M'kama

Kammanassie Nature Reserve (15 minutes) gets its name from the Khoisan word meaning 'mountain of water'. That sums it up well; 50,000 acres of hills laced with streams and rivers, home to a rare band of Cape mountain zebras, and visited overhead by black eagles. Drive 15 minutes in the other direction and you reach Prince Alfred's Pass, a much loved local lookout spot with views right down to the ocean. If you continue on the road, you'll enter the fabulous Knysna Forests (one hour, 15 minutes), a hilly and densely covered landscape where you might meet the likes of leopards, baboons and honey badgers. Sadly only three elephants are thought to roam freely through this montane forest, but the Knysna Elephant Park (an hour from the site) is rebuilding the population with rescued and orphaned youngsters from all across Africa. Carry on down to Knysna (one hour, 20 minutes) for beaches, boat rides and fishing trips. Surfers head round to Buffalo Bay, 10 kilometres out of Knysna town, while those in search of solitude can't do better than Noetzie (also 10 kilometres), a matchless strip of empty white sands bordered by a nature reserve. Watch the baboons don't nick your picnic.