Tsitsikamma (pronounced
sit-si-kama) is a wild and beautiful place. It is situated mid-way along
the Garden Route on a rocky coastline with cliffs that press close
to the sea.
Tsitsikamma is a Khoisan word meaning, ‘place of much water’.
With an abundance of rivers and streams running through sandstone
gorges, it’s a fitting name. The park incorporates 80 kilometres
of deep forests and secluded valleys, and extends five kilometres into
the ocean to include inter-tidal, reef and deep-sea ecosystems where
dolphins and whales frolic.
When it was proclaimed in 1964, it became the first Marine National
Park in Africa. As fishing is not permitted, there is healthy
marine life. The Storms River mouth offers magnificent views up and
down the gorge. There are a number of short walking trails, one
of which crosses a wobbly suspension bridge.
The park is home to the rare Cape clawless otter, vervet monkeys and
baboons, and the forests hide small antelopes. Because of its beauty
and strategic position on the popular Garden Route, Tsitsikamma National
Park is the third most frequently visited park of the twenty national
parks in South Africa.
On the Storms River itself there’s the opportunity to go blackwater
tubing – floating down the gentle rapids on giant inflatable
inner tubes. The blackwater refers to a section where the cliffs above
the river are so close together that it gives the sensation of floating
through a dark cave. Winter at Tsitsikamma is mild, but the sea is
at its wildest then and the crashing waves are quite a sight. Summers are
warm but rainy.
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