Long weekend up the Garden Route

14 – 16 June
2013

Last year I spent a weekend in Knysna and have been dying to go back ever since; 2 weeks ago my wish was granted when I once again joined Jess and Leon for a wonderful getaway along the beautiful Garden Route.

After Thursday night’s long trip up we spent Friday wandering around Knysna, leisurely exploring the second-hand bookstore (and each leaving with a nice pile) and buying rusks at Spar.

The next day’s adventure was the most exciting, and provided much anxiety for Leon and me (Jess is fearless) the night before – we were going on a zipline canopy tour of the Tsitsikamma indigenous forest!

We arrived early in Stormsriver Village and killed time in the bizarre 50’s-themed Diner before being briefed by our guide, Nelson, and meeting the other people coming with us, a couple, and discovered we were all wearing blue for some reason.

We then met the next crew member, Ryno, who helped us get strapped into the hectic safety harnesses (that would keep us attached to the tree-spanning steel cables and off the forest floor 30m below), as well as our safety helmets and the super hardy gloves (that we’d later use to regulate speed and hold on for dear life).

After a short drive to the top of the forest and the first platform it was time the moment of truth; all fears evaporated after the first exhilarating trip, and by the time the 10th and final slide came along an hour later we were all ready to do it all over again. Definitely an experience I would gladly repeat and recommend, wow.

Afterwards we were each given a light lunch and a chance to watch the amusingly edited DVD that the couple we’d gone with had agreed in advance to buy – once again random couple, my apologies for the prolonged video-bomb that is my presence on your DVD…

On the way back we stopped to check out some bridges, including the Bloukrans, where we watched some jumpers brave the world’s highest bungee.

The next day was my personal highlight – we went out to the Crags to Birds of Eden, the world’s largest free-flight aviary and bird sanctuary. Our moderately paced walk took 3 hours but I’d gladly have stayed 6. The place is super beautiful and as soon as you’ve descended into the forest you really feel like you’re wandering through a huge jungle.

I got my wish to see the infamous Knysna Loerie as well as a bunch of its turaco cousins from all over Africa, beautiful toucans, loads of parrots and many other birds both common and unusual.

The only thing that spoilt the magical place was the flock of obnoxious toddlers and their keepers, who failed to stop their screaming brats from running amok…not gonna lie, it took some serious willpower not to push them into the duck pond…

Oh, and the gift shop was a huge letdown – there was very little by way of bird-related souvenirs apart from some generic plush toys and some fugly fridge magnets. I was expecting lots of loerie stuff but surprisingly found nothing.

On the way back we stopped at Plett, waited over half an hour to be served at the Lookout Deck before walking out and heading back to Knysna where we had a great dinner at the Waterfront (and I finally found a loerie souvenir at a really tacky giftshop, woohoo!).

Apart from Friday’s rain we’d had beautiful weather all weekend; on Monday we took a drive up to the rocky beaches at Coney Glen before waving the beaches and forests goodbye and heading back to Cape Town.