Western Cape Article - South African Vacations

WILDERNESSWilderness is a bustling little holidaytown, surrounded by rolling greencoastal hills and ensconced betweenthe beautiful Touws River Lagoon anda magnificent sandy beach. A stringof six lakes, stretching for over40 km along the coast from theWilderness to the Goukamma Rivervalley, forms the backbone of theWilderness Lake Area, which ismanaged by the National ParksBoard.ADVENTURE AND SPORTAdventure Activities: Activities that are popular in the area include mountain-biking, diving,canoeing, abseiling, surfing, hang-gliding, paragliding and horse riding.Hiking: Hiking trails traverse theestuarine environment, some ofwhich take only a few hours while theentire circuit takes a day to complete.Five of South Africa’s species ofkingfishers can be spotted here.Water-sport: The lakes are ideal forangling, board-sailing and yachting.Power-boating and water-skiing areallowed on the lagoon, but onlycanoes and rowing boats are allowedto venture further up the TouwsRiver.ART AND CRAFTSWilderness Art Route: The route includes the studios of many talented artists as well as craftmarkets. The Wilderness Craft Market is located on the banks of the Touws River and isnormally held on the last Sunday of every month. Rangers of the South African NationalParks Board run the market and the funds raised are used to upgrade facilities and improvethe lives of the local communities.FAUNA AND FLORABird-watching: The lakes of Langevlei and Rondevlei are unspoilt areas, where the coastalfynbos mixes at the water’s edge with reeds, rushes and water grasses. They provide one ofthe richest refuges for waterfowl in South Africa.Kaaimans River Bridge: Follow the example of professional photographers and use the bridgeas a vantage point from which to photograph the countryside.124