The Crags

On the 27th of April every year South Africans celebrate freedom day. This is in commemoration of the first post-apartheid elections held in South Africa in 1994, which saw Nelson Mandela become South Africa's first freely elected president. Here in the Crags on the Garden Route of South Africa, Birds of Eden, the biggest free flight Aviary in the world, celebrated both Freedom Day and the coming of the 2010 World Cup Soccer with the release of 32 new bird species to the existing 280 into the aviary. This brought the total bird count up to over 3000 birds!

The idea behind the 32 species is to represent the 32 countries competing in the 2010 soccer world cup. The bird releases were carried out by underpriviliged children, various NGO's and tourism bodies, releasing birds every five to ten minutes. Early morning the SABC crew were there, providing a LIVE feed for the Morning Live show, for the rest of South Africa to see.

In the Crags, on the Garden Route of South Africa you will find 'The Elephant Sanctuary'. Founded by Chris Kruger, the Elephant Sanctuary is a sort of halfway house for elephants that have nowhere to go to.

The elephants all have different backgrounds. One of them was previously a pet for 11 years (believe it or not), some of them came out of Botswana, and still others were up for culling in the Kruger National Park. The idea is to re-introduce them to the wild, once they are older at private nature reserves.

Each elephant at the moment has its own handler, which it has formed a close relationship with.

Visitors can come on a one hour guided 'trunk in hand' elephant walk through the forest, where you'll get up close and personal with the elephants and even get to touch the elephans. This is followed by a feeding session where you get 'to thank' the elephants and feed them titbits like butternut.

You will also get  a 15 minute lecture on elephant anatomy and some interesting facts about these creatures.

Although there are arguments for and against close human contact, the Elephant Sanctuary maintains that nobody really knows for sure.

The Elephant sanctuary is open to the public every day of the week, weather permitting.

In 2001 founders Len and Mandy Freeman bought an undeveloped 46 ha piece of land in the Crags, on the Garden Route of South Africa. They started out with one little hut on the property, taking in their first injured and problem animals and nursing them back to health. Their ability to heal and rehabilitate animals quickly became known and before long they were receiving injured wild animals of all kinds.

This lead to Tenikwa registering as a fully fledged rehabilitation centre with Cape Nature Conservation. Subsequently more animals including birds, penguins, bats as well as wild cats started ending up at Tenikwa. One of these species, the cararcal is particularly persecuted in South Africa, with numbers declining at a rapid rate. Len explains that it is due to ignorance that these cats get killed and that there are in fact many alternatives to killing.

Hence, the awareness centre came into existence, with the objective of making people aware and educating them about the true nature of these animals and methods of conserving these species for future generations to see.

Nature's Way Farm stall is situated about 7 kilometers down the R102 to Natures Valley in the Crags on the Garden Route of South Africa.

Loredo is famous for its Jersey cows, and produces great quality milk and cheeses. Here you can buy fresh farm milk, provided you bring your own container.

A variety of cheeses are available for both tasting and purchase. Typical to farm stalls it is stocked with a variety of fresh produce from the area, including cold meats and deli, fresh bread and eggs, fruit and veg, preserves, olive oils jams bakes and much more.

In the late afternoon, you can come and watch the cows being milked, or just come for a light lunch and tea.

It is an excellent place to stock up for lunch, if you are planning to do one of the beautiful hikes in the area.

Location

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Founders Mike and Emily Caithness started Lawnwood Snake Sanctuary as a hobby due to their passion for snakes. People would call from all across the country when they find snakes on their property, and ask for it to be removed. Thats how it all started.

Today, Lawnwood boasts over 200 snakes and has been turned into a commercial venture, offering one hour guided tours to visitors.

The tour is designed to educate people about snakes, dispell irrational fears that people have about snakes. Visitors will also get the chance to touch a giant tame leguaan and see it feed on chicken pieces.

Mike and Emily have a wealth of knowledge about snakes, so that at the end of the tour you would be able to identify different species of snakes, understand the difference between the different types of venom (proteolytic, cytotoxic, neurotoxic and hemotoxic), and what to do if you get bitten by these snakes.

Between the Tsitsikamma forest and Keurbooms river on the Garden Route, lies the community of the Crags.

The Crags is inhabited by a group of very artistic and creative individuals.

Here you’ll find lots of arts and craft markets, a monkey, elephant,  bird and snake sanctuary, as well as a rehabilitation center for wild cats. You can go on many pristine nature walks and indulge in the excellent cuisine on offer in the area.

Accommodation comes in all styles from top end hotels, bed and breakfasts, country lodges to backpackers and camping. You can get a variety of cheese, home produce and farm milk at the Nature’s Way farm stall or taste the local wines at the Bramon Wine Estate.

For adrenalin junkies there’s the world’s highest bungee jump at 216 meters and polo for the aristocrats. The Barnyard theatre has regular shows, with South Africa’s finest  showing off their talent on stage.

Birds of Eden is the world's biggest free flight aviary. It is in essence a sanctuary for unwanted birds from all over the world. Many were shoulder pets before, like most of the parrots you'll find here. Others were donated by zoos and even companies like Disneyland. The aviary is over two hectares in size and netting stretches 34 metres into the sky above.

Birds of Eden is located in the Crags right next to the primate sanctuary monkeyland, on the Garden Route of South Africa, close to the small town of Nature's Valley.

Here, you can go for a self guided walk at your own leisure, which will take you on a raised 1.2 kilometre wooden walkway snaking through the forest and over an 'Indiana Jones' style hang bridge. This brings you quite high into the forest canopy, which makes it easy to see birds like the beautiful indigenous Knysna Lourie from close up.

There are over 3000 birds and more than 220 species of birds at Birds of Eden. On arrival you'll be given a booklet which has pictures and information about all the different birds, which means you can really spend the whole day identifying and observing these beautiful creatures. Birds of Eden is open seven days a week between 8 am and 5 pm.

Monkeyland is situated in the Crags, close to Natures Valley on the Garden Route of South Africa. It is the world's first free roaming primate sanctuary and spans over 30 acres of forest. There are fourteen different monkey and ape species in the sanctuary, all originating from different parts of the world.

The monkeys that get rehabilitated into the forest all come from zoos, circuses or arrive as previously owned pets. Once released into the troop, the monkeys' instincts take over and they live and act as free roaming animals again.

Although there is no active breeding program at Monkeyland, if there is enough of one specie, they will breed, as they have enough food and no natural predators.

Each day 250 kilograms of food in the form of fruits, berries, granola and even sweet potatoes are supplied to the primates, to ensure that there are no territorial fights between the different species.

There is strict policy of no human contact in the form of touch, which means the monkeys do not feel threatened by humans and won't associate humans with food or anything else, making for great viewing opportunities.

A quick overview

When trying to describe this lodge, words like wizards, fairies and gnomes come to mind. The lodge itself is situated on a farm in the Crags (close to Nature's Valley),  between the Tsitsikamma and Outeniqua Mountains on the Garden Route. The Crags is famous for its many sanctuaries and boasts an snake, elephant, bird, wild african cat and primate sanctuary.

It borders the Tsitsikamma forest, with many hiking trails, like the Saltriver circular trail and nature walks. It doesn't  look as though this place was built, but rather grown and woven into the forest with driftwood sculpturing and wooden cottages.

Here, you will find all kinds of magical creatures, like the three dogs who act as tour guides, if you go for a walk in the forests and  a crazy horse called Jerepigo, (complete wth his own facebook profile) who looks like he can talk, if only you ask him the right question.