29. Featured Traveller
Anje Rautenbach
ESL Teacher : Writer : Traveller
Knysna SOUTH AFRICA
"Dream. Explore. Discover"
Her craziness and desire to travel started from a very young age. She went from the
back seat of her parents' VW kombi to leaving South Africa in 2009 to explore South
Korea and the rest of Asia.
Anje picked up the travel bug quite fast - the unknown intrigued her and she got
mesmerised by different smells, cultures, food, languages and adventures.
She explored beautiful places around Asia, ate delicious Asian food, got food poisoning countless of times, collected Asian beer cans, did a two month cycle trip in Indonesia, completely fell in love with bicycle touring, studied Indonesian, taught English, got addicted to goats and ducks, ticked off items on her bucket list, added items to her bucket list, filled up a passport, met locals, lived like a local, CouchSurfed, got tattoos and developed a personal mantra to "dream, explore & discover".
Anje returned home to South Africa after living abroad for more than 3 years. She took off all her travelling bracelets, got an interview, bought a car and landed a job as a copy writer.
The routine and fancy job only lasted a few months before she quit and realised that she’ll probably be a travel addict forever with a serious case of wanderlust, everlasting itchy feet and an adventurous heart to explore the unknown with her bicycle.
Soon she’ll be on her way back to Asia and her bicycle, panniers and passport will accompany her and always lure her away from the safe and familiar into a wandering journey, never a destination.
She explored beautiful places around Asia, ate delicious Asian food, got food poisoning countless of times, collected Asian beer cans, did a two month cycle trip in Indonesia, completely fell in love with bicycle touring, studied Indonesian, taught English, got addicted to goats and ducks, ticked off items on her bucket list, added items to her bucket list, filled up a passport, met locals, lived like a local, CouchSurfed, got tattoos and developed a personal mantra to "dream, explore & discover".
Anje returned home to South Africa after living abroad for more than 3 years. She took off all her travelling bracelets, got an interview, bought a car and landed a job as a copy writer.
The routine and fancy job only lasted a few months before she quit and realised that she’ll probably be a travel addict forever with a serious case of wanderlust, everlasting itchy feet and an adventurous heart to explore the unknown with her bicycle.
Soon she’ll be on her way back to Asia and her bicycle, panniers and passport will accompany her and always lure her away from the safe and familiar into a wandering journey, never a destination.
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| Flag of South Africa |
Read on and re-discover this small town that you should never forget.
Don't rush life, don't plan life. Life is about Going Somewhere Slowly ~ Anje Rautenbach
* * * * *
A Knysna Secret
Knysna – a picturesque little
town by the coast in the Garden
Route South Africa
Knysna is in the heart of the Garden Route
Bloukrans, the highest bungee jump in the world, is about an hour away. East from Knysna you can find yourself discovering the secrets and forests ofNatures Valley , or become a water sport enthusiast at Keurbooms River
and enjoy stretches of golden sand and a buzzing vibe night in Plettenberg Bay Buffalo
Bay
Knysna goes far beyond what is happening just in town.
Yes, there are amazing and unique restaurants, museums and galleries to wander through. Yes, there are sunset cruises, hiking trails, activities and beaches to keep you busy. But, there is something so delightful, simple and breathtaking just a few kilometres outside of Knysna in the area of theOuteniqua Mountains
Millwood used to be a gold mining area more than a hundred years ago.
It’s also part of the Outeniqua Hiking Trail (another favourite) and marks the halfway mark (about) of this magnificent trail. I don’t know what exactly made it one of my favourites: maybe it was because of Dalene Matthee’s novels, maybe because of serene lush forests or maybe because I discovered from an early age that this area silently whispers a history deeply buried in the valleys, the rivers and in every majestic tree that has been standing tall for so many centuries.
Millwood used to be an old mining town.
Europeans tried their luck with the gold, forest workers went from chopping down Yellowwood trees to sifting through gravel and sand in the streams and forest in search of wealth to have a chance at a new life. The hustle and bustle of Millwood quickly faded as the gold rush passed, Europeans went back and forest workers returned to their lives of searching for the perfect tree just to survive. When you visit Millwood today the past is overgrown by Pine trees and ferns, as if the forest is safely keeping the secrets of the past.
Bloukrans, the highest bungee jump in the world, is about an hour away. East from Knysna you can find yourself discovering the secrets and forests of
Knysna goes far beyond what is happening just in town.
Yes, there are amazing and unique restaurants, museums and galleries to wander through. Yes, there are sunset cruises, hiking trails, activities and beaches to keep you busy. But, there is something so delightful, simple and breathtaking just a few kilometres outside of Knysna in the area of the
Millwood used to be a gold mining area more than a hundred years ago.
It’s also part of the Outeniqua Hiking Trail (another favourite) and marks the halfway mark (about) of this magnificent trail. I don’t know what exactly made it one of my favourites: maybe it was because of Dalene Matthee’s novels, maybe because of serene lush forests or maybe because I discovered from an early age that this area silently whispers a history deeply buried in the valleys, the rivers and in every majestic tree that has been standing tall for so many centuries.
Millwood used to be an old mining town.
Europeans tried their luck with the gold, forest workers went from chopping down Yellowwood trees to sifting through gravel and sand in the streams and forest in search of wealth to have a chance at a new life. The hustle and bustle of Millwood quickly faded as the gold rush passed, Europeans went back and forest workers returned to their lives of searching for the perfect tree just to survive. When you visit Millwood today the past is overgrown by Pine trees and ferns, as if the forest is safely keeping the secrets of the past.
There is only one building left
of this mining town which serves as a coffee shop today. When you are driving a
bit further up you still see signs of a previous life here with a graveyard and
a few street names, covered with moss, barely still hanging on to the wooden
poles. The mines are restricted and became the home of hundreds of bats shrieking
into the depths of the unknown. Besides the one building that is left you can
still see the massive mining implements that they used during that time. They
come from a time before cranes and trucks simplified our lives and must have
been the headache for ox and man alike.
Mother Holly’s Tea Room (the only building still left) also serves as a small museum with one room displaying artifacts of the past like pieces of cutlery, parts of books and so forth. It also has a section dedicated to the one which should not be named, the elephants of the forest. It gives a brief history of the Knysna elephant and displays cut outs of newspaper articles every time someone spotted an elephant in the area.
Mother Holly’s Tea Room (the only building still left) also serves as a small museum with one room displaying artifacts of the past like pieces of cutlery, parts of books and so forth. It also has a section dedicated to the one which should not be named, the elephants of the forest. It gives a brief history of the Knysna elephant and displays cut outs of newspaper articles every time someone spotted an elephant in the area.
From what I can recall, the last time someone spotted an elephant (or the last article of date) was in 2010. No one knows how many elephants are left in the forest and the only reason to believe that they are still roaming about somewhere, are the tracks and dung being spotted from time to time. They are shy and maybe they are also desperately trying to forget the past when people from all over the world came trophy hunting. Somewhere along the line people realised the uniqueness of the Knysna elephant and finally put a stop to it.
About two months ago, I visited the small museum (literally only about 4m x 3m big) for probably about the 10th time.
I’ve never been a big fan of history but for some reason the history of the Outeniqua–area never gets old. I saw children, about 7 or 8 years old, running around and couldn’t help but wonder what a loss it must be for them not to understand where they were standing at that moment. Even the foreigners with their typical European accents who were there had no idea. They were looking at things in the museum, reading a few pieces of paper, without knowing what they are reading and how rich this place actually is. Rich, not because of the gold, but rich in stories that have never been told, lives that have never been celebrated, elephants that to them, only seemed as a myth. For some it’s just a day out in the sun, a short drive off the N2, a quick ‘oh, this is a mine’ or a joke about the ‘so-called’ elephants.
But the truth of the matter is:
it is so much more than that.
It’s a forest with parts that have been stripped for money, a forest that man tried to preserve but actually destroyed. It’s a road that carried people’s hopes and dreams, roads that echoed desperate hooves and feet. It’s a tree that has been climbed in the escape of a mighty elephant, trees that were the bread and butter of many. It’s a fern richly slurping up the shadows, ferns lusciously growing. It’s an elephant being feared, elephants defending their honour.
The forest is filled with secrets. Small paths cover the footsteps of unsung heroes. Rivers wash away the heartaches and desperate future of the past. Waterfalls plunge into the blackness. Novels give us a glimpse of what happened, museums make the myths real, yet still the secrets silently fall into the darkness and even though it is long forgotten the heart of the forest lives on forever in a dream-like state of what once was and forever will be.
It’s a forest with parts that have been stripped for money, a forest that man tried to preserve but actually destroyed. It’s a road that carried people’s hopes and dreams, roads that echoed desperate hooves and feet. It’s a tree that has been climbed in the escape of a mighty elephant, trees that were the bread and butter of many. It’s a fern richly slurping up the shadows, ferns lusciously growing. It’s an elephant being feared, elephants defending their honour.
The forest is filled with secrets. Small paths cover the footsteps of unsung heroes. Rivers wash away the heartaches and desperate future of the past. Waterfalls plunge into the blackness. Novels give us a glimpse of what happened, museums make the myths real, yet still the secrets silently fall into the darkness and even though it is long forgotten the heart of the forest lives on forever in a dream-like state of what once was and forever will be.
From the desk of:
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Freddie Miranda
A blogger and a Canada-based freelance writer. He shares the value of his travel experiences and discoveries with his friends and fellow travellers. Share your passion, join and visit him. Send a message @ fromatravellersdesk(at)gmail(dot)com.
A blogger and a Canada-based freelance writer. He shares the value of his travel experiences and discoveries with his friends and fellow travellers. Share your passion, join and visit him. Send a message @ fromatravellersdesk(at)gmail(dot)com.
Are you a traveller who would like to share your travel story with our blog and our readers? Then, I'd love to hear from you!
Please email me at fromatravellersdesk@gmail.com
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They all have been travelling for many years and I can guarantee that all of them have travel tips that all of us can learn and benefit from. I have to thank all other fellow travellers who have responded to my invite. I will definitely publish your stories as soon as I have completed the details.
A beautifully detailed post. One thing I loved about this post are the photos. They are elegantly illustrated. Thanks for this one, Freddie.
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