Wilderness Lagoon

Wilderness Lagoon is another one of those paddles you just have to do. I would rate this as one of my favourite paddling destinations to this point.
Again, it is a lagoon so it will be wise to take tides and water levels into consideration before embarking on this trip and finding yourself stranded. The tide was a little low when we paddled the area so there were times when we had to chimp walk our boats over shallow sections. No problem for Suz’s plastic but another few scrapes to my gel coat - oh well its character they say.

What is Chimp walking?


We found that the Eden Aventure’s base camp was an awesome spot to launch from. Your vehicle is safe, there is a lovely slipway, you can stock up on drinks and munchies at base camp and the people where very helpful in showing us the possible routes and times. It is also good to note that Eden Adventures specialize in organizing adventure tours in the area and even hire out canoes if you forget your kayak at home. If you do bring your own boat, you will just need to pay Park Fees which is covered by your wildcard if you have one. If I am not mistaken the cost was something like R25/p for a day.You get there by taking the Wilderness National Park, Eden Adventures turnoff from the N2 and looking out for the Eden Adventures board once your enter the National Park.



We first headed out towards the mouth of the lagoon which is a 3km paddle one way. This section of the Touw River has houses on its banks but is still predominately natural with bird life and fish life abound.

Towards the lagoon mouth


It was also interesting to note how the waters outward current increased as we got nearer to the mouth of the lagoon. When we reached the N2 bridge the current was actually quite scary so we turned around and headed up stream. A word of caution – the coast at Wilderness is renowned for being one of the most dangerous seas in South Africa. The big waves and uneven ocean floor make for a messy sea with numerous strong currents that often cause unsuspecting swimmers a little excessive excitement.

North of the launch site


To the north of the launching site the river gets more pristine as you go further up. Wilderness National Park has a beautiful camping site along the river with grass all round and ample shade. As can be seen from the photos, the area past the camp is very wild and mostly natural forest vegetation.

Pristine


We were fortunate enough to spot a Knysna Loerie hopping around in some trees so if you are a birder, be on the lookout. This is also where the lack of water became more of a problem as there were some very shallow sections along the way. At the point where we stopped, about 2.5km from launch, the hiking trail starts that leads to the waterfall. Apparently it is quite a beautiful walk along the river covered by forest.

The Serpentine River


Branching off of the Touw river is the Serpentine River which is also navigable when the water levels are sufficient. Here grass and bulrush cover the riverbanks and provide shelter for many birds.
We paddled about 12.5km in total but this can be increased by going further along the Serpentine River.

Launching site

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