George and the Wilderness Region
George is a quiet inland town, founded in 1811 and named after King George III, king of England and must have provided some small compensation for the loss of Georgetown in America!
Dominated by the mountain peaks of George and Cradock, George is situated on a level plain just 8kms from Victoria Bay beach, but at an altitude of 226m above sea level. It sits astride The Garden Route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth which is an intermediate zone between the dry western and the wet eastern zones of the South Africa, as well as being a narrow coastal strip sandwiched between the sea and the mountains. It is the only part of South Africa to enjoy an 'English climate' where hops grow easily.
There was a forestry station here as early as 1778 and George's timber-orientated history is displayed in the Museum in the handsome Old Drostdy. This was, in previous centuries, the heartland of a great primeval forest which stretched unbroken from inland of Cape Agulhas to beyond Port Elizabeth, a distance of 300 kms. The huge, slow-growing Yellowood and Stinkwood trees were cut down to build ox-wagons and to burn for charcoal. In 1936 the cutting down of all trees in the town of George was banned for 200 years in a last ditch effort to preserve something for posterity. George has the oldest Catholic Church in South Africa; a big Dutch Reformed Church and a very beautiful, albeit small, Anglican cathedral.
George became a municipality in 1837 and in 1850 Bishop Robert Gray, founder of the Diocesan College for Boys in Cape Town, consecrated the town's St Mark's Church, which became a cathedral in 1911.
Today George is more of a commercial centre. However, there is an active sports centre, a flying club, an excellent golf course and the 137 km (86 mile) Outeniqua hiking trail starts nearby at Witfontein.
George Bennet, bought an area between George and Knysna and called it Wilderness, for that is exactly what it was. The forest-covered hills of the region tumble down to a sandy beach more than 8 kilometres long. It has a dangerous backwash, but is fine for sunbathing, angling and walking and has long been favoured by honeymooners. Behind it are a series of salt-water lakes, set among forested hills that are a fisherman's and birdwatchers paradise. They extend almost to the Knysna Lagoon and are partly managed by the National Parks Board.
The first lake, the Serpentine, leads from the river estuary to Island Lake where there is a yacht club. Further East Langvlei and Rondevlei are protected. The much larger Swartvlei has a channel to the sea at Sedgefield, where regattas are held. Finally, the freshwater Groenvlei, beyond Sedgefield, has a small nature reserve where you can walk. The lakes are a sanctuary for water birds, the forests protect the scarlet-winged Knysna Loerie, and there is good fishing in the Swartvlei for leer fish and for black bass in the Groenvlei. These lakes are representative of many similar lakes which are found parallel to the sea and a short distance (less than 500 metres) from it all the way along the east coast as far as the Zambezi River.
These coastal wetlands are reminders of an ancient world where the water level of the oceans was at least 100 metres higher than it is today. The wetland marshes and lakes are now where the beaches used to be.
Dominated by the mountain peaks of George and Cradock, George is situated on a level plain just 8kms from Victoria Bay beach, but at an altitude of 226m above sea level. It sits astride The Garden Route between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth which is an intermediate zone between the dry western and the wet eastern zones of the South Africa, as well as being a narrow coastal strip sandwiched between the sea and the mountains. It is the only part of South Africa to enjoy an 'English climate' where hops grow easily.
There was a forestry station here as early as 1778 and George's timber-orientated history is displayed in the Museum in the handsome Old Drostdy. This was, in previous centuries, the heartland of a great primeval forest which stretched unbroken from inland of Cape Agulhas to beyond Port Elizabeth, a distance of 300 kms. The huge, slow-growing Yellowood and Stinkwood trees were cut down to build ox-wagons and to burn for charcoal. In 1936 the cutting down of all trees in the town of George was banned for 200 years in a last ditch effort to preserve something for posterity. George has the oldest Catholic Church in South Africa; a big Dutch Reformed Church and a very beautiful, albeit small, Anglican cathedral.
George became a municipality in 1837 and in 1850 Bishop Robert Gray, founder of the Diocesan College for Boys in Cape Town, consecrated the town's St Mark's Church, which became a cathedral in 1911.
Today George is more of a commercial centre. However, there is an active sports centre, a flying club, an excellent golf course and the 137 km (86 mile) Outeniqua hiking trail starts nearby at Witfontein.
George Bennet, bought an area between George and Knysna and called it Wilderness, for that is exactly what it was. The forest-covered hills of the region tumble down to a sandy beach more than 8 kilometres long. It has a dangerous backwash, but is fine for sunbathing, angling and walking and has long been favoured by honeymooners. Behind it are a series of salt-water lakes, set among forested hills that are a fisherman's and birdwatchers paradise. They extend almost to the Knysna Lagoon and are partly managed by the National Parks Board.
The first lake, the Serpentine, leads from the river estuary to Island Lake where there is a yacht club. Further East Langvlei and Rondevlei are protected. The much larger Swartvlei has a channel to the sea at Sedgefield, where regattas are held. Finally, the freshwater Groenvlei, beyond Sedgefield, has a small nature reserve where you can walk. The lakes are a sanctuary for water birds, the forests protect the scarlet-winged Knysna Loerie, and there is good fishing in the Swartvlei for leer fish and for black bass in the Groenvlei. These lakes are representative of many similar lakes which are found parallel to the sea and a short distance (less than 500 metres) from it all the way along the east coast as far as the Zambezi River.
These coastal wetlands are reminders of an ancient world where the water level of the oceans was at least 100 metres higher than it is today. The wetland marshes and lakes are now where the beaches used to be.
posted by African Luxury Train Destinations at
7:02 AM
0 Comments: