Activities in Wilderness

Activities in and around Wilderness

Outeniqua Power Van

The Outeniqua Power Van departs from the Outeniqua Transport Museum in Mission Road in George. to the Great Brak River station, where guests can enjoy a picnic at the Opispoor Station Restaurant, and the other up the side of the Outeniqua Mountains.

En route to Great Brak the power van crosses the Gwaing and Maalgate bridges, passing dairy farms along the way. From Glentana the rail trip offers a stunning sea view with coastal fynbos growing along the tracks.
The entire trip, including the picnic stop, takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes. The van travels every day except Sundays and the tariff is R180 per adult and R150 per child (3-15 years). Groups of up to 20 can be accommodated. 
Click here for directions.
Tel: 044 801 8239 • Cell: 0824905627 

WildXAdventures 

Feeling adventurous? WildX offers quad bike rides, ziplines, paintballs, segways, horse riding, abseiling........

Click here for their website. Tel: 079 802 6899

Wilderness Mountain Bike Hire

They offer full day, half day and per hour mountain bike rental. Guided tours are available.
Talk to Ryan Maarman - Tel: 0832591519
Click here for directions and here for their website.

Wilderness River Safaris

Enjoy the natural beauty of Wilderness by cruising on the Touw River or Island Lake in a safari style aluminium boat. Encounter magnificent bird life and breath-taking scenery. A leisurely  experience for people of all ages. A great way to experience and explore the Wilderness Section of Garden Route National Park.

Click here for directions.
Tel: 0824409807

Horse Riding

Perdepoort Horse Trails offers guided forest horse rides. They have well-trained horses to match all needs and caters for beginners and experienced riders. The owner accompanies each ride. Her personal involvement and care  The cost is around R300 per hour.  Click here for directions.
Tel: 0826468290

Canoeing, abseiling, kloofing and other watery adventures.

Eden Adventures offers activities in and around Wilderness. You can rent a canoe, row up the Touws river and then hike up to the waterfall – a round trip of about 3 hours. The Eden canoes are flat-bottomed and not easy to capsize.  Be aware of the incoming and outgoing tide, though – rowing back against the tide when returning can be sometimes be tiring. You can also embark on more adventurous activities such as abseiling and kloofing.

Click here for their website and here for directions.
Tel: 044 8770179

Paragliding

Cloudbase Paragliding and Dolphin Paragliding for single or tandem paragliding. Qualified and professional pilots offer tandem paragliding flights across the Garden Route from various sites, depending on the wind.
Telephone to arrange for a call back when conditions are right. 
Cloudbase: Click here for their website.Tel: 082 777 8474
Dolphin: Click here for their website. Tel: 0836109147

Sandboarding

Located outside Mossel Bay, 'Dragon Dune' is the biggest and longest sandboard ride in South Africa. Situated on private land, this 'beast' provides the ultimate ride on sand, similar to snowboarding. They cater for all age groups, beginners and pro’s. If you don’t feel confident enough to stand up on your board, you can also sit down or enjoy a belly board ride.

The duration of the trip is 3 HOURS and bookings must be made a day in advance. All gear are provided. They usually focus on morning sessions but afternoon trips can be arranged. All tours meet at the Mossel Bay ENGEN 1 STOP petrol station, 10 minutes past Mossel Bay on the N2 in the direction towards Cape Town.
Click here for their website and here for directions.
Tel: 082 777 8474

Hiking

The walks and hikes through the Wilderness National Park (2500ha) and the adjoining reserves are ideal for discovering the many birds, plants and animals ofTel: 082 555 8122 this unique area.

Keen birders will spot forest species as well as grassland, wetland, shore and marine birds. Bird hides have been carefully situated at Rondevlei and BoLangvlei. You can explore many rivers (which have their source in the Outeniqua Mountains) on foot, along an extensive network of hikes and trails. Some are easy, others more challenging. The trails range from one hour to seven days to complete. Maps are available at the National Park office: - exit Mes Amis, cross the N2 and follow the road into the park. We do not keep maps as it is difficult to remain up to date with repairs to and closures of walks. 

Click here for their website and here for directions.
Tel: 044 877 8010

Ben at Birdwatchers.co.za conducts guided walks in Wilderness, especially geared to (surprise!) birdwatching. He is a longtime bird person who has in depth knowledge of the area and its birds. He offers 3-4 hour walks or even, for the avid birders, full day walks.

Click here for his website.
Tel: 082 555 8122

Segway Tours in the Wilderness National Park

Wilderness Segway tours operates within the Park – look for the green flags on the left as you enter the park. Included in the 1-hour Segway tour is a 15-20 minute training session. After the training, take a journey through on the Kingfisher Trail where you will marvel at the fynbos and Wetlands surrounding you.
Click here for their website.
Tel: 081 320 3977

Markets

The Outeniqua Farmer’s Market in George is open every Saturday morning from 08:00 to 14:00.

A wide variety of fresh produce, bread, conserves, cheese, olive oil, olives, oysters and smoked meat is on offer at keen prices. In season some entertainment generally in the form of a traditional Cape band provides an interesting local flavour. An adjacent arts and craft market is also well worth visiting.

Click here for directions.

Township Tour in Knysna – Emzini Tours

A very personal tour of the Knysna Township under the guidance of the owners, Ella Mahlulo and Penny Mainwaring.

On the face of it, townships are sprawling, chaotic zones overflowing with South Africa’s most disadvantaged citizens. This is to some extent true but delve deeper 
and you recognise that they are also places of great strength, courage, song and dance, survival, love and yes, happiness.
Emzini Tours will provide you with a glimpse of this reality, offering insight into the areas that people often shy away from.

The tour lasts 3 hours. You will meet many local shop owners, visit the brightly illustrated, Nigerian Restaurant operating in the Township and visit the Shebeen (pub) and play a bit of snooker or listen to the juke box music.
On to the Paula Whitney Pre School, teeming with exuberant, laughing children, where you will be given the most amazing welcome.
Then a visit with the “Women of Vision” – a self-employed team of motivated women who have a sewing group and put together some beautiful articles that make great gifts to take home as a memory of South Africa.
The next stop is at Ella’s house in the Township for refreshments.
This is where the name EMZINI really comes into action – as it means “home” in Xhosa, and Emzini Tours is named such, to give you that “home from home” experience. Here everyone relaxes, has some refreshments and gets to know one another. Ella and Thandi will sing the famous Xhosa Click song and others for you, teach you some Xhosa phrases and explain some Xhosa traditions. R350 per person.
Tel: 0823386289. Tours start at 10am, so you need to depart Mes Amis at 9am.
Click here for their website and here for directions to the meeting place at the Knysna Waterfront.

Drives

The Seven Passes road (CLOSED FOR NOW) is the old George-Knysna road. It is a great drive, meandering through pristine forest.

Turn into Wilderness Village at the Caltex petrol station. Follow the road until you get to a roundabout with the Protea hotel on your left. Turn left. You will eventually arrive at a T-junction, signposted Knysna to the
right and George to the left. Turn left. The road is in good condition. 

The Meiringspoort/Swartberg Pass drive (CLOSED FOR NOW) is probably one of the most scenic trips in the country. Ask us for our information brochure for more details. If you have most of a day spare, do not miss the opportunity to experience this drive.

The Herold Winery round trip takes you over the Outeniqua pass outside George, over the Outeniqua mountain, though the Waboomskraal hops fields, then onto the Herold road where you can have some snacks and taste the wines of the only winery in this region (they make a pretty good shiraz…) and then back to George via the Montagu Pass, built by Henry Fancourt in 1844 with the help of some 250 convicts.