Tsitsikamma

A forest escape nestled between mountain and sea

- Corne Greeff

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 kilometers. 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 wide tracts of national forest, the Tsitsikamma section covers an 80km stretch of coastline, extending on average about 5km out to sea.