About Us

In the wild stretch between the Outeniqua Mountains and the Indian Ocean lies Tsitsikamma, a place where time is measured not in years, but in the slow growth of yellowwood rings and the relentless pulse of the tide. This is South Africa’s “Place of Much Water,” a sanctuary where ancient history and modern adventure collide.

The Dawn: People of the Sparkling Water
ong before the first sails appeared on the horizon, the Khoisan people—the San hunter-gatherers and Khoe pastoralists—were the true guardians of this coastline. For over 20,000 years, they lived in a rhythmic dance with nature, harvesting protein from rocky intertidal pools and gathering roots from the fynbos.

The name “Tsitsikamma” is their legacy, a Khoi word describing the abundance of freshwater rivers that carve deep, dramatic gorges through the plateau before spilling into the sea.

Today, you can still find ancient shell middens—the discarded remains of prehistoric seafood feasts—tucked away in coastal caves, a silent testament to a culture that lived in perfect equilibrium with the land.
A Legacy of Preservation
As the axes took their toll, voices for conservation rose. In 1964, Tsitsikamma made history by being proclaimed Africa’s first Marine National Park.

Era of Giants and Woodcutters
By the mid-1800s, the “impenetrable” forests caught the eye of the Cape Colony. This became the frontier of the woodcutting industry, where legendary “forest giants”—the Outeniqua Yellowwoods—were felled to build the wagons, ships, and railway sleepers that forged a nation.

Life for the woodcutters was grueling. Families lived in isolated forest clearings, using teams of oxen to haul massive logs through mud and dense undergrowth. It was a time of “mystery and romance,” where the ghosts of these woodcutters and the last of the Knysna elephants—who once roamed these woods in great herds—still seem to linger in the morning mist.

The Master Builder’s Path
For decades, the deep river gorges of the Storms, Groot, and Bloukrans rivers were impassable barriers. In 1879, the “Master Pass Builder” Thomas Bain arrived to conquer the terrain. Bain was a visionary who famously followed elephant migratory routes to find the gentlest gradients through the mountains. Using hand tools, explosives, and the labour of nearly 200 convicts, he hand-chiselled the Storms River Pass through solid rock. Completed in 1885, this pass opened the Garden Route to the world, and its stone-lined cuttings remain a marvel of Victorian engineering.

Today, Tsitsikamma is the Adventure Capital of South Africa. You can walk the suspension bridges over the churning Storms River Mouth, kayak into silent river cathedrals, or stand on the Bloukrans Bridge—the world’s highest commercial bungee jump—to feel the same rush of wind that has shaped these cliffs for millennia.