We spent the weekend at Forest Edge chalets on the edge of the magical Knysna forest in the Rheenendal area. These cottages are located just a couple of minutes’ drive from the memorial of Dalene Matthee, a renowned South African writer, at Krisjan-se-Nek. This was her favorite spot in the Knysna Forest.
Through Dalene Matthee’s books, the stories of the Knysna forest took on a new life. We followed Saul Barnard and Old Foot on the forest footpaths in Circles in a Forest. We got to know the people of the forest in Fiela’s Child and the Mulberry Forest. And we got a glimpse of the magic of the forest through Karoliena Kapp in Dream Forest.
En excerpt from : www.dalenematthee.co.za
It was a weekend filled with the happy chirping of birds in the morning when the sun rises, the humming of bees, getting into bed at night when a thousand frogs chatter non-stop in the pond, lazing in the hammock with a book and a glass of wine and walking among ancient trees in the forest. Peace and quiet for the soul.
The Circles in the Forest Walk at Krisjan-se-Nek took us through thick fern filled valleys and over bumbling brooks with ice cold but crystal clear mountain water.
Along the walk we admired the awesomeness of some 800 year old Yellowwood trees and tried to identify some of the Iron wood, Candal wood and various other indigenous trees while traversing the forest. I must say the information boards along the walk is a great help to the uninformed like myself.
Looking closely, hidden amongst leaves and fallen branches a magical world of fungi are revealed displaying an array of different colours ranging from bright orange to mossy greens and muddy browns.
And then …. a red feather! Although we were not lucky enough to spot the elusive Knysna Loerie, with its brilliant red and green wings, in the tree tops I was lucky enough to stumble across a dropped red feather on the forest floor. Magic!
ooOOoo