By Roxanne Reid
Gansbaai and De Kelders, about 45km southwest of Hermanus on the southern Cape coast, are just a two- or three-hour drive east of Cape Town. You might think this area is all about the ocean, whale watching and great white sharks, but you’d be wrong. It’s also where you’ll find the captivating Platbos indigenous forest in the Overberg.
Gansbaai and De Kelders, about 45km southwest of Hermanus on the southern Cape coast, are just a two- or three-hour drive east of Cape Town. You might think this area is all about the ocean, whale watching and great white sharks, but you’d be wrong. It’s also where you’ll find the captivating Platbos indigenous forest in the Overberg.
Platbos Forest was a surprise in so many ways. If we hadn’t gone looking for it, we’d never have suspected it was hiding there, between the ocean and the mountains. It was 29°C when we passed through Stanford on a hot February day, so the coolness under the forest canopy was a surprise too – a very pleasant one.
We stayed over at Platbos’s enchanting Honey Bee Camp, but I’ll tell you more about that in another post. The next morning we went for a forest walk with soft-spoken horticulturist Melissa Krige, whose passion for this patch of forest shone from her face.
We stayed over at Platbos’s enchanting Honey Bee Camp, but I’ll tell you more about that in another post. The next morning we went for a forest walk with soft-spoken horticulturist Melissa Krige, whose passion for this patch of forest shone from her face.
The delightful Honey Bee Camp hides in the indigenous forest - but more about that in another post
She and her arborist husband Francois fell in love with Platbos ten years ago and bought it with a dream of touching the earth lightly and reforesting some marginal areas that had been taken over by rooikrans and other aliens. In the past decade they – and friends of the forest who come here for a planting festival each May (see ‘Need to know’ below) – have planted some 22 000 new trees. They also have a nursery where they take just-germinated seeds from the forest and nurture them for planting elsewhere.
Only 0.56% of South Africa is indigenous forest and Melissa explained that Platbos’s survival is a mystery. ‘Usually, forests survive temperature increases over time by retreating into kloofs and ravines where it’s shady and moist,’ she said. ‘But Platbos is on gently undulating land with sandy alkaline soil, low rainfall, and no river for moisture. Despite this, the trees have survived, some of them for more than 1000 years.’ Occasional early morning coastal mists in the hot summer months help to sustain the forest’s moisture levels.
Only 0.56% of South Africa is indigenous forest and Melissa explained that Platbos’s survival is a mystery. ‘Usually, forests survive temperature increases over time by retreating into kloofs and ravines where it’s shady and moist,’ she said. ‘But Platbos is on gently undulating land with sandy alkaline soil, low rainfall, and no river for moisture. Despite this, the trees have survived, some of them for more than 1000 years.’ Occasional early morning coastal mists in the hot summer months help to sustain the forest’s moisture levels.
A giant milkwood - perhaps the single tree that made Francois Krige determined to call Platbos home
‘Platbos is unique,’ she said, ‘because it combines two different forest types. We have coastal forest species like milkwood, sea guarri and pock ironwood as well as Afromontane species like white stinkwood, wild peach and rock alder.’ There’s a fairly low canopy of around 10 metres, which somehow makes this ‘flatbush’ seem more accessible, more human in scale. I was pleased to learn that Platbos has been awarded contract nature reserve status with CapeNature, so even when the Kriges are long gone this special forest will remain protected.
Clockwise from top left: carving at the foot of a white stinkwood tree; close up of the shells of the labyrinth; lichen-covered branch; one of the info signs along the forest walks
Melissa pointed out some of the trees as we walked, talking about a giant milkwood here, a white stinkwood there as if they were much loved members of her family. A profusion of moss and lichen, such as old man’s beard, draped the trees even though this was the driest time of year. ‘I wish you could see the forest during the winter rains,’ she said. ‘It’s brilliant green with mosses and epiphytic ferns. All these lichens that you see are a sign of a healthy forest because they need lots of oxygen to survive.’
Melissa in the labyrinth she built in the forest, using pearlescent giant alikreukel shells she found on the property
At Platbos different tree species grow intertwined in clumps. ‘You see this often in desert plants,’ she explained. ‘Our Platbos trees grow in nutrient-rich islands, maybe out of fallen tree trunks that trap moisture and turn into nutrient-rich soil. It’s an adaptation they have made to cope with dry conditions. When we work on our reforestation patches, we plant in similar clumps.’
Melissa on a forest walk among ancient trees, lichens, leaf-mulch paths and dappled sunlight
Platbos is home to many animals too: the Cape leopard whose coughing was heard by one of the staff on the day we arrived, a troop of 100 baboons that sweep through the forest in search of food when trees like the sea guarri or wild olive have fruit. ‘They’re still wild and unhabituated to humans,’ said Melissa, who aims to keep them that way.
Other animals that call the forest home include bushbuck, caracal, porcupine, honey badger and genet, as well as leopard toad, tree frog and parrot-beaked tortoise. Birdsong is a constant background chatter, with barn owl, paradise flycatcher, bar-throated apalis, Cape batis, olive thrush and cardinal woodpecker being just a few of those you might hear or see.
Other animals that call the forest home include bushbuck, caracal, porcupine, honey badger and genet, as well as leopard toad, tree frog and parrot-beaked tortoise. Birdsong is a constant background chatter, with barn owl, paradise flycatcher, bar-throated apalis, Cape batis, olive thrush and cardinal woodpecker being just a few of those you might hear or see.
Platbos has a profusion of lichens like old man's beard and other flowering plants
Melissa has created a range of tree mists that combine natural homeopathic remedies made from the flowers and leaves of the 13 main Platbos trees - the African Tree Essences - with a blend of essential oils from plants that include fynbos. They’re sold at Platbos as well as by Rain Africa and in stores in the UK and Holland. When we visited, Melissa was busy preparing an order of tree mists for her distributor in Japan.
Melissa in the nursery where tiny trees are nurtured for Platbos' reforestation areas
Walking in this shady forest was a treat. Even without Melissa as our guide there were chances to learn something. A few trees have been labelled, and there were a couple of info boards to explain forest dynamics. Here and there were wooden benches where we could relax to drink it all in. ‘Being in a natural forest has been scientifically shown to lower blood pressure and heart rate, and boost your immune system and concentration levels,’ said Melissa. ‘It can also enhance creativity, relieve stress and increase empathy for nature and other people.’
I don’t know about all that; I just know that I was happy to be there, listening to the birds, feeling the cooling breeze, watching the dappled sunlight skip through the leaves.
I don’t know about all that; I just know that I was happy to be there, listening to the birds, feeling the cooling breeze, watching the dappled sunlight skip through the leaves.
The info hut, where you can find maps, photos, tree mists and facts about the forest and its plants
Need to know
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- You can walk in the forest even if you’re not staying at Platbos. Book ahead on 082-4110448 (Mon-Fri, office hours). Get a map from the info kiosk and pay R50 an adult, R20 a child into the honesty box.
- How to get there: take the R43 from Stanford to Gansbaai. About 12km from Stanford take the left turn towards Grootbos. 6km further on this gravel road you’ll come to the Platbos turnoff on your right.
- Find out more about the Greenpop/Platbos Reforest Fest each May and buy your tickets to camp in Africa’s most southerly forest, plant thousands of trees and dance to live music.
- Give the gift of growth – sponsor a tree as a gift.
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