Knysna highlights – full day Incl. tour of Knysna, Knysna Heads, Mitchell’s Brewery, Knysna Quays, sunset sailing cruise Monday – Friday: Saturday: Sunday:
09h00 – 19h30 09h00 – 19h30 (excluding brewery tour) not available
If your time is limited, this is an ideal introduction to Knysna. We’ll start off with the scenic drive around the lagoon to one of the oldest parts of Knysna: Belvidere. A classical example of ‘estate living’, with the Belvidere Church, built in Norman style and one of the oldest churches in the area, as its center. From there it is only a short drive up to the Belvidere lookout point, from where you have spectacular views over the Knysna lagoon with its oyster beds, Knysna town and the dramatic Outeniqua Mountains as its backdrop. All the way back along the lagoon it will not take long before we reach the top of The Heads for a ‘walk with views’ on the boardwalk and another spectacular photo opportunity, not only over the town but also over the Indian Ocean, where you may be able to see the whales (in season) and dolphins frolic. Unfortunately we can not spend too much time here, as Knysna’s ‘live ales’ are waiting for us on the tour through Knysna’s own beer brewery. The Knysna Quays has become a hotspot for quaint little shops each showing their product with flair. Situated right next to the Knysna Harbor, there is always a ‘buzz’ at this mini-version of the Cape Town V&A Waterfront. This will be our stop for a relaxed lunch and possibly some shopping before boarding your sunset sailing cruise (incl. sushi and seafood platter, breads, pate’s and sparkling wine) on the Knysna Lagoon to finish off the day in true Knysna style….
Please note:
- Snack platter and glass of sparkling wine during sunset cruise (no exclusivity guaranteed) included; - Lunch and other drinks at own account; - Order of places visited may change depending on the time of the day as well as the location of your accommodation.
Typical Knysna – full day Incl. Featherbed Experience, lunch, Cultural township tour Monday – Sunday: 09h15 – 17h00 An introduction to Knysna, its lagoon and scenic surroundings. The morning will be spent at the Featherbed Nature Reserve, home to the blue duiker and the colorful Knysna Loerie. The scenic walk after a 4x4 drive to the top of the reserve will make you indulge in the lunch buffet (included).
Featherbed Nature Reserve – Knysna (4 hours, including lunch) A visit to Knysna’s own Natural Heritage Site is a must for every visitor. This privately owned nature reserve is accessible by ferry only. This eco-experience includes a return ferry-trip, a drive to the top of the nature reserve by Unimog drawn trailer, an optional 2.2 km/1.4miles guided walk through the forest, onto the cliffs, into the caves and along the spectacular coastline back to the jetty, where lunch (included) will be served under the Milkwood trees. You are guaranteed to see the resident blue duiker, one of Africa’s smallest antelopes as well as the famous Knysna Loerie or Touraco, as it is nowadays called. Meeting the people of Knysna and its diverse communities can only be done by going into the different neighborhoods and experiencing their way of life. Knysna Tourism has initiated a training program for local tour guides, and Platinum Golf is proudly supporting this initiative. One of the community guides will be showing us his/her world. A tour of the townships will never be the same, but will always be an eye-opener to anyone interested in people, their culture, background and stories. The tour includes a visit to one of the crèches or schools, the local workshop for disabled people, or a visit to a children’s arts & crafts center, where the children not only learn about the causes and implications of having to live with HIV/Aids, but also have the opportunity to be children again and play in the courtyard or read a book in the library (workdays only). Other visits may include one of the private homes, the sangoma (herbal doctor) or local healer. Before returning to your establishment we’ll make a quick visit to a shebeen, where you will have a chance to try the local beer.
Please note:
- No exclusivity on Featherbed Nature Reserve; - Lunch buffet included, drinks own account; - Part of the income received through these tours goes back into the communities, thereby contributing to the improvement of the living standards of the people involved.
The Knysna Gold rush – 4-5hours Incl. Knysna forest, light lunch, gold mine tour Monday - Sunday:
09h00 – ~14h00 or as agreed
A visit to Knysna is not complete without venturing into the Knysna Forest. Not only home to the elusive Knysna Elephants, it is little known that the Knysna forest was home to a real gold rush in just over a century ago. An easy hike at Jubilee Creek will may expose the Knysna Elephant, but more likely monkeys, Knysna Loerie’s and possibly different species of buck. This easy 3.6km / 2.2miles hike crosses the creek several times before getting to the small waterfall and swimming hole. Indigenous trees, ferns and abundant bird life are all part of the scene. After the hike we’ll take you even deeper into the Knysna forest for lunch at the original tearoom of the original mining town of Millwood. The tearoom also houses a small museum exhibiting charming old photographs of the village, and in particular some of the hotels that sprang up to serve the community. After lunch we’ll take you on a ‘hard hat tour’ of one of the original gold mines. This informative tour takes you right to the end of the shaft, and past the exhibit of the abandoned mining equipment.
Please note:
- Bring walking shoes!; - Lunch included, drinks own account.
Mountain bike game drive – ~5hours Incl. mountain bike, game viewing, light lunch Monday - Sunday:
07h30 – 12h30
Want to get active? This one’s for you! Guided mountain bike tour at a game reserve just outside Plettenberg Bay. You get to crank the pedals within the boundaries of a breathtaking private reserve teeming with game. You have the option of riding either a very gentle trail for the novice riders or a 3 hour blast including some mind blowing single track for the more experienced riders… Along the way you may see giraffe, zebra, red hartebeest, wildebeest and host of other species including a stunning variety of birdlife. A light lunch is served on the grass overlooking the plains after the ride. The perfect way to relax after your African Adventure on a bike! Please note:
- No exclusivity guaranteed on this tour; - Bikes and transfers to and from the game reserve provided; - Mountain biking not suitable for children under 12yrs.
Animal Planet – full day Incl. whale/dolphin watching boat trip, Elephant Sanctuary, light lunch, Monkeyland Monday – Sunday: 08h00 – 17h00 Whether you’re here to watch the whales (June – November), go out to see the dolphins and seals or to get close and personal with the gentle giants of the forest and want to be a ‘monkey with the monkeys’ – the choice is yours! Dolphin / whale watching cruise – Plettenberg Bay The fully licensed whale watching boat will be launched off the beach in Plettenberg Bay. This is your chance to get up to 50 m from the spectacular Southern Right whales, dolphins and literally thousands of seals off the coast of Formosa Bay. Elephant Sanctuary – outside Plettenberg Bay Where will you ever have the chance again to be this close to African elephants? Your hand will act as an elephant tail, when you and ‘your’ elephant will ‘trunk in hand’ disappear into the African bush! Feed them, touch them, and ride them (optional) – an experience of a life time! Lunch will be enjoyed at the most westerly wine estate of South Africa. Sit in the vineyard while you enjoy a relaxing mezze type lunch with a glass of the estate’s award winning sparkling wine included. Monkeyland – outside Plettenberg Bay At Monkeyland previously caged, abandoned and abused monkeys from all over the world have found ‘monkey heaven’. You will get to know lots of interesting facts about the different monkey species that have found their way to this unique monkey sanctuary. Please note:
- Light lunch incl. 1 glass of sparkling wine included, extra drinks own account; - Optional extra: Elephant riding @ an additional R375.00 p.p.(10-15min.)
Tsitsikamma Forest, the place of much water… - full day Incl. Treetop Canopy tour, light lunch, Tsitsikamma National Park entrance fee and hike Monday – Sunday: 08h30 – 17h30 An adventure filled day in the indigenous Tsitsikamma Forest. We’ll start the day with the scenic drive through the indigenous forest and along the coast to Storms River for the exhilarating and award winning Treetop Canopy Tour. Now that you know what Tarzan and Jane must have felt like when swinging through the trees we’ll continue our tour to the nearby Tsitsikamma National Park for a hike through the forest with a visit to the Bushmen’s Cave before crossing the suspension bridge over the spectacular Storms River Mouth. The route back home will take us over the ‘old passes road’, offering one of the country’s most rewarding scenic drives, and includes the passes negotiating the Bloukrans gorges, where we’ll look out for the highest bungy jump in the world! Treetop Canopy Tour – Storms River Village The first of its kind in Africa, the canopy tour involves traversing from one platform to another along a steel cable suspended up to 30 meters above the forest floor... Not for the faint-hearted! Most platforms are located in giant Outeniqua Yellowwood trees. The scenery and bird life is spectacular and professional guides provide interesting facts about the forest ecology during the three hour tour. Storms River Mouth - Tsitsikamma National Park The two kilometer (1.2 miles) walk to the suspension bridge at the Stormsriver Mouth follows the wooden boardwalk and includes a short visit to the Khoi-san Cave. Take your camera to catch the whales (in season) and dolphins through the Whale Window.
Please note:
- Treetop Canopy Tour weight restriction: 120kg.; - Pregnant women not allowed to partake in Treetop Canopy Tour; - Light lunch included, drinks own account
Oudtshoorn, Little Karoo – full day Incl. Cango Caves, Cango Wildlife Ranch (cheetah farm), light lunch, ostrich farm Monday – Sunday: 08h15 – 18h00 The ‘capital’ of the Little Karoo, Oudtshoorn, is situated at the foot of the Swartberg Mountains, which are riddled with limestone caves. A visit to Oudtshoorn is not complete without a visit to the Cango Caves, being the most famous of those caves. The sandstone has also been used for building, including the numerous ‘feather palaces’ which date back to Oudtshoorn’s boom years. Ostriches are still farmed commercially, although fruit-, tobacco- and wine farming are gaining popularity. Cango Caves – Oudtshoorn The Standard Tour starts from the cathedral-like Van Zyl’s Hall and ends into the cave in the African Drum Room. Even though the tour covers the largest chambers of the Cave system, it makes relatively easy walking, including a reasonable number of stairs. It enables you to experience the best and largest of the chambers and speleothems that the cave has to offer. Cango Wildlife Ranch - Oudtshoorn Fully guided tours of the ranch beginning with the crocodiles and alligators and including all the big cats in Cheetahland. While you’re there, take this opportunity of a life time and touch a cheetah, or a tiger! Ostrich farm – Oudtshoorn After a farm style lunch you will be taken on a guided tour of the farm, during which you will learn about the world’s largest bird, which lays the largest egg... You will be able to do the ‘ultimate weight test’ and stand on eggs! You will be able to touch and feed the birds and even be able to ride on them. Please note:
- Light lunch included, drinks own account
Culture & Cats – full day Incl. Choo-Tjoe steam train ride, game drive in open vehicle Monday – Saturday: Sunday:
08h30 – 19h15 not available
A great way to combine your yearning to learn more about South Africa’s history as well as experiencing its current wildlife! Outeniqua Choo Tjoe – George – Mosselbay The unique ‘museum to museum’ tour starts at the Outeniqua Transport Museum, where you will be set back in time through the many vintage cars and unusual trucks as well as the White Train (in which the British Royal Family toured South Africa in the 50’s) that are on display. The steam driven vintage train will take you over rivers, through farmlands, through the tunnel and along the Indian Ocean while keeping the Outeniqua Mountains as a constant dramatic backdrop to this magnificent, ever changing scenery. Before you know it the train will puff and whistle its way into Mosselbay, where you will have the opportunity to visit the famous Dias Museum Complex, with its replica of Bartholomew Dias' Caravel as one of its proud reminders of the first Portuguese sailors that visited the area. And while you’re there, don’t forget to post a letter to a loved one, by putting it in the Old Post Tree, just like the Portuguese, Dutch and English navigators did long before you. Botlierskop Private Game Reserve – Little Brak River Here you will have the unique opportunity to view the African wildlife in the comfortable seat of a game viewing vehicle. Meandering rivers, forest-areas, valleys, mountain tops and plateaus together with a total of more than 1,800 animals (including rhino, zebra, buffalo, and the rare black impala) form the scenic background for this unforgettable experience.
Please note:
- Lunch en-route at own cost.
For more information: Platinum Golf Tours Ypie Kingma – Marketing & Sales P.O. Box 2176 Knysna, 6570 South Africa Tel.: Cell / mobile: Email: Skype: Web:
+27 (0)44 382 7789 +27 (0)82 771 1859 info@platinumgolf.co.za PlatinumGolf www.platinumgolf.co.za