The town of Knysna in the western Cape of South Africa
lies a scenic 500km east of Cape Town along the Garden
Route. There is the option to drive all the way into town,
but a far more interesting way is to take the Outeniqua
choo-Tjoe train that departs from George. If you are lucky
your train will be pulled by a steam engine. Once you have
left George’s shanty towns behind the scenery is
wonderful, sweeping curves where if you peer out of the
window you can see the engine going round the bend ahead.
At Sedgefield the line passes over a scenic bridge, under
which flows an inlet from the Indian Ocean on your right.
The train takes a couple of hours and costs approximately
120 rand.

Knysna itself has much to offer including trips into the
surrounding countryside where you can hike, abseil and go
mountain biking amongst others. At the waterfront area
there are lots of touristy shops and restaurants to while
away some time. From a jetty at the waterfront it is well
worth taking a trip out to the Knysna Heads. Knysna itself
is in a lagoon protected from the ocean by a narrow inlet
where the surrounding hills almost meet. The trip out is on
one of the worlds most advanced ferries, even though it
does have the appearance of a bathtub!

The boat actually has three legs that can be put down on
the sea floor so that it is lifted up like an oil platform.
This can be used in rescues and also to drop passengers off
at places where there is no jetty. The “Heads”
are a raging torrent even on a semi calm day, they have
claimed hundreds of ships and thousands of lives over the
centuries, so much so that if you intend to take a vessel
through them you have to inform the shipping insurers
Lloyds of London. The boat staff keep up an interesting
flow of information as you cruise, not only about their
very interesting boat, but also about the nearby nature
reserve and about what you are seeing.

After all this activity it is hard to beat a meal at
“Bosuns” a pub come restaurant, which does
excellent bar and sit down food for around 80 Rand,
including a drink.

East of Knysna is the Tsitsikama National Park, which is
located right next to the ocean. From the beach you can
follow a lovely boardwalk through the forest called the
“Mouth Trail”, which eventually comes out at
the spectacular Hangbrug suspension bridge, from where you
can gaze onto the crashing Indian Ocean waves. On the way
back to town you can take in the adrenaline junkies Mecca
of the Bloukrans bungy jump, this is currently the
world’s highest bungy with a drop of 216 metres,
reputed to be the longest seven seconds of your life as you
free fall, are there any Globies out there who can confirm
this, as this one has no intention of finding out!

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