A True Hidden Treasure – Platbos Forest Reserve

Ahoy there sailors! 

Platbos Forest

Upon waking up at The Windsor Hotel on a typical Hermanus winters morning you might think to yourself what should I do today? With so much that Hermanus has to offer you still might be challenged to do something a little different. Our suggestion is that you treat yourself to something that can only be described as really getting in touch with nature and finding inner peace. In order to do that climb in your car and drive 30 minutes towards Gansbaai, turn left at the Grootbos sign just before De Kelders and drive onto the dirt road, go down the little pass and come to a truly ‘unique South African Forest Jewel’ that is the enchanting forest of Platbos.

Upon entering the Platbos Forest you will immediately know that you have come across something that touches you deep in your soul. Abandon your car at the car park and lose yourself in this ancient indigenous forest. Hug a tree that’s hundreds of years old and feel the vibration of Africa penetrate your deep inner self.

What makes Platbos so unique is not only that it’s thousands of years old or that it’s Africa’s Southernmost Indigenous Forest. No, what makes Platbos truly unique is that it’s a botanical mystery. In a time where the planet is gradually warming up, all relic forests are retreating into moist mountain ravines, but not Platbos. Platbos stands on a North-facing gentle undulating alkaline soiled terrain with no river course feeding the forest and given the relatively low rainfall in the region it is absolutely amazing that this forest even exists.

Platbos Forest Location

One might attribute it’s existence to the cool coastal mists which blanket the forest in the early hours of the summer months. The abundance of mosses, epiphytes, trees, unique flowers and plants that are available to see are truly a sight to behold.

Platbos is one of the few indigenous forests left in the Western Cape given that only 0.05% of the land is covered in indigenous forests, this is truly a rare experience.

A great time to visit Platbos is in the month of May when the guardians of the Platbos Forest put on a couple of exciting festivals such as the Re-Forest Fest which is a great opportunity to mix music + Trees = Love and you get a chance to help them re-forest the area with indigenous trees. Please check out Platbos Forest Reserve website as well as their Facebook Page to help support them and be part of a healing process. 

GreenPop Facebook Page.

Platbos Re-Forest GreenPop

Platbos has a range of accommodation options and forest trails, they even have a nursery where you can buy indigenous plants from them. All your support goes back into protecting and growing the Platbos Forest. While you’re at Platbos you’ll make great friends with the guardians, Francois and Melissa Krige truly lovely people who will show you things that we just would not see with our city eyes.

Treat yourself to a Platbos soul generating, thought provoking and magical experience.

Wish you all pain sailing until we meet again next week, same place, same time.

Re-forestation of Platbos

“Women and children first”

"Women and children first", this has become commonly known as the “Birkenhead Drill”. A phrase made famous in Rudyard Kipling and has come to describe courage in the face of a hopeless situation.

On the 26^th February 1852 at 02:00 in the morning the 1918 tonne ship struck rocks just off Danger Point and the wheels were set in motion for what would become the legend of the Birkenhead and the courage of the soldiers on board.

Captain Salmond gave the order for the ship to back off the rocks and in so doing ripped the bulkheads open and the ship began to sink.

The order to deploy the life boats was given and of the five only three could be deployed, one of which immediately sank. The instructions for “women and children first” was called for the first time in maritime history. These words hold fast to this day.

The soldiers of the 74^th regiment of foot and the Queens royal regiment who were on their way to fight in their 8^th cause of war were called to the decks and were ordered into rank and file. Colonel Seton of the 74^th foot dispatched men to deploy the life boats and chain the pumps, the others were to remain in rank and file. 

Within the next 10 minutes the ship had been torn in two and the aft section sank within seconds. The men were crowded now on the stern of the boat as she sank. Captain Salmond called for all the men to jump overboard and make for the boats; however Colonel Seton recognized that the men would swamp the boats causing them to sink with the women and children and ordered the men to stand fast. This they did. Seton ordered the horses to be set free in the hope that they would swim for shore and the soldiers remained calm as the ship sank beneath their feet.

Within 20 minutes of striking the rock the Birkenhead sunk. Some men made it to the shore approximately 3.2km’s while others drowned or died of exposure. As day broke the schooner lioness discovered one of the cutters and after saving the occupants of the second boat as well made their way to the scene of the disaster. Arriving the afternoon she rescued 40 more people that were still clinging to the rigging and the final tally was of the approximately 643 people on board. Only 193 survived including all the women and children. A number of surviving sailors were later court martialed as a result of the accident, but nobody was found guilty for the disaster as none of the senior officers survived.

Every year on the 26^th of February a small ceremony takes place at Danger Point Light House in which this tragic and heroic event is remembered. And a wreath is laid down in remembrance for those who lost their lives. So when next you visit Gansbaai for a shark cage dive pop past the light house and view the little memorial that still stands.