Gliding around the Wilderness lakes on a segway

Mountain biking has become a very popular pastime of late and something I'd like to find the time for to try out.  Time and the money for a proper mountain bike.  I really wouldn't mind a proper off road bike to travel with.  You know, one of those big BMW ones.  But I can barely afford a scale model one so at the moment my favorite two wheel type of transportation is definitely a segway.  Not that I have one, for that it's way too an expensive a toy as well, but I've had the privilege to go on the segway tour in the Tsitsikamma a couple of times before.  Heading back to Port Elizabeth from Cape Town recently I decided to stretch my legs a bit at Wilderness and see what the Wilderness segway tour was all about.  

While the Tsitsikamma Segway Tour follows a route into the forest, the Wilderness tour follows the Pied Kingfisher Trail through the Ebb and Flow (Wilderness) section of the Garden Route National Park.  I was going to be taken on a private tour but just then a newly wed couple from the Middle East on their first visit to South Africa arrived and joined the tour.  So here I want to vent just a little.  They were told that I was media (I love it when I get called media) and that the regular tour was only going 30 minutes later, but they still wanted to join.  Then the man came to me afterwards to tell me he doesn't want me to publish any pictures of his wife.  Really? I understand and respect their culture but if you didn't want to be in the pictures then why agree to go along and even pose for pictures? Whyyyyyy????  But I will respect their wishes and not post pictures of their faces.  Luckily I rode at the back so all you get to see of them are their backsides. Ok, rant over and back to this great experience.

We did the obligatory training session in the training yard to make sure we knew how to steer, stop and maneuver before we headed out and hit the trails with our guide in the lead and, as mentioned, me as rear guard seeing that I was a experienced segway rider.  Yeh, love that one as well.  Experienced segway rider.  The trip basically takes you out parallel to the Touw River through varied vegetation types ranging from fynbos to coastal shrubs and wetland vegetation.  All along the way you catch glimpses of the river and lakes and, in the case of the picture above, a couple of locals fishing next to the path.

The path was very easy to follow and at the only technical bit there was an alternative if you didn't want to try it out.  The guide was never in a hurry and had all the patience in the world when I asked if he could just backtrack a bit so I could get a photo of them coming out of the trail. It was really a pleasure going out on the trip with him.  But I'm digressing.  At the turning point we took a break to enjoy the view of the lake and a part of Wilderness next to the N2 in the distance before we turned around.  The only reason this is the turning point is that the bridge is too narrow for the segways to cross over.  Pity though, and pity that SAN Parks don't allow them to go on more trails, because it would have been nice to do a circular route and not an out and back.

On the way back we did get to see the Ebb and Flow campsite next to the river. Wow, what a beautiful spot.  I definitely need to bring the family to camp here some time and take some canoes upstream.  

Having done both the Tsitsikamma segway tours (the one hour and two hour tours) before I'm going to be very honest here.  I much rather prefer the Tsitsikamma ones over this, but it is because I am a forest person and will do anything to get into the forest.  All in all I had a very enjoyable experience on the Wilderness segway tour.  I have to say that it's a different way to experience the Wilderness lakes area from on foot or in a canoe as most do and if you are in the area with some time on your hands then it's really worth the experience.  

Disclosure: I was invited to join in a segway tour by Segway Tours as I work in the tourism industry and not as a blogger, while I was travelling back to PE from Cape Town.  They didn't ask for a blog post to be written and I keep full editorial control over the post.

Driving between Wilderness and George along the back roads

Last Thursday morning I did a presentation at a tourism stakeholder workshop in the Tsitsikamma and after lunch moved on to George for a weekend exhibit.  Having had some time on my hands I decided to veer off the main road and pick up a few Geocaches along Bo-Langvlei Road, the dirt road running behind the lakes between Sedgefield and Wilderness.  The plan wasn't to do the whole road but only the last section of it starting between Bo-Langvlei and Island Lake.  My plan was just to Geocache and explore a bit so my camera was securely packed away in the boot of the Polo and I was just snapping pics with my phone along the way.  

Turning off the N2 I hit the first stretch of dirt road which was nice and smooth with only a few bumps to negotiate.  The second cache on my list was located at the old Duiwerivier Railway Station.  It's really sad to see how the railway infrastructure along the line has deteriorated over the ten years since it was closed due to flooding.  It's going to take a bit more than just cutting back a few bushes and pulling out some weeds to get the train running along this track again.

Leaving the station I started heading west and the next cache located at the back of Island Lake.  Standing on top of a beacon next to the road the view across the lake was stunning and although I could probably have spent a lot more time there it was time to get moving again.

I passed the Hoekwil Road turnoff and proceeded along Waterside Road at the back of the Serpentine section of the river.  The next stop was at the bridge over the Touw River, one of the only bridges in the country that is shared by both the road and the railway line.  The bridge is located inside the Wilderness National Park with both the Ebb and Flow campsites located to the left and right of it.  While I was searching for the cache under the bridge a number of holiday makers passed by in canoes on the river.  I've still gotta do that.  The beautiful surroundings just reminded me again that Ebb and Flow is still on our list of campsites we want to stay at in future.

At this stage my plans changed slightly and I decided to backtrack a kilometer or two and take the Hoekwil Road.  This tar road took me way up the hill from where I could see the lakes district below, past the community of Hoekwil and onto the Seven Passes Road.  I'm kinda embarrassed to say that I've never driven the Seven Passes Road although I've heard how scenic it was.  The Seven Passes Road is the old road between Knysna and George and traverses, yes you guessed it, seven passes along the way.  The majority of the road was tar with bits of very good dirt road in between.  Along the top between river valleys were mostly open areas with farms while the valleys are covered in pockets of indigenous forest. 

The first pass I drove through led down to the Touw River with an old steel bridge spanning the whiskey brown water that is so typical of the rivers and streams of the Garden Route.

The whiskey coloured Touw River with it's surrounding forest

The second pass took me down to the Silwer River...

... and by now I was well and truly convinced that I had discovered one of the lesser known but truly worth discovering gems of the Garden Route.

The last pass took me down to the Kaaimans River, well known for the pass on the N2 between Wilderness and George as well as the railway bridge spanning the river mouth.  But here I was away from the hustle and bustle rush of the N2.  The sun was about to go under although it was getting dark very quickly at the bottom of the valley.   

I parked just past the old bridge built in 1904 and followed a path down the river for about 50 meters or so towards the last of the caches for the day.  After a bit of a tough search I found what I was looking for with the help of my phone torch and on my way back to the car I just realised again how often Geocaching can take one off the beaten track and to places like this.  Places that you would often not have seen if it wasn't for a cache being located in the area. 

At the top of the pass the road spit me out close to the Saasveld Campus just outside of George with the silhouette of the Outenique Mountains beyond the town as my horizon.  It had been a very interesting and, frankly, relaxing afternoon and in my opinion a much better option that if I had just barreled along the N2 and sat around the guesthouse for the rest of the afternoon waiting to go and get dinner.  All thanks to a few containers forming part of a global treasure hunt game hidden along the way.

Sunny day in Wilderness

Ahhh, a sunny autumn's day in the Wilderness section of the Garden Route National Park.  

What more is there to say?

The Map of Africa at Wilderness

One of the most extraordinary scenic view points on the Garden Route must be the one above Wilderness of the Kaaimans River flowing below.  As the river makes it's way through the valley towards the sea it forms the outline of the map of Africa.  In the photo part of the Kaaimans Pass can be seen on the left hand side.  Getting to the lookout is fairly easy.  Just follow the road through the town and up the steep hill to the top.  There are signage up and a tourism volunteer manning the lookout for anybody who has questions.  Otherwise just stop at the tourism information office as you come into town for directions.

Wilderness Beach from Dolphin Point

The Garden Route has some stunning scenic view points.  Storms River Bridge, Bloukrans Bridge, Natures Valley, Plettenberg Bay looking to Beacon Isle and Robberg, Kranshoek and the Knysna Heads just to name a few.  Heck, the Garden Route is one continuous scenic view.  Right up there with the best amongst them is the view from Dolphin Point looking east along Wilderness beach.  How can one not stand in awe at a sight like this?

 

Dolphin Point also used to be a great spot to watch the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe cross the Kaaimans River when it still ran but the fact that it isn't anymore is no excuse not to stop and marvel at this sight.

Dolphin Point at Wilderness

One of the most popular lookout points on the Garden Route is Dolphin Point just outside Wilderness on the way to George.  Most tour buses as well as holiday makers tend to pull over here to both stretch their legs and enjoy the magnificent views.  Looking east you can see Wilderness itself with its long stretch of sandy beach leading off into the distance.

Turning the other way you see the Kaaimans River railway bridge down below.  The railway linking George and Knysna was completed in 1928 and it used to carry the very well known Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam train until 2006 when the line was badly damaged in floods.  Unfortunately the train has since ceased to operate.  When I was still a tourist guide we always timed our departure from Knysna in the morning so that we could be at the lookout on time to see the train puff across the bridge.  The good old days...

Fairy Garden

About halfway between the towns of Sedgefield and Wilderness on the Garden Route is a spot called Timbervillage.  Having never stopped there before, I decided to pull over and check it out.  It consists of a number of shops and eateries housed in timber buildings similar to those the woodcutters and gold miners in the area used to live in.  One of the shops is a fairy shop selling little fairies and other mythical creatures while they also maintain a fairy garden next door.  Here are a couple of photos from the fairy garden.

Wilderness

Before I get to today's part of the tour, I just want to answer a couple of questions that Ann had. Ann asked why the entrance through the Knysna Heads are so dangerous and if there were any plans for a breeding program for the elephants. There are several factors that make the Heads so dangerous. The entrance is about 200m wide although only about 70m are accessible to boats. There are two sandbars just outside the heads that make for the sudden development of waves, there is a submerged rock to the one side, the current through the Heads both in or out is in the region of about 11 knots which means having an engine failure could be catastrophic and lastly wind gets trapped between the Heads which is dangerous for sailing ships. That is it in a nutshell. As far as breeding of elephants go. Research show that the elephants are the same subspecies as the other elephants found in South Africa. The difference is that the have adapted to living in the forest. A couple of years ago they tried to introduce a couple of young orphaned elephants into the forest. They just cut a beeline to the nearest fields and destroyed fences in the process. Unfortunately they had to be removed.

The next stop on the tour is Wilderness. Wilderness is a lovely quite little town which has not developed as much as the other towns on the Garden Route. There is a story behind the name of a young man living in one of the town in the area long ago. He asked a girl to marry him and she said yes, but on the condition that they live out in the wilderness. Little did she know that he had a farm which he called Wilderness to accommodate this request.

This view is looking eastwards from Dolphin Point. Wilderness beach is a long stretch of sand which is very popular during the holiday season. The haziness is sea mist which hangs over the area just about permanently as it is trapped by the surrounding hillsides.

Looking west from the point you see the Kaaimans River with the Kaaimans Bridge across it. This is part of the route that the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam train used to take. A couple of years ago the track was very badly damaged in heavy floods and have not been repaired. The train now runs the other way towards Mossel Bay. Tomorrow I will post about George and the next day the train and Mossel Bay will have its turn. Photos of the Choo Tjoe crossing the bridge can be found in just about any guide and photo book out there.

Garden Route

The area between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town is known as the Garden Route. The specific area stretches from Mossel Bay to the Tsitsikamma, but PE and CT are seen as the two gateways to the area. The reason it is called the Garden Route is not because of fancy manicured gardens but because the area truely is nature's garden. The area consist of beautiful coastlines, mountains, forests, lakes and popular holiday towns. The Garden Route is seen as one of South Africa's main tourist routes and destinations.
The Tsitsikamma is probably one of the most beautiful areas in the whole of South Africa. Most of the area is covered in indigenous forests wedged between the Indian Ocean and the Tsitsikamma mountains. The main attraction of the area is the Tsitsikamma National Park.


Plettenberg Bay is seen as a millionares' playground and is a very upmarket town on one of the most beautifull bays on our coastline. The town is flanked on the one side by the Keurbooms lagoon and on the other side by Robberg peninsula. One of the main landmarks of Plett is the Beacon Isle Hotel.

Twice voted South Africa's favourite town, Knysna is the most popular town on the Garden Route. Wedged between the lagoon and the forests, Knysna has a big population of artists and hence loads of galleries, studios and curio shops. The Knysna lagoon is the main feature of the town and one of the most popular activites to do is to take a ferry ride from the Knysna Waterfront to the Knysna Heads.
Wilderness is a quiet spot situated on a long stretch of beach. I have always said that if my boat had to come in, I would like to retire on the hillside overlooking Wilderness. The town is a good central spot to use as a base to explore the area.

Mossel Bay is the last town you get as you go west before hitting the farming areas of the Overberg. It was voted South Africa's favourite Town in the last competition is has just about any activity possible in a 100 kilometre radius. You can do everything from Shark cage diving to quad biking on a game reserve in the area. One of the main attractions of the town is the Dias Museum complex pictured above. Amongst others it houses a lifesize replica of the boat Bartholomew Diaz sailed around the Cape with in 1488.