Need to tap into your inner Tarzan … or Jane? Zip lining Tsitsikamma Canopy. That’s the way to check out this primeval forest near South Africa’s southern coast. Dangling, zapping, whooshing 30m to 50m up in the air on Africa’s first zip line. You’re gliding – at what sometimes feel like nano-fast speed – on a super-strong steel cable and, boy, does it love going downhill. Apart from accelerating along 10 zip lines (the longest is over 100m), there’ll be walking in between them on 10 platforms. And as schmick and safe as you’ll find in any first-world country. This is a mega-award-winning eco-wilderness adventure tour. That’s got to be good.
From up there, you’ll get the avian acoustics plus a bird’s eye view of 116 massive tree species including the amazing Outeniqua Yellowwood trees – they’re giants. They can live for more than 2,000 years and soar 50 metres up or even higher, says SA Forestry online. Feel the vibe of the past by standing on the boardwalk next to ‘The Big Tree’. It’s 36.6m tall and was just a sapling circa 1218. Only a fraction of the original forest tracts remains. In the past, the timber from these gorgeous trees was good for poles, furniture, construction, wood carving and door panelling, but they’re a protected species now. A bird, the Knysna Turaco, feeds on its fruit, scattering the seeds around the forest. A nifty two-way beneficial relationship there. It’s one of the 35 bird species found there.
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The lowdown on Tsitsikamma
Tsitsikamma Canopy is in the Tsitsikamma national. We’re zero-ing in on the the Tsitsikamma forest (do it by drone here), which smothers the Outeniqua Mountains. High points include the 1,578m Craddock Peak and George Peak at 1,370m. Yes, it can snow there in winter as the temp sometimes drops to 5oC or less, but summer averages 20.5oC. The weather can be unpredictable.
The name, Tsitsikamma, by the way, comes from the Khoekhoe language and means ‘place of much water’. You might have thought the name is linked to the infamous ‘tsetse fly’, common in tropical Africa and which causes sleeping sickness in humans, but nup, no apparent connection there.
Speaking of humans, you’ll find mostly retirees or forestry workers in the Storms River Village, in the foothills of the Tsitsikamma mountain range. It’s the gateway to the national park – and the canopy. This village was a base for hunters’ lodges from the mid-1800s and woodcutters from the late 1800s, while now it’s a town with a tourist bent. Attractions include a suspension bridge over the Storms River mouth, which offers smackingly good views of the coast along the Indian Ocean. The river and its gorges are amazing to explore on a kayak or lilo, generally costing about $AUD60 for a tour.
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Options to ground yourself
‘Fraid of heights? Not a problem. The famous Tsitsikamma National Park has oodles of appeal being part of the Garden Route National Park, a patchwork of protected areas spanning 121,000 hectares all linked under a management plan. It includes wet, medium-moist and dry high forest. For starters, there’s 1km boardwalk, a decent choice of hiking trails, many don’t-lose-your-footing gorges, bungy jumping off Bloukrans River Bridge (about $AUD100), the Otter Trail (got to be fit to do that one – takes five days and four nights so restricted those aged 12 to 65 and you need to pay Sanparks a tariff when you book), diving with the Great White Sharks, and lush forests where you might bump into the odd bush pig, vervet monkey, genets, blue Duiker or leopard (rare, though, so here are South Africa’s top 10 places to see them). Tsitsikamma offers a lot. The park takes in 80km of coast line including a marine reserve on the Indian Ocean where may even glimpse whales and dolphins. Oh, and this is dark sky country so soak in the sparkling show of constellations with this winter sky time lapse. Still not hooked? See the Crowded Planet’s blog for more ideas, or elope there like this couple did.
Tour away
The Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour, the name, is actually trademarked by this tour company, which built it in 2001 and is based in Storms River. The zip lining tour includes light snacks, two guides, a certificate and some walking – takes up to three hours and will operate in pretty much all weather. For each person, it costs about $AUD70, which isn’t bad considering zip lining on Australia’s eastern coast it’s usually $75 for not quite that long. The Tsitsikamma Canopy tour is open for people aged seven to 70, but not for pregnant women nor for people over 120kg. For bragging power, you can even get a DVD with video and images of your conquest for about $AUD17. Feel good about taking a Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour because it’s a Fair Trade company, which means 47% of the profits support community projects. It’s also an eco-friendly tour, so you’ll find platforms built around the trees, so no nails hammered into the trunks. If you’re up for a second zip line tour, add the Tsitsikamma Falls Adventures to your itinerary – it’s actually cheaper ($AUD43) than the canopy tours and the scenery packs a punch as it’s not predominantly just forest. The longest zip line on the falls tour is more than 200 metres. And if you’re not up to going solo on your zip line, tandem tours are fine – same for the canopy zipline tours.
Non-zip line tour options include the Tsitsikamma Woodcutters’ Journey (in a specially-designed vehicle you’ll journey down the Old Stormsriver Pass, elephant trail, picnic near the river where woodcutters worked a century or more ago – three hour trip for about $AUD30). There are also guided hikes 12 routes) maybe on segway if you like, water tubing, or team building. You’ll be down amongst tree ferns hundreds of years old. The quality of guides is pretty high in the region, they’re knowledgeable and happy to be quizzed about the ecology. For the time-challenged, there’s a day trip (costs about $AUD320) that you can do from Port Elizabeth to take in the highlights of Tsitsikamma National Park.
You’re probably getting the sense that checking out the Tsitsikamma Canopy isn’t really budget travel – sure accommo and car rentals are reasonably priced, but once you start ticking organised activities off your list (apart from hiking), owch, that’s budget-blowout time. Cheapest deals are usually staring you in the face from your backpacker hostel bulletin board. Cooking your own meals in your hostel will save you rand, but you can get breakfast, lunch and dinner for as little as $AUD16/day in most backpacker accommodation. Allow yourself to be tempted by eateries, too, as restaurants often have $AUD8 steaks. Keep an eye on the Travelling Chill blog for dining-out options around the country. Here’s their tips on the seven most popular dishes.
Your digs for the night
Nearby towns on the coast are Knysna, Storms River Village, Plettenberg Bay and Sedgefield. An average a hotel in this region costs $AUD127 per night or a bed in a backpacker hostel about $AUD14 nightly and Airbnb has a greater variety. If you’re using the village as your base, budget options (from $AUD 53 per night if you look at TripAdvisor) include DiJembe Backpackers’ Lodge, Tsalanang Township Bed & Breakfast, Tsitsikamma Backpackers, Tube ‘n’ Axe Backpackers (more like a resort!), Pear Tree Cottage and Serenity Retreat. There are a handful of mid-range accommo options (up to $AUD100 per night) and only two high-end stays – The Armagh and Protea Hotel Tsitsikamma Village ($AUD100+ nightly). There’s also Eesterivier, Oyster Bay, The Crags and Tsktsikamma – this website will give you a lot of choices plus they have a Facebook page to promote tourism in the region.
Good to know
Overall, the official advice is to exercise a high degree of caution, says Smartraveller. Why? There’s the high risk of serious crime, terrorism, theft from hotel rooms, sub-standard public transport plus the rate of HIV/AIDS infections is huge. Transport can be tricky, too, with public transport sub-standard (particularly the minibus taxis) and at times violent tiffs between metered taxi and Uber drivers. What’s serious, too, is the extreme drought and strict water conditions in the Western Cape including in Cape Town (check this site for updates). But where there’s water, there could be wildlife. You risk getting attacked by wildlife or catching a water-borne disease (such as bilharzia aka snail fever) in lakes and rivers in some areas. Health issues across the country include malaria, cholera, Yellow Fever (you’ll need a vaccination certification if you’ve come from a WHO-listed yellow fever endemic country or region), drug-resistant tuberculosis, hepatitis, measles, rabies, Rift Valley Fever and typhoid. Avoid eating unpasteurised or unhomogenised milk or raw meat. Yup, and the Indian Ocean (that nudges Tsitsikamma area) is prone to “more frequent, large and destructive tsunamis” that elsewhere – got to do with the earthquakes in the area, says Smartraveller. Keep up with the South African media here.
If you’re travelling with children, you’ll need to carry their full birth certificate as well as their passport. If only one parent is travelling with a child, there are more conditions – check out the details here. US, Canadian and Australian citizens won’t need a visa to get into South Africa if they’re travelling for 90 days or less. Apply in person at your nearest South African consulate for your visa.
Grab your passport – now what?
Cape Town International Airport should be your initial destination – it’s the busiest in the country and gives you that stunning view of Table Mountain and Cape Peninsula before you land. (We usually use webjet, cheapoair or momondo to book our flights online). You can reach the canopy by driving eastish from Cape Town along the N2 highway (about six hours) or west from Port Elizabeth (three hours from the airport). Flying in closer’s another option – go to the town of George and hire a car there. Otherwise, the main bus companies stop in Storms River’s petrol station doing the Cape Town to Port Elizabeth run. That station is only five kilometres from Storm River Village, but that leg will set you back just over $AUD5 to get there if you ask one of the village’s establishments for transport. Save your rand by taking a public bus from Knysna to Port Elizabeth in the morning (which returns to Knysna in the afternoon). You can hop off just north of Storms River West (the village) on the N2 and it’s only a short stroll to that town. Costs just over $AUD6. Solo travellers can go for the Baz Bus, a hop-on, hop-off backpacker bus. Buy a pass for a set time or do non-time limited hop on and off, but that’s only in one direction. It’s a bit pricey, but see which ticket suits you here.
If your budget allows, go for car hire as it’s good value, particularly if you’re travelling in a group. Just say you’re going for three weeks around South Africa, if you have up to five in your group, it could be just $AUD276 each for three weeks. Add to that your petrol costs, of course.
To get into a national park, one idea for travellers planning to loll about while is to buy a Wild Card. It gives you unlimited access to most of Southern Africa’s conservation areas and is valid for a year, but you’ll pay (about $AUD350) four times as much as a local to buy it. You can’t buy it online before you arrive as the Sanparks organisation wants a South African ID. Best bet, we heard, was to buy one at the Buffelsfontein Visitors’ Centre. Otherwise you could chance it with the daily conservation and entry fees – keep up to date with the charges on this site.
Best time to go
Like seeing the lilac keurboom trees in bloom? Mark September in your diary. But if that’s not a go-er, this destination is good year round. Good idea to book well ahead if you’re planning to travel during the busy season in December-January. Otherwise, still consider booking in advance to get onto the zip line. Scope your South African adventure with this basic map, this slightly more detailed one, or Sanparks’ one and an interactive one. You’d want a minimum of two nights in the Tsitsikamma region including your canopy tour.
What to pack
The best attire for explore the canopy is long shorts or pants, T-shirts/tops you can tuck in (more comfy if you’re wearing a zip line harness), plenty of insect repellent, sunscreen, decent hiking shoes and a hat. Changeable weather in the mountains means you’ll need some warmer gear, too. Check with your tour company that they’ll provide rain gear if it’s wet. Swimmers ‘n towel are a must because, according to the site southafrica.net, there are “lagoons and strings of shining lakes begging to be explored by canoe” as well as the beaches. Sounds active? Yes, you’ll need an average level of fitness for this trip – some of us found the walk back on the canopy tour a bit hard going and long.
Sound good?
Take a sound bath with this link – no talking, just the sounds of the Tsitsikamma forest. No guarantee you’ll hear chest-pounding here Tarzan-style, but maybe that’s your cameo role?
