Tsitsikamma National Park

Tsitsikamma is a Khoikhoi word where tsi means "clear" or "clean" and kamma means "water" or "river." Thus, it could be translated into, for example, "clean, clean water" or "clear clear river." The Khoikhoi were nomadic pastoral people who moved around to provide their livestock with enough grazing. They had cattle, goats, and fat-tail sheep, but preferred not to eat their cattle as it was a sign of wealth. They instead used cows for milk. They also harvested bulbs, roots, and fruit from the land. The Khoikhoi that occupied Tsitsikamma was known as the Houteniqua, meaning "man laden with honey." The Khoikhoi arrived in the Southern Cape between 2 500 and 2 000 years ago.

Shell middens on the coast indicate that Stone Age people occupied the land long before the Khoikhoi arrived. The Europeans only arrived in this area in the eighteenth century. Tsitsikamma National Park is now grouped with Wilderness and Knysna to form the Garden Route National Park. When Tsitsikamma National Park was established in 1946, a marine protected area was also incorporated along the 80km coastline. It was the first marine national park in Africa. Worldwide this is one of the largest single-unit Marine Protected Areas with a 'no take' policy that includes fishing. It provides a baseline for fisheries research on endangered line fish species.

The animals that are most likely to be encountered are Chacma baboons and vervet monkeys. These primates are plentiful; food must not be left unattended, as they will steal it. Numerous antelope species occur, the most common being bushbuck. Other antelope species include common duiker, steenbok, grysbok, klipspringer and blue duiker. The secretive Cape mountain leopard is the largest predator, only seen on camera traps. Caracal is spotted occasionally, and Cape clawless otters can be seen going into the ocean before high tide. From the high cliffs, southern right whales and humpback whales can be spotted in season. Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins occur throughout the year.

Several bat species come out of their caves at dusk to feed on insects. Numerous nocturnal species like large-spotted genet, bush pigs, porcupines, and striped pole cats move around in the small hours of the morning. The indigenous forest is home to many birds, of which the Knysna Turaco (Loerie) is the best known. During the day, the calls of the red-chested cuckoo, Knysna Turaco, and Burchell's coucal can be heard, and at night they are replaced by the calls of Cape eagle owl, spotted eagle owl, fiery-neck nightjar, and common thick knee. In pristine sections of the forest, the beautiful narina trogon will mesmerize bird watchers. At night, the forest transforms into a mystical wonderland when the fireflies come out.

Tsitsikamma is known for its cliffs, and massive river valleys, not to mention the ancient Cape Fold Mountains to the north. The bedrock consists of heavily weathered metamorphic rock. The bedrock is heavily jointed, meaning that weaker zones in the rock form parallel to each other. One can see this on the coast, where the weaker areas weathered away along the joints forming little gaps that resemble 'slices' in the rock. Geologically, Tsitsikamma falls within the Table Mountain Group, within the larger Cape Supergroup. The original rock formed in this group was deposited in a shallow marine environment 510 to 400 million years ago.

The park is best known for its lush indigenous forests with towering yellowwoods. Other massive species include the red elder, Cape ash, hard pear, and black stinkwood. Between these trees, you may also find 'monkey rope' or wild vine that the primates use to move through the forest. There are, however, much more plant species within the four types of fynbos. These four fynbos species are short Asteraceae fynbos, tall fynbos, Passerina fynbos and Restoid fynbos. Tsitsikamma also contains semi-aquatic flora and aquatic plants. The semi-aquatic flora includes plants like reeds, sedges and bulrushes. Aquatic plants include species such as pondweed and seagrass.