We left Mossel Bay after lunch and made our way back onto the N2, heading further east. The weather had been more unsettled the further east we traveled, and this continued as we drove the 100 km to Knysna. Along the way, we stopped at the “Food Lovers Market,” which always has a great selection of local fruits and vegetables.
Afterwards, we headed onto the narrow causeway to “Leisure Isle,” a small island about 4 km in circumference, located in the middle of a lagoon (which is actually an estuary). This would be our home for the next week. We’re staying in a cute loft apartment surrounded by colorful fauna and flora, and a gang of jovial birds.
After a restful night’s sleep, Rachel and I decided to take a closer look at the lagoon that I had glimpsed briefly the night before. As we walked down the ivy-lined path, we were met with a huge expanse of sand, where the night before there had been water—it was as though someone had pulled the plug. We walked for about an hour through the middle of the sand but could have easily continued longer. This place is simply beautiful. At the mouth of the estuary stand two headlands that, when the time is right, usher in and push out the cold waters of the Indian Ocean.
There was a devastating fire here in 2017 that completely razed the far mountain range, but today you wouldn’t know it. The fauna and flora have returned in full splendor, and the area is dotted with beautiful properties. We decided to take the “Feather Bed” nature tour, so named because in the early seafaring days, after months at sea, ships would anchor in the lagoon. The sailors would wake up the next morning to find themselves surrounded by the gentle waters, remarking that it felt as if they had slept on a bed of feathers.
After a short ferry ride, we got a closer look at the island, which offered some incredible views both out to sea and across the bay. The entrance to the estuary was once a busy shipping channel, but it was closed in 1951 as it had become too dangerous, with too many ships lost there. Today, however, it was an incredibly tranquil place to walk around and wonder about the sights that had been witnessed here.
After our walk, we made our way down to a small restaurant, chatting with an interesting guide along the way about his take on South Africa. We had a light lunch before heading back to the mainland.
Originally, we had planned to stay in Plettenberg Bay before deciding on Knysna, but since Plett has some fantastic walks and views, we made the 40-minute drive to spend a day there. One thing we’ve experienced quite a bit here is the sea fog, which occurs when warm air meets the cooler sea temperatures. The day we chose to visit was one of those days, but we managed to walk the beach, which is about an 8-10 km round trip. Plettenberg Bay is known to be very pretty, but after our walk with not much visibility, we opted to try a highly recommended Portuguese restaurant for an early dinner. The place was hosted by a South African version of “Gordon Ramsay,” which we found amusing, though I’m sure the terrified staff did not.
Dream Chasers 