The Wild Farm Backpackers

Want to see Africa? A swift method involves making the 10-minute car trip to the Map of Africa Viewpoint: from a hilltop near Wilderness and overlooking a bend in the Kaaimans River, the landscape suddenly resembles the shape of the continent. Also 10 minutes away, the forested slopes, rivers, lakes and beaches of the Wilderness National Park are brimming both with wildlife and different ways to see it: spot kingsfishers, egrets and the vivid plumage of Knysna Loeries as you hike, horse trek or canoe round the park; many of the trails here end conveniently with waterfalls and pools for dips. If mountains are more your thing, it’s about an hour to the Otenqiqua Mountains and surrounding Witfontein Nature Reserve, where there are hikes of varying lengths and difficulty through high passes full of rock paintings, burial sites and markers left by the early settlers... as eagles and Cape sugarbirds flit overhead. Hit the beach in 10 minutes down at Wilderness or head east or west depending on your levels of surfing agility: Buffels Bay is a good spot to learn the art of wave riding and Mossel Bay is where you go when you’re good at it; both are about 50 minutes’ drive away.