Picture of the Day: Mouth of the Kynsna River at "The Heads." View from the Western Head at Featherbed Nature Reserve.
The town of Kynsna is situated on the estuary of the Kynsna River near where the mouth of the river enters the Indian Ocean. The estuary is formed where two protective land masses, known locally as "The Heads," creates a constriction of the channel, providing protection to the inland waters. The distance between The Heads is less than 300 meters across. So, while the inland waters are a safe harbor, the constriction at the mouth creates one of the worlds most dangerous river entries. For a brief time, Kynsna had a commercial harbor, but when nearly 50 the almost 400 vessels passing through The Heads sank, the harbor permanently closed and has never reopened. The Featherbed Nature Reserve encompasses the point of the Western Head.
The Featherbed Nature Reserve is a private nature reserve that offers a 1/2 day excursion through its grounds. The trip begins with a ferry ride across the Lagoon, a 4x4 excusion to the top, a 2.2 kilometer hike to the bottom of the hill and lunch in the "in-forest" restaurant at the bottom.
On the ferry ride over we learned that the reserve had an interesting connection to the story of the Coelacanth (or Fossil Fish) one of the most exciting scientific stories of the 20th century. We were both familiar with the history of the fish, so we were thrilled to hear the connection. The Coelacanth is a prehistoric fish believed to have been extinct for over 80 million years. But in 1938 fisherman trawling off the South African east coast caught a strange looking fish in their nets. Upon returning to shore, Professor J.L.B. Smith was contacted and asked to identify the fish. Almost immediately, Smith knew he was looking at a Coelacanth. But since most of the soft parts of the fish had disintegrated, it could not be positively identified. Smith then spent the next 14 years of his life searching for the Coelacanth. In 1952, he was successful when fisherman caught a second creature and because of flyers distributed by Smith, contacted him immediately. This time, Smith was able to recover the fish in time and positively identify it. He later wrote a book on his search for the creature, titled "Old Four Legs," the proceedings of which were used by Smith to the purchase the land that was later donated to establish the Featherbed Reserve.
After our informative ride across the lagoon, we offloaded the ferry and proceeded on the 4x4s up the mountain and began the hike down. The highlight of the hike was a trip through the caves at the base of the Western Head, but we also saw a good deal of interesting flora and fauna as well.
At the restaurant below, the meal was quite good and the setting was amazing. The dining area is literally built in the middle of the woods, with the decking cut out to accommodate the forest trees. Their canopies provide a wonderful natural shade, making the entire experience enchanting.
After the excursion to Featherbed, we proceeded into town for a bit of currency exchange. We managed to find a local bank (FNB) that was able to complete the transaction, so we were able to knock that out fairly easily.
We then headed back west to see the Wilderness National Park - Wilderness Dunes. The Dunes, like Kynsna are located on the Indian Ocean. So despite the chill of the water (it's late fall, remember) we took the opportunity to wade in the Indian Ocean.
Watching the sunset behid the dunes, we said goodbye to the Wilderness area and returned to Kynsna.
From here, we enjoyed dinner at Mo's on Rex, a quiet little restaurant set in among the woods near the Lagoon.
Tomorrow we head to Addo Elephant National Park. We're uncertain of the internet facilities, so we may not be able to post for a couple of days. Check back often, though. As we're able, we'll continue to share our travel notes.
Until next time,
Becky & Rachel
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Location:Knysna, South Africa
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