South Africa: Four Knights in Knysna

We settled in for a few nights at the village of Knysna (Nice-nah), set on a beautiful estuary that's surrounded by lush forest and also quite close to many scenic South African beaches. This region along the southern coastline is known as the Garden Route, a popular vacation spot for the locals. We lodged in a lovely 1-bedroom apartment right on the waterfront with a canal view from our patio. Many restuartants and shops are just steps away from our accomodations making it easy to enjoy the holiday atmosphere and dining options.

We walked to nearby Thessen Island where we saw the endangered Knysna Seahorse - including several small baby seahorse - so cute and unique!

We had an afternoon hiking in the nearby forest, part of the South African National Park, on a fern-filled and tree-lined trail where three extremely rare Kynsna Pigmy Elephants still live (there once were hundreds). The forest is also home to monkeys, leopards, and other indigenous animals, and though we saw none on our hike it was a wonderful way to spend time on a cloudy, drizzly day.

The main activity for our remaining time was spent exploring the various beaches around the area, some of which had beautiful and strange rock formations and cliffs.

We also visited the Kynsna Heads - the tiny rocky passageway that enters the estuary from the Indian Ocean.

No trip to this country would be compelete without a sampling of South African wine - which we seemed to do on a nightly basis! And of course, a little local beer of the Bat Piss variety.