Prepared February 19 and 20, 2012, en route Male, Maldive Islands
February 6, 2012, Knysna Region, South Africa: From the Forest to the Sea
At 7:30am, breakfast in the Orangerie of the Hunter's Country Lodge main house consisted of a buffet plus an ala carte menu of numerous eggs and things like French toast. J had to sample both the buffet and the menu. His view being that strenuous touring might include the possibility (however slight) of missing a meal! Our driver/guide, Gareth, arrived a little after 8:00am, and it was into the car to explore the Knysna (pronounced Nizna) region of the Garden Route, from the Gounveld Forest in the mountainous interior to The Heads where the Indian Ocean enters the Knysna Estuary.
We drove west on National Road N2, passing Knysna Town and crossing the Knysna River and turned north on the road to Rheenenda. Driving for an hour, we passed through Rheenenda and reached our first stop, Millwood. Gold was discovered at Millwood in 1876, and a gold rush ensued; however, the pickings were very slim, and the amounts of gold recovered never approached that found in the Transvaal, and by 1900, Millwood was a ghost town. Today, there is a walking path to a couple of the mine sites, a tea garden, and museum. Regretfully, this being a Monday, both the tea room and the museum were closed.
Millwood Museum and Tea Garden
Restored Millwood House: Front View
Restored Millwood House: Side and Rear View
Abandoned Minning Equipment and Trail to Mine Site
Abandoned Mine Entrance
While returning to the car from visiting the original settlement site, we met up with Mssrs. Baboons. Earlier, we had seen a baboon troup hanging out in a shaded area with a large tree. We had proceeded up the road a short distance and parked to look at the old town site, and returning to the car, Gareth spotted two large male baboons about 50 yards opposite the car and tree with the rest of the baboon troop. This was not a really wonderful position to be in. So, into the car and out of there we got! For any of you who are wondering, male baboons can badly damage a car by jumping on it. They weight over 100lbs. in the wild and have larger incisors than most predatory cats.
Original Site of Millwood Town
These Bad Boys Mean Business
On the way down the mountain, we stopped at the Big Tree and Dalene Mathee Memorial. The tree is one of the few remaining original growth trees in the Goudveld Forest. Wood products were a major export of the Knysna region in the 19th Century, and most of the existing forest is secondary regrowth. Dalene Mathee was a South Aftrican author who wrote extensively about the region. Her most well-known book is Circles in the Forest.
The Big Tree -- Last of Its Kind?
Dalene Mathee Memorial
Back on the road to Knysna Town, Gareth told us stories of the local equivalent to the Ozark Mountain Hillbillies, who live in the forest and make their living from cutting trees and making wood products. There are a small number of families who trace their roots in the area to the early 19th Century, and their attitudes and life styles are very different from any other group in the Knysna region.
Returning to Knysna Town, we stopped to visit the town Gaol (Prison). Built in the 1830s as a regional jail, it is now a museum. The most interesting exhibit was about the Knysna elephant. When Knysna was settled in the 19th Century, there was a herd of elephants in the region. Estimated to number over 400 in 1876, by 1994, only one cow could be found, but there may be more, as recent sightings may indicate at least three elephants in the area. The importance of these elephants is that they were the southern-most herd on the African continent.
Old Gaol Museum, Knysna
If the Knysna Elephants Could Talk
Caption: I know this is going to cause an outcry, but their population is exploding out of control. They are a huge threat to biodiversity, so we are going to have to reduce their numbers!
We also visited another museum of local artifacts from 19th Century life in Knysna. The museum is housed in two restored buildings originally located at the Millwood town site. These buildings, which were built in the 1880s, have tin roofs and tin sides with wooden interior walls. The exhibits show the artifacts of everyday life, much as local museums in the US do. It is truly surprising how many of those items, from enamel bowls and cups to baby cribs and sewing machines, have an uncanny similarity. They are worldwide artifacts of European civilization's expansion in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
After the museums, it was off to The Heads for lunch at the East Head Cafe. We dined al fresco overlooking the narrows and the Western Head. Lunch was excellent fish and chips made with fresh hake. To settle our lunch, we walked along the shore and then drove to a viewpoint on top of the Eastern Head to view the narrows and the Indian Ocean.
Dining with a View!
The Narrows
The Indian Ocean, Narrows and West Head
Our last stop before returning to Hunter's Country House was at the tomb of the founder of Knysna, George Rex. George Rex was reputed to be the bastard son of King George III, who was sent to South Africa to keep him out of sight of the English Nobility (think remittance child). However, he never admitted or denied this story, and later DNA-based evidence tends to deny its truth. It still is the local legend! After buying the land around the estuary, he started a large farm which failed. Then, he turned to the timber industry, supplying lumber by sea to Cape Town, resulting in great wealth. Following in the tradition of his possible royal forebearers, George Rex had two common-law wives and 13 children, no doubt singlehandedly trying to populate Knysna. George Rex's tomb is currently in a state of disrepair and not in the best part of town, so our stop there was short.
Grave Stone of George Rex (d. 1839)
Traveling east along N2, we returned to Hunter's in time for a late, tea-time snack (iced tea and double portion chocolate cake) served on the tented patio. We retired to our cottage for an early evening and preparation for the next day's travel to George and our flight to Durban.
To be continued....
No comments:
Post a Comment