Today after a delicious breakfast (I always go for muesli, natural yoghurt and bran muffins together with a hot cafe latte), we left for a slow drive to Tsitsikamma. We could take it slow today as we were close to where we are staying tonight. Yesterday we drove almost 400km.
We stopped in Knysna, where we looked at the Knysna Heads and the lagoon.
After that, we headed to Plettenberg Bay. Just outside of Plettenberg Bay we had lunch and visited Monkeyland and Birds of Eden. Monkeyland is a rehabilitation facility for former laboratory, circus, zoo, and pet monkeys, where they can live with their own kind in a natural environment. There were so many different kinds of monkeys!
After that we went to Birds of Eden, which is a free-flight sanctuary with 220 different types of birds. The birds in the sanctuary are comprised of a mixture of exotic, as well as African birds. This includes previously caged pets, hand reared and imprinted individuals. Most of the birds that arrive at Birds of Eden have a history of being caged in small environments.
Birds of Eden is the world’s largest free flight aviary and bird sanctuary, located near Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape, South Africa. The mesh dome of the sanctuary was built over 2.3 hectares (5.7 acres) of indigenous forest, and is up to 55 metres (180 ft) above ground level. 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) of walkways, about 75% of which are elevated, let visitors see the birds at all levels of the aviary. (Wikipedia).
When we had finished at Birds of Eden we drove to Tsitsikamma Forest Lodge (built on the outskirts of a forest), where we will be staying the next two nights. We have our own little log cabin with a loft bedroom, living room, wood-burning fireplace and a jacuzzi!
The Tsitsikamma Lodge and Spa rates were very good, and included 3 meals a day. The Lodge has a very interesting restaurant, done completely in wood and featuring vintage logging photographs and equipment. Some of the trees felled in this area were enormous and 10 men could stand in the cut that was to bring the tree down.
