Featherbed
One of the first items on my bucket list when I first moved to Knysna two years ago was to visit the Featherbed Nature Reserve, as I had heard of the amazing walk you could go on – their eco tour – and the unforgettable views it offers.
To my utter disappointment though, the June fires of 2017 razed much of the reserve and I thought my list of must-sees would just have to suffice with an empty slot – between paragliding in Sedgefield and getting to spot one of Knysna’s elusive elephants.
But lo and behold, Featherbed would bounce back, and just in time for the festive season this year – their grand new reopening of their eco-tour finally gave me the chance to tick that box on my bucket list.
Mindblowing results
The company Featherbed Co has been rebuilding the infrastructure of the tourist facilities and rehabilitating the reserve like their lives depended on it, and what they have created – especially on the 2.2km walk through coastal forest fynbos – blew my mind away.
I had heard the views before the fire were spectacular, but one positive thing that could be taken from the blaze is the fact that the current views have opened up a whole new world, so to speak. According to one of my intrepid guides, these views haven’t been seen in many a decade. They include almost uninterrupted, panoramic views of the famous Knysna Heads – which apparently bore witness to many a shipwreck back in the day; Thesen Island and Leisure Isle, with the latter, according to the very indigenous pioneers that we hadn’t seen at Featherbed in generations) began to germinate.
We kept records, of course: our horticulturist catalogued the plants as they appeared, and he’s now found at least
300 species (and counting!) on our 75ha at the mouth of the Knysna Lagoon.
But the numbers don’t begin to tell the story of this astonishing explosion of life: you really should take a tour to see it for yourself.