Ten years ago Anton and Amor Barnes bought the perfect retirement spot in a beautiful part of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Today they are anything but retired and working seven days a week running Karkloof Canopy Tours.
It all started with a visit to Knysna eight years ago when they got the chance to experience South Africa’s first canopy tour in the Tsitsikamma Forest. They were instantly hooked.
As fate would have it, canopy tour engineer Mark Brown was at Tsitsikamma at the same time and the Barnes couple invited him to visit their property in Karkloof to assess its suitability. A site meeting at the Barnes’s property was followed by an environmental impact study and, seven months thereafter, the Karkloof Canopy Tour was opened.
I’ve always wanted to get in touch with my inner Tarzan and last week I got the chance.
First, though, there was the thorough briefing, which was followed by a signing away of my life. Then it was on with the necessary gear, a group photo and into a 4x4 for the steep ride to the first platform. I appreciated the Alice Through the Looking Glass references as we entered the forest trail and prepared to launch off Rabbit Hole platform, more than 30m above the forest floor and with magnificent views.
I don’t want to give the plot away, so to say, by detailing the experience of zipping along at speeds of around 60km/h on “foefie slides” as long as 180m, but suffice to say it was exhilarating. For the nervous, it’s worth mentioning my companion had sampled such jaunts across the globe so was well qualified to praise the attention to safety by our three locally-trained guides, and the efficiency of the emergency braking system.
Karkloof Canopy Tours has created much-needed work opportunities in the area and is essentially operated and managed by community members. There are nine slides and one belay, about 1km in all. The platforms are built high in, or above, the forest canopy and all offer different views of the giant yellowwoods, stinkwoods and Cape chestnut, a beautiful waterfall, sparkling forest streams and the expansive Karkloof valley. It is a thrilling way to experience Karkloof’s beauty. The forest is home to abundant bird life and a number of mammals, most common of which is the Samango monkey whose loud calls and fearless tree swinging compete with the whoops of excited, airborne humans.
Once back on the ground, there’s time to share your experiences over a provided light meal, followed by a slide show of the many photos taken by the guides which you can buy on disc. I guarantee plenty of goofy smiles!
Canopy tours originated in the lush rainforests of Costa Rica where adventurous biologists, desperate to learn more about the diversity of animal life that inhabits the upper canopy level of forests, devised a system of cables and platforms that would allow them to explore this previously inaccessible ecosystem. This developed into an eco-tourism activity that raised awareness of the plight and beauty of the world’s endangered indigenous forests. Involved in managing, designing and constructing two of these arboreal playgrounds, Mark Brown returned to South Africa and, with Ashley Wentworth, launched the first canopy tours in South Africa. Besides Tsitsikamma and Karkloof they have done others in the Magaliesberg, Magoebaskloof, the Drakensberg and Malolotja in Swaziland.
Anyone between the ages of seven and 70 can do the tour as long as they are able-bodied. To book, call 033 330 3415, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.karkloofcanopytour.co.za.
The cost is R450 each, with discounts for those 12 and younger. - Sunday Tribune