GEORGE NEWS - January in the Garden Route rolls by like a hangover from Christmas and New Year.
People are scrambling to make the most of the final days of the holiday, the reality of work starts to hit home, and our roads are busy with departing visitors.
Before we know it, the end of January is upon us.
But what few locals know is that the best month of the year for outdoor activity is looming ever closer. February. Fantastic February.
The days are still long, the heat has lost its savage edge, and the sunsets are wind-still and perfect. This transition period between summer and autumn holds the potential to be the most amazing time to explore our Garden Route coastline, away from the silly season.
Guided beach hikes, overnight hikes, moonlight meanders and coastal trails, from Wilderness and beyond, allow you to truly appreciate our incredible inshore marine ecosystem under the guidance of a man who has become a legend in his field, or in this case, his beaches.
Pretenders have come and gone, but the modest Mark Dixon is just tides ahead in all things coastal. Dixon is more than a coastal guide. He is a living, walking, breathing encyclopaedia of all things nature.
He offers guided birding, nature walks, coastal hikes and a selection of guided slackpacking and hiking trips.
Dixon is also the founder of the Strandloper Project, a non-profit marine research organisation whose core research includes ghost fishing, reef condition, plastic pollution, estuarine monitoring and marine mammal behaviour studies.
All of this knowledge makes Dixon's guided hikes absolutely enthralling.
So, to kick off our four 'Fantastic February' options, consider booking a guided coastal trail with Dixon.
You will walk away refreshed and rejuvenated, and if your kids are along for the ride, you could well have budding marine biologists in the household!
For more information about joining his cause to protect our marine and coastal life, contact Dixon on 082 213 5931.
‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’
