22. Day 8 (Aug 24) - Featherbed Shore

The Bushbuck Trail in the Featherbed Reserve is interesting both for the many varieties of mainly fynbos flora discussed in the following post and for the spectacular seashore when the water rushes in from the Indian Ocean through the narrow gap between The Heads and into the Knysna Lagoon.  So let’s look some at the seashore. 

Our first view, near the top of the trail, shows where the ocean comes in through the gap in the headlands. 

Ocean Coming Through Gap in Headlands

You can see a sandy beach cove about mid-photo on the opposite shore.

And in the following photo you can see a small sandy beach cove on our side of the shore, although there is no discernible path leading down to the cove, nor a marked trail, and so we pass above it.

Small, Unreachable Sandy Beach

It’s a fairly small beach at best anyway.

Along the trail now are several places where the water comes crashing into the shore in a variety of coves of different shapes and sizes.  Again, I’m glad we’re above these coves on the trail and not having to contend with the water in them.

At one point there is an arch that has been carved by water action through the stone.  My geologic analytical skills are fairly low so I can’t explain this formation although that doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of it — nor I hope does it detract from your enjoyment.  If anyone has a plausible explanation of this formation, please share it.

Arch Cut by Water

Finally the trail descends to sea level and we’re walking along the shore.  Some of the beaches are just made of rocks.

Beach of Rocks

Most of the rocks along here have been smoothed and rounded by the action of the water and other rocks. 

Smoothed Rocks

Depending on size these rocks are classified as either pebbles (under 2.5 inches), cobbles (2.5-10.1 inches) or boulders (>10.1 inches).  

On other parts of the shore we have sandy beaches.

Sandy Beach

At various places we are walking along the sand or over the rocks.  Where we need to cross water coming down from the higher points in the reserve, there are wooden bridges.

Wooden Bridge

At other points there is not enough stable shoreline and our trail becomes an elevated wooden walkway.

Elevated Walkway #1

Elevated Walkway #2

Right near the end of the trail there’s even an arched tunnel that has been cut through a cliff that juts out.

Arched Tunnel

Before looking at the flora along the trail (our next post) let’s first enjoy a short video of the action of the water crashing in on the shoreline.

Link to Full Resolution Photos

21. Day 8 (Aug 24) - Featherbed Reserve Overview

After we crossed the lagoon we arrived at the pier for the Featherbed Nature Reserve on the Western Head at the entrance to the Knysna Lagoon.  The boat we crossed in is owned by the reserve, and a guide provides an introduction to the reserve during our ride.  Why is the reserve called Featherbed, you ask?  Well, the origins of the name are somewhat obscure, at least to our guide.  It seems that there is some tree in the area, name unknown at least to me, whose branches makes a very pleasant mattress when stuffed into a sack.  No samples were provided and I’m wondering if there is some other meaning.  But it doesn’t detract from the beauty of the place.  

When we arrive, here is a fairly long pier, a bit of which can be seen at the left edge of this picture. 

Arrival at Featherbed

This photo also shows you the clarity of the water in the lagoon, the main building with the ever-so-fancy name, and a house that is just outside the boundaries of the reserve itself.  We climb the steps and enter the open patio shown on the left side of the picture.   

Below is another picture showing the tables and chairs amid the trees.  We will have lunch here, once we’ve earned it.

Dining Patio

We climb again to the main building where we’re invited to leave any packs, etc. that we don’t want to take on the hike with us.  And we’re also offered poles as walking sticks as they note that the are a number of places on the hike where there are little or no railings as you’re climbing or (more often) descending.  Some of us take poles and others of us have brought poles with us.  Their poles are just smooth wood and better than nothing but I prefer my own walking stick (as will be pointed out shortly).

We are then taken to the other side of the big building where there is a jeep train — or at least that’s what I call it.  It consists of some small vehicles (without engines) with passenger seats hooked together with a fairly impressive looking jeep at the front.  Think Disneyland parking lot without the cuteness.  And right next to where we get onto the jeep train, there is what appears to me to be a helicopter landing pad.  But the real reason for this photo is so you can see the lagoon looking back from Featherbed.

Lagoon View from Featherbed

And then it’s up the hill we go.  At times I worry that the jeep won’t be able to get us all up and that we’ll have to get out and walk.  But they’ve obviously done this several times a day for many years now and I guess they’ve got it down pretty well.  And they do have to get us up high it we’re going to be able to go down — as a sneak preview of part of the trail shows.

How steep is the trail?

But more on that later.

At the top we’re now ready to descend on the Bushbuck Trail.  I’ve got my sturdy walking pole in my right hand (which doubles as a monopod), and that is the Indian Ocean you see behind us.

Ready for the Bushbuck Trail

Now so far, if you’re keeping track, we’ve seen only three wild mammals on the trip — the baboon at the entrance to the Garden Route Park, the rock hyrax in the Garden Route Park, and the very dangerous homo sapiens all around us (and part of us).  So, are we likely to see the bushbuck, a very dangerous animal particularly if you hunt it (which we are not)?  It is the most widely distributed antelope in sub-Saharan Africa although it may have cheated to earn that distinction as there are two distinct species (which can best be distinguished by DNA typing).  If you really care, check out this Wikipedia Article.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushbuck

But, spoiler alert, we don’t find any bushbuck on the trail and I’m glad about that since they have very sharp horns.  Much later, though, we’ll see many of them. For now, the only warning we get as we start the 2.2 kilometer trail is about how uncertain the footing is and how falling could really spoil our day.

Warning Sign

The Featherbed Nature Preserve is principally known for two things: (1) one of the most diverse plant communities as it includes the Fynbos (more on that later) of the Garden Route with the seashore flora as well, and (2) one of the more spectacular seashores.  We see more of each of those in the next two postings.  

I don’t want you to think, however, that there were no animals at Featherbed.  Along the seashore I spotted scrambling on the rocks a lizard that looked just like lizards I see around my garden at home, and about the same size.  But since it posed so nicely for me, I did take its picture.

Common (I Think) Lizard

The other animal I saw was one of the many varieties of dung beetles.  And, no, I won’t further classify it (as if I could).  It was scurrying around the path presumably looking for dung and, according to the source of all information (Wikipedia), navigating by the Milky Way although whether that happens during the day or only at night I don’t know.  Seeing the dung beetle reminded me that I didn’t see any other insects on this hike.  Whether that is true outside of the winter months I don’t know.

Dung Beetle

Now, 2.2 kilometers isn’t that hard a hike, although the steep down paths make it somewhat more onerous especially on your knees, but the Featherbed Company does provide some nice encouragement as you near the end of the trail.

Encouragement Along the Trail

Once you’re reached the well-signed end of the trail, there is also a footpath ready to cool your tired feet, or at least there is sometimes.  Perhaps it’s a summer thing.

Trail End and Foot Bath

Coming up — the crashing sea along the shore of Featherbed.
Link to Full Resolution Photos

20. Day 8 (Aug 24) - Crossing the Knysna Lago

The Knysna Lagoon is a large body of water with the town of Kynsna on the eastern part of the northern shore.  It is almost 7 square miles in area and home to at least 200 species of fish.   The Knysna River and six other sources of fresh water flow into the lagoon.  There is a very narrow opening to the Indian Ocean through two large headlands known by the clever name of “The Heads.”  This results in the typical estuarial lagoon with ocean water — which comes in through The Heads with tidal action — mixed with the fresh water from the rivers.  The Heads are infamous — at least in the Kysna area — for the loss of boats that attempt to pass through them.

We, however, are not going to The Heads, or at least not through them.  Instead we are going across the lagoon, starting near where the Knysna Log Inn is located (see map in previous post) heading nearly due south past the two large islands in the lagoon, and landing on the westerly of the two headlands at the Featherbed Nature Reserve.  But note that we stay on the lagoon side of The Heads not entering the tricky waters between them or the ocean on the other sides.  We’ll see that water, though, from the reserve.  There are three boats operated by the Featherbed Nature Reserve to ferry visitors from the Knysna side of the lagoon to the Featherbed property on the other side of the lagoon right at the head.  

Three Boats

We are part of a quite small group going over today (remember it is winter—not prime tourist season) and so we’re going on the small boat with the blue canopy at the far end of this pier.

Boarding Boat

The lagoon is shallow, and the surrounding land is not very elevated as you can see from this view looking out from the boat to the opening between The Heads in the bottom middle of the picture.

Across the Lagoon

The land behind us as we’re leaving Knysna slopes gently upward.

Sloping Land

The houses on the islands are built quite close up to the lagoon with very little protection from any water action.  

Houses on Shore

But then there is little tidal wave action, at least on this side of The Heads.  When we go ashore at Featherbed and hike the shore we’ll see some quite dramatic action on the Indian Ocean side of the headlands and in water coming through the narrow passage between The Heads.  

The smoothness of the water, resulting in part from the shallowness of the lagoon, is shown by the small amount of wake caused by our boat.

Smoothness of Lagoon

The African Spoonbills, shown in the following photo, fish in the shallow water of the lagoon feeding on such animals as fish, mollusks, amphibians, crustaceans, insect and larvae.

Spoonbills

People also fish in the lagoon and the shallowness of the water allows wading into the lagoon.

Fishers

Note the bridge between two islands in the middle ground of the photograph.  

Ahead of us lies the opening between The Heads.  It is a twisting passage and from this angle it looks like there is a small piece of land across the passage.  

Nearing The Heads

Instead you would have to go to the right and then curve back to the left to get through the passage to the Indian Ocean.  From the following view of The Heads, now a little closer, you can just make out where the passage probably is, just to the left of the rightmost headland.  

A Little Closer to The Heads

I’m glad we’re not going through what even Wikipedia calls “treacherous and unpredictable waters.”  I can only imagine what it must have been like with a sailboat.  Instead we’re heading for a landing in the still calm waters of the lagoon, just a little bit off the right edge of the water — Featherbed Nature Reserve.  But it’s much more exciting than just a place for sweet dreams.

19. Day 8 (Aug. 24) - Knysna Overview

We are now in Knysna, a seaside town of about 50,000 along the Garden Route.  We’re here for several reasons.  One is the Featherbed Preserve which we’ll hike through this morning.  It is a wonderful place with a rich variety of plant life representative of the coastal Garden Route community.  And, since we’re on the coast, there are spectacular views of the ocean and bay crashing into the beach and cliffs.  We’ll see much of that after the next two posts.  

Also in Knysna is an elephant park.  This is a place where at risk elephants are helped, some of whom get returned to the wild.  More on this with that post.  

But first let’s see where we are.

Southern Coast of South Africa

This is the southern coast of South Africa.  Most of the water you see here is the Indian Ocean although along the west edge of the map it becomes the Atlantic Ocean.  Just where it does that is a matter of some dispute as we’ll see when we visit the Cape of Good Hope near Cape Town.  But that’s several days away.

For scale purposes we are nearly 500 kilometers east of Cape Town and about 260 kilometers west of Port Elizabeth (where we flew to yesterday).  Oh, and despite what the above map appears to show, Knysna is not on Pletterberg Bay.  The bay is about 30 kilometers to the east of Knysna.  And, while we’re getting oriented, you pronounce Knysna with a silent K.  The name means “ferns” in the native Khoikhoi language.  

So let’s talk about the people of Knysna.  The population of the town is about 42% black, 37% colored, .5% Indian/Asian, 18% white, and the rest make up that category known as other.  That’s today.  The first European settlers arrived around 1760.  Prior to that time the Khoikhoi had lived here since at least the 5th century.  Khoikhoi or Khoi means “people people” or “real people” in their language.  They were a largely pastoral agriculture people with large herds of cattle.  The Dutch called them Hottentots, based on the sound of their language, but you should not use that term today as it is considered derogatory.

Knysna itself sits on a large lagoon, known not surprisingly as the Knysna Lagoon, with two large islands in it.  There is a narrow opening from the lagoon out to the eastern part of  Buffels Bay and the Indian Ocean. 

Knysna Lagoon

At the head is the Featherbed Nature Reserve which we'll visit in a bit after first crossing the lagoon.  If you look at the top east part of the lagoon you’ll see one of the two large islands (Thesen’s Island) and north of the west end of the island is the Knysna Log Inn Hotel, where we stayed.

Lobby of Knysna Log Inn Hotel

As you can see, the hotel is aptly named.  The logs are from the Yellowwood Tree and the hotel definitely has a rustic feel to it.  There are several stained glass pieces, one of which you see above showing a cottage scene.  And since there is logging (or at least was logging — the Yellowwood tree is the national tree of South Africa and is protected — here is a logging scene (appropriately intruded into in part by a piece of real live tree).

Logging Scene

The hotel had a strange hall layout.  Rather than a hallway that had straight sides, each room pushed out somewhat into the hallway, resulting in a rather zig-zag hall.  I’m not sure I’ve described this appropriately but I hope this picture helps.

Hallway of Hotel

The town itself has a variety of houses.  Many are modest looking single family houses.

Modest Homes

On the cliffs overlooking the heads of the lagoon are more expensive and extensive housing.  I don’t know if these are actually single family units or multiple units.

Cliffside Housing

Our visit was during the month of August and we were considerably far south of the equator.  This made it wintertime.  Still it felt strange, from my Northern Hemisphere perspective, to see such signs as this in Knysna.

Winter Break

And before any of you ask, the water does not drain clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as opposed to counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.  At least it doesn’t drain that way as a result of being in the Southern Hemisphere.  Water drains in the direction it does due to a variety of factors but not significantly influenced by the hemisphere it is in.  http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.asp

Now it’s time to cross the Lagoon, which is draining, if at all, through the opening called The Heads.

Link to Full Resolution Photos

18. Day 7 (Aug 23) - Along the Garden Route: Animals and Bungy Jumping

Well, this is Africa and I suppose I do owe you some animals.  And one of them we got just a quick view of as it was running away as we entered the Garden Route National Park.  But it is definitely an iconic African primate.

Baboon Running Away

Now, before we get too much further into African animals, I should acknowledge that other than the better-known animals, I’m pretty ignorant of the names.  If you’ve ever seen the one-act play adaption of the Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain, I’m like Adam in that play.  I can name something as "a four-legged, curvy tailed, bare-rear, walks on four feet, black and brown creature” while Eve would respond, “Oh, you mean a baboon.”  So, if any of you want to play Eve to my photos of animals, please feel free to do so.  I am going to try to give you names based on either the few notes I was able to take, or by undertaking some research (thank you Lord Google).  But I don’t claim any knowledge here so if you have an alternative name, please jump in.  And sometimes I just won’t have a name so could definitely use help.

This particular baboon was one of a group of three, fairly far from us and running away as we stopped to enter the park.  Baboons can be fairly aggressive, especially if you’re carrying anything that looks interesting to them (and they have a very low threshold of interest) but not these. 

One of the small mammals in the Garden Route National Park is the South African Rock Hyrax, also known as the dassie or rock rabbit, and in Swahili, nimbi.  It is a common animal in sub-Saharan Africa, rising to the level of minor pest in some areas.  It feeds on plants and apparently some insect and grubs.  Here we have one doing what they are said to do some 95% of the time — resting.  

Hyrax

ts closest living relatives are the sea cow and the elephant.  I’m sure all of you can see the very close resemblance.  OK — see the small white marking on the upper lip.  Nope — not a white mustache.  These are tusk-like incisors sticking out and one of the reasons it is closely related to the elephant.  No — I don’t know if it is ivory.

The rock hyrax classically has grey-brown fur, but in wetter areas — and this was definitely wetter — it can be, and was, dark brown.  It was standing on the log, down in the brush, off to the side of the trail.  It seemed as interested in me as I was in it — or perhaps it was asleep.

In case you are considering eating this critter, Wikipedia notes it is non-kosher (citing Leviticus 11:4-5 and Deuteronomy 14:7).  And if that doesn’t deter you, remember Joy Adamson had a rock hyrax called Pati-Pati.

One bird in the park posed very nicely, letting us see its fairly short and blunt beak.  If there is an ornithologist out there, perhaps we can learn what that beak is meant to be used for.  I especially like the reddish-orange feathers just hiding under the wing flaps.  If my Google research is accurate, this is a Red-Winged Starling even though the feathers are much more of an orange color.  Only the male of the species has the orange coloring.

The bird eats many things such as seeds, berries and fruit, plant nectar, and insects.  It also will eat carrion and even certain smaller birds.  It will also perch on giraffes and take insects from the back of the animal.  It is widely distributed, not endangered, and rises to the level of a pest in some areas.

Red-Winged Starling

Another bird was much more colorful.  It had a long, thin, curved beak that is probably good for collecting insects deep inside a plant or flower.  It is most likely the Southern or Lesser Double-collared Sunbird.

Southern Sunbird

This is a male because of the green head, and the red band across the chest.  The long, curved bill is one of the common features of sunbird.  The bird feeds mostly on flower nectar but does eat fruit and, when feeding the young, insects and spiders since we know how much kids like them.  It can hover like a hummingbird but doesn’t do so often.

After our walk in the Garden Route National Park we headed to Knysna (more about there in the next postings) along National Route 2 (often referred to as the Garden Route).  Along the way we came to the Bloukrans River which forms the boundary between the Eastern and Western Cape provinces.  The center of the bridge is 216 meters (709 feet) above the river and it is a beautiful arch bridge.  

Bloukrans River Bridge

Hmmm.  Now I wonder what that is at the top of the arch.  Well, let’s look at it a bit closer.

Bungee Jumping Arch

Oh boy, bungee jumping.  Now none of you will be surprised to learn that I did not try the bungee jumping.  I could use the excuse that we arrived shortly after the last jump of the afternoon, but that would be just an excuse.  This is supposed to be the highest commercial bridge bungee jump in the world and is run by a company called Face Adrenalin, although I’m sure the adrenalin goes plenty of places in your body other than just your face.  Face Adrenalin, according to their website, has a 100% safety record and also has a great deal of liability insurance.

Now, you might want to know, if you look at these two pictures, how you get to that portion of the bridge.  The traffic signs at either end of the bridge forbid you from stopping on the bridge itself.  Well shortly before the east end of the bridge is a turnoff to a parking area where you can both take pictures and get a snack.  And there is also the Face Adrenalin office where you can sign up to bungee jump (or you can do it online).  There is a zip line from the edge of that area across to the bungee jumping area.

After this short stop we continued to spend the next two nights in the town of Knysna.

Link to Full Resolution Photos

17. Day 7 (Aug. 23) - Along the Garden Route: The Coast

[Note: I apologize for the delay in postings.  I’ve been busy and distracted.  And if anyone told you that retirement meant that you had lots of free time, they were either misinformed or not talking about me.  We’ll start up again with this post and continue every third day.]

By now you’re probably tired of reading about how what we were seeing was not particularly evocative of Africa.  But it’s true, and the rugged coast we saw in the Garden Route National Park could have easily been along the California coast, or various places in Europe.   By this, I don’t mean to say that Africa is, even in its coast, just like California.  It’s more a statement that coasts in many places are more alike than dissimilar.  Or, to put it another way, there is more to draw us together than to separate us.  This shouldn’t be all that strange a concept.  After all, 99.9% of all human DNA from person to person is identical.  All that makes each of us a little different from the next person is that 1/10th of one percent.  Yes, we’re only a little bit different from each other.

The section of the Garden Route National Park that we’re enjoying is right along the coast, as, for that matter, the Garden Route itself is – a thin strip between mountains to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south.  And the coast is very dramatic.  It was winter (late August so roughly corresponding to late February here in the Northern Hemisphere.  And roughly 34 degrees south, well within the temperate region.  (By comparison San Francisco is 37 degrees north.)  

Waves are strong here, with nicely blowing winds as well.

Waves Along the Garden Route Coast

The rust color on the rocks here appears to be lichen.

Rust Colored Lichen

And right along the coast here there are nice coves where the water is somewhat calmer.

Cove

Cove

Along the trail there’s even a very peaceful little waterfall, if you want to give it that majestic a name.

"Waterfall"

Part of the reason for stopping at this section of the park was to hike out to the suspension bridges.  Much of the trail was along boards to protect the fragile ground and to keep us safe along unstable footing with steep dropoffs.  And, as you can see, the trail was very scenic among the trees and bush.

Along Trail

And then you get your first view of the suspension bridge.

Suspension Bridge - 1st View

Somewhat daunting to a person like me, I’ll freely admit.  Besides, we don’t really need to get to the other side since our van is back the way we came.  

Facing the bridge itself does little to reduce my anxiety level, although it does seem to be pretty well constructed and maintained.  

Facing the Bridge

There is a sign letting you know this bridge has been here a long time and has been maintained.  And they even have figured out its carrying capacity.

Bridge Signs

And they don’t have to worry about me jumping on the bridge.  There’s still an open question as to whether I’ll go onto it.

But eventually, recognizing that I’ve travelled some 11,000 miles to get to this spot, I figure going out at least part way for a photo op is doable.  And I do check to make sure 24 others are not already out there.

On the Bridge

Link to Full Resolution Photos