Knysna and the Heads

A Tidal Lagoon That Reaches The Sea Through The Heads, Two Sandstone Cliffs With A Channel Between Them Treacherous Enough That It Was Long Considered One Of The Most Dangerous Harbour Entrances In The World With Oyster Beds In The Lagoon, Indigenous Afromontane Forest Behind The Town, And An Elephant Population That May Now Be Down To A Single Animal Or None At All · Knysna, Western Cape

Two sandstone cliffs stand a few hundred metres apart on this coast, and the whole tidal lagoon behind them drains and fills through the gap between. The channel is shallow, the swell stacks up on a bar across it and the current runs hard, which made the Knysna Heads one of the most feared harbour entrances anywhere - ships were lost here regularly, and small boats still are. Behind the lagoon the town climbs into indigenous Afromontane forest, which is where the Knysna elephants live, and that needs saying carefully: the population has been declining for a century, recent survey work suggests it may be down to a single cow or to nothing at all, and no visitor should expect to see one. The lagoon grows oysters, the forest has walking and cycling trails through it, and the whole place still carries the June 2017 fires, which killed people and burned a great deal of what you will drive through.

On a tidal lagoon midway along the Garden Route, between George and Plettenberg Bay, Knysna, Western Cape, South Africa

A town, open at any hour. THE EASTERN HEAD is reached by public road with viewpoints and parking and is free; THE WESTERN HEAD IS INSIDE A PRIVATE ESTATE and is not generally open to visitors, which surprises people who have seen it in photographs. Lagoon boat trips and ferries to Featherbed on the western side run from the waterfront and ARE WEATHER-DEPENDENT. The indigenous forest reserves inland keep daylight hours with modest fees at some gates. Restaurants and the waterfront keep normal trading hours and the town is busy year round rather than seasonal. The Knysna Oyster Festival falls in winter and fills every bed. There is fuel, a hospital, supermarkets and plenty of accommodation. MALARIA-FREE.

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