Eco-paradise: exploring South Africa’s hidden botanical gem

Travel writer Brian Berkman discovers why the pristine Kogelberg Nature Reserve, east of Cape Town, offers the perfect off-the-grid escape for botanical lovers in the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom.

- Brian Berkman

The Kogelberg Nature Reserve, a CapeNature managed and protected natural area is, because of the exceptional quality of its fynbos, considered the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom.

With around 1 800 plant species, of which 150 are endemic and important, the reserve lies within the southern Hottentots Holland Mountains.

The reserve, comprising 18 000ha, has been kept wild and pristine, and this is essential to its survival.

The Kogelberg was South Africa’s first registered biosphere reserve and it encompasses the entire coastal area ranging from Gordon's Bay to the Bot River vlei, in Kleinmond, and inland to the Groenland Mountains of Grabouw.

While leopards and caracal have been sighted, and the Cape clawless otter may be seen in or near the Palmiet River, the reserve has no large animals. Smaller antelope include grey rhebok, klipspringer and Cape grysbok, while baboons, porcupine, mongoose, dassies, and hares are fairly common.

Peregrine falcons, black eagles, and fish eagles hunt and nest in and around the reserve, while Cape sugarbirds and sunbirds are common. An endemic freshwater crab and the endangered micro frog are also to be found.

FORESTS AND RIVERS

Patches include indigenous forest – Loubos, Platbos, and Oudebos – which are similar to the Knysna forests and include yellowwood, stinkwood, and boekenhout trees.

Wild almond, rooi-els trees, Breede River yellowwood and Cape beech occur in the Palmiet’s riverine scrub. The Palmiet River begins in the