Knysna to Storms River

We got up for a leisurely breakfast at 8am. There were many African Savred Ibis sitting in a nearby tree. I slept quite well but still felt low in energy and wondered if I was sickening for something. Jemma and Grant were planning to take electric bikes up to a nice viewpoint over the coast, but i didn't feel up to it and decided to rest at the campsite with Phil, Bro and Brian. We chatted about travelling in different parts of the world and rested in the shade out of the very hot sun. I then went up to the very nice long pool for a swim and Phil, Bro and Brian followed later. After the swim I returned to pack away my tent and had lunch consisting of leftover pasta and bruschetta from the previous evening's meal. We saw an African hoopoe and speckled mouse bird feeding on the grass and tree respectively while we ate our lunch. This area by the lagoon is clearly very rich in bird life. We then rested and chatted until 2pm when we set off for our next campsite near Storms river. We travelled through more mountain scenery with deep river gorges in the Tsitsikamma Mointain range which is part of the Garden Route National Park. We returned to the stunning coastline of the Garden Route and stopped so that we could walk along a beautiful woodland boarded path to the mouth of the Storms river where there was a suspension bridge crossing the river mouth which swayed and bounced as we crossed its boards. Looking up the river you could see what a high and narrow gorge was formed by the river. This would be the gorge that we would be tubing down the following day and we saw some kayakers exiting the gorge. We returned via another suspension bridge back up to where the truck was parked. We then travelled on to our next campsite which is situated near the Storms river. The hostel had a big lounge with pool tables, a large circle for an open fire with chairs and sofas around, and a nice pool. We had a slightly confused debriefing about the tubing down the Storms river the following day, but the end result was that Grant, Jemma, Graham, and I decided to do the longer 6 hour tubing down the river.
We had a very nice dinner of rice, vegetable curry and dhaal cooked by the cook group. I had started to feel quite hot, dizzy and unwell when we arrived at the campsite. I decided to put up my tent to have my own space rather than join my fellow travellers in the dorm room provided. I got an early night in the hope of feeling better for tubing down the river the following day. The sky was clear and I could see the milky way sparkling overhead in a mist of millions of stars. The crickets began chirping and dogs could be heard barking in the distance as I went off to sleep.Read more