Knysna — South Africa's favourite holiday destination

Knysna Lagoon

Note to self: When next going away on a romantic hol­i­day get­away, make sure you go some­where without baboons

. Coming back to the tree-top cabin that I had romantic­ally, thought­fully and spon­tan­eously ren­ted out­side Knysna, my girl­friend and I found our food sup­plies decimated.

Not only eaten, but flung around the room, smeared on the walls and gen­er­ally treated with com­plete and utter dis­dain. It looked like we had been the vic­tims of a wan­ton act of animal ter­ror­ism, how­ever the staff assured us that 'this was nor­mal.' Well, maybe for some, but not for us. However des­pite this little bit of prim­ate van­dal­ism, we man­aged to get on with our hol­i­day and ended up throughly enjoy­ing Knysna and the surrounds.

Knysna is loc­ated in the heart of the scenic garden route, near­ing the bor­der of the Western and Eastern Cape Regions lies the town of Knysna. Founded in 1804, by George Rex, the ori­ginal owner of the farm that later became the town of Knysna, and often voted as South Africa’s favor­ite hol­i­day des­tin­a­tion by loc­als, the town is a curi­ous mix of old world charm, wealth and eleg­ance, and nature lov­ing hippy com­munit­ies. The main street, lined with small boutiques and shops, is actu­ally a part of the N2 high­way, which passes dir­ectly through the cen­ter of the town en route to the Eastern Cape and beyond.

Reached from the Cape Town dir­ec­tion by a nar­row cause­way, and built on a nat­ural lagoon, vir­tu­ally enclosed by the famed Knysna heads, this small town is bound on all sides by hills and moun­tains, covered with indi­gen­ous veget­a­tion. Taking advant­age of this lagoon set­ting are the house­boat oper­at­ors, who offer these leis­ure ves­sels on lease to the pub­lic. Renting a house­boat ensures both a unique accom­mod­a­tion exper­i­ence, and an oppor­tun­ity to explore the town and sur­rounds in an entirely dif­fer­ent way.

Knysna

A part of the migrat­ory route of the Southern Right and other whale spe­cies, it is pos­sible to view these mar­ine mam­mals dur­ing the months of August and September, while dol­phins are year round vis­it­ors. For thrill­seekers, options abound, with everything from paraglid­ing over the coast­line, abseil­ing and sky­diving, to scuba diving and tree top can­opy tours within easy reach of the town.

In times gone by, the area was home to large fam­ily groups of ele­phants. These herds have since dis­ap­peared, how­ever, a visit to the ele­phant sanc­tu­ary will give vis­it­ors the oppor­tun­ity to view these majestic beasts in their nat­ural ele­ment. Another sanc­tu­ary that will attract animal lov­ers is the wolf sanc­tu­ary, loc­ated on the N2 head­ing out of town, towards Plettenberg Bay.

Along this same stretch of high­way, sev­eral local crafters and artists have set up stu­dios and gal­ler­ies that are well worth a visit. For lov­ers of the good life, a visit planned dur­ing the annual Oyster Festival will provide oppor­tun­it­ies to sample these loc­ally farmed del­ic­acies, how­ever, dur­ing the year, these and other delights are still avail­able from vari­ous eat­er­ies loc­ated in the har­bour and else­where in town.

The har­bour area is also home to most of Knysna’s night­life, with sev­eral bars, res­taur­ants and clubs where pat­rons can enjoy a cock­tail while watch­ing the sun­set over the heads. Golf enthu­si­asts will find the area a treat, with sev­eral world-class courses on offer both in Knysna itself, and in neigh­bour­ing towns. Fancourt in George is within easy reach, and Simola, Pezula and the Knysna golf course are all loc­ated in the town itself.

The Outeniqua Choo Choo offers another exper­i­ence unique to the area. This old-fashioned steam train hugs the coast­line along its route to nearby George, and offers views of oth­er­wise inac­cess­ible or dif­fi­cult to reach, yet non­ethe­less beau­ti­ful, unspoiled sec­tions of coast.

If you are look­ing for a des­tin­a­tion where you have the choice of slow­ing down and tak­ing it easy, or where you can indulge your inner adren­aline seeker, Knysna is well worth con­sid­er­ing. Just watch out for baboons.

Useful Links:
For more des­tin­a­tion info see:
Knysna Accommodation
Knysna Attractions
Garden Route Accommodation