Tsitsikamma

Situated along the exquisite Garden Route is a place filled with breathtaking scenery and endless adventures. It teems with abundant birdlife, flora, and fauna and is the perfect destination for holiday memories to be made. This is the Tsitsikamma, a Khoi word meaning ‘a place of abundant or sparkling water’, or ‘place of much water’. This lush region, which sits on a 200m high plateau, stretches from the Bloukrans River in the west to the Tsitsikamma River in the east. It is bordered on the north by the striking Tsitsikamma Mountains and the south by the Indian Ocean.

Tsitsikamma is a hub of adventure and offers many unique experiences. The wonderland of Tsitsikamma offers something for everyone. It’s about 585km from Cape Town but the scenic drive, with amazing farm stalls next to the road where you can stop for a cup of coffee or simply stretch your legs, makes light work of the kilometres. It’s also merely 197km on a similarly scenic route from the Port Elizabeth International Airport. Proclaimed in 1964, Tsitsikamma became the first marine national park in Africa. Since then, additional land and sea areas were added to the park, which eventually merged with the Garden Route National Park alongside the Wilderness National Park. Together with the Knysna National Lake Area and the widespread tracts of national forest, the Tsitsikamma section covers an 80km stretch of coastline, extending on average about 5km out to sea.

With dense forest slopes, sheer cliffs tumbling into the sea, deep gorges cut into the mountains by dark mountain rivers over millennia, this area is truly a holiday beauty. Add in the enormous waves pounding relentlessly onto the rocky shores and it becomes clear that the Tsitsikamma region offers nature lovers the ideal getaway – particularly for those that spend their time searching for birdlife in the dense Tsitsikamma forests. Almost 300 bird species such as the Knysna lourie, Yellow-billed kite, Barn owl, and Marico sunbirds can be found in the forest, making this area a birdwatcher’s delight.

A recent trip led me to the Storms River Rest Camp, situated in the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park. After spending a short time there, I can safely say that it is one of the most