Every year, people and organisations around the globe celebrate World Oceans Day on the 8th of June. It is a day to contemplate the life sustaining role of the earth’s oceans for us humans and the life forms with which we share the “blue planet”, and we’re encouraged to commit to ways to limit our own individual negative impacts on this vital resource.
This photograph shows a small portion of the Tsitsikamma coast in the Garden Route National Park, South Africa’s oldest marine protected area.
We don’t have many true forests in South Africa, and over the years much of the forests that there was has fallen to man’s greed. Luckily, some of the remaining forest patches today enjoy protection in national parks and nature reserves. Pictured here is a giant Outeniqua Yellowwood Tree that towers almost 40 meters high and a must see for anyone visiting the Tsitsikamma Forest in the Garden Route National Park.
We’re participating in the online adventure travel and photography magazine LetsBeWild.com‘s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge for bloggers. This week’s challenge is “The Forest“.
The 77m long suspension bridge across the Storms River in the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park, South Africa.
Fairy tale forests and rugged rocky shores
Tsitsikamma was South Africa’s first coastal national park, and has recently been incorporated into the newly proclaimed Garden Route National Park which spans the borders of the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces.
The Garden Route is one of South Africa’s best known tourist attractions, and the Tsitsikamma is a very popular destination, especially in summer. Accommodation and camping is provided by the South African National Parks at Nature’s Valley and Storms River Mouth – the former in a beautiful forest setting near the Groot River estuary and the latter right on the rocky shores of the Indian Ocean.
Hiking is a popular pastime in the Tsitsikamma, and at Storms River Mouth there’s a variety of trails to suit most tastes and fitness levels. The most popular of these lead to a suspension bridge, 77 meters long, across the Storms River just before it empties into the sea.
The wide range of habitats provides refuge to a rich diversity of plants, small animals and birds and the scenery is extraordinarily spectacular.
Many visitors spend weeks at a time here in the Tsitsikamma, and once you’ve experienced it for yourself it is easy to understand why.
DeWetsWild 