinner, bed and breakfast. Talk to Julia about special rates for South Africans.
Contact: 044 384 1849; www.knysnacastles.co.za

Lazy days on the lagoon
I decide to spend the last day of my time on the Garden Route on the Knysna Lagoon. “Captain of your own holiday” is the motto at Lightleys Holiday Houseboats, because on a houseboat you can anchor your overnight accommodation wherever you most fancy the view (and where conservation authorities allow).
You don’t need experience, or a licence, to pilot a houseboat. You can choose a boat for two, four or six people, and it’s fully equipped. It even has a CD player, a braai and bedding.
One of the helpers on the quay quickly shows me the ropes before I turn the key and start up the engine. A detailed map shows you where to go. It’s very simple: Don’t race, stick close to the buoys, and don’t get caught on the far side of the train bridge at high tide.
It is almost high tide, so I can’t go all the way to the Knysna Heads this afternoon. But the lagoon is huge and there’s plenty of water to explore.
In the distance I can see the Knysna Heads. And traffic crawling along the N2. I wonder, not for the first time, when the roadworks through Knysna will ever end. But out here on the water, surrounded by green hills, there are much more pleasant things to think about.
At sunset I anchor the boat in a little bay. I climb onto the roof and admire the world around me.
Time to make a fire. Next time I’ll invite friends and bring a fishing rod. And then my Garden Route holiday will start right here on the water.

Fast Facts
Where? Phantom Pass road outside Knysna.
Cost: From about R1 000 a night for two people in low season. The rates will go up in February; all the details are on the website.
Contact: 044 386 0007; www.houseboats.co.za/knysna/

(Note: Prices accurate in February 2010)