Knysna

Knysna, Western Cape, South Africa
Saturday, January 16, 2016

It is a two hour drive from Oudtshoorn in the semi desert Little Karoo to Knysna on the garden route coast and what a difference that relatively short drive brings. I suspect we left Oudtshoorn in the nick of time as the temperature was due to be in the mid nineties today. It was a fantastic drive in that one started in semi desert and about half way to the coast the scenery suddenly changed and became greener the closer to the sea one travelled. The hillsides were now clothed in flowering fynbos of yet a different mix to before. We stopped for coffee quite by chance at a Rose Nursery and restaurant strangely enough called Rosenkof, which was the name of our hotel in Oudtshoorn. One could have been forgiven for thinking that this one was in a sub tropical alpine region, so different was the landscape. It was charming, there were roses, lavender and a beautiful garden. Stepping out of the car you were immediately aware that the air was fresher and perfumed. The views were stupendous and the restaurant and coffee pretty good too. They also did a nice line in quotations of which I'll give you a sight of later.
The closer to the coast we travelled the more lush and green the countryside became, as we descended from the Little Karoo plateau down to the coastal plain. We joined the N2 just outside of George and the National Route hugs the coastline all the way to Knysna. It is very beautiful. Knysna itself is set on a lagoon. This is strictly an estuary, which flows out to sea between two craggy headlands called rather originally 'The Heads'! A long low bridge spans the Lagoon and all of at sudden you are in Knysna itself, a small town which was founded in1876 with a gold rush. This was short lived; logging and the timber industry took over, due to the proximity of thick woodland clothing the coastal mountainsides. Today, it is one of the most popular spots to visit in South Africa and the views from our bedroom windows will tell you why. Kanonkop Guest House is like no Guest House I have ever seen and is set high on a hill above the town. One wall of our enormous room is completely glass and I think I could sit and drink in the jaw dropping views of the lagoon for the duration of our visit.
However, we are booked on a tour of the Featherbed Nature Reserve tomorrow so move I must!

The Featherbed Nature Reserve is privately owned and a South African Heritage site. It captures the essence of Knysna as somewhere special and clothes the flanks of the Western Heads. The only access is by ferry. Numbers are limited and you must join a guided tour. The morning was warm and sunny as we boarded the ferry and we had a very informative journey, care of Andre our guide, as we crossed the lagoon. It is certainly the way to see the Knysna region, from the water and we had a birds eye view of ...well...birds (!) including the rare black oyster catcher. There are some glorious homes dotted amidst the vegetation of the hillsides lining the lagoon, at a price of course. On arrival at the Featherbed Centre you are transported on a 4x4 train to the top of the headland through the indigenous forest catching glimpses of the fabulous estuary from all directions. Once reaching the top the views are even better and it is difficult to know which way to look. The entrance to the lagoon through a very narrow channel through the heads is treacherous and graded as the most difficult entrance for shipping by the Royal Navy and uninsurable by Lloyds, so that tells you something! We then were taken on a 2.2 km bush walk almost all downhill, which as most of you will know was going to be a test for me. A year ago, I certainly couldn't have done it, but managed it with care today to my joy. We arrived on the beautiful shoreline to marvel at Mother Nature all over again, before walking the coastal path back to the centre to lunch in the shade of the milkwood trees. It has been a marvellous day and we would recommend it to anyone in this neck of the woods.
We owe a great deal to Prof Smith; a chemist with a special interest in fish and the man responsible for the origin of this reserve. In 1938 he was called in to identify a strange looking fish trawled by a local fisherman. He was excited to realise that this was a living coelacanth, thought to be extinct for 70million years and to predate the dinosaurs. He eventually found another living specimen in 1952 and together with his wife devoted the rest of his life to not only their study, but fish in general. He wrote a very famous book and with the proceeds purchased the land that was to become The Featherbed Nature Reserve.
As for the name; where on earth did it come from I hear you ask? This port, despite its access problems, was once the third busiest in South Africa and crews had an uncomfortable and dangerous journey to get here, buffeted by huge seas and storms. On arrival and after running the gauntlet of the harbour entrance they had their best nights sleep in many a long month and it was said to be "like sleeping in a featherbed!" On early naval charts the bay was called Featherbed Bay and so the tradition began and has stuck over the years.Read more