GEORGE NEWS - Participants in this weekend's Outeniqua Chair Challenge (OCC) on Satuday 15 March could add to their experience of the Garden Route by two wheelchair-friendly trails after a hard day of racing with their family and friends.
Nestled in the Garden Route Botanical Garden in George is an 800m long mini trail which is wheelchair friendly.
The path crosses a stream twice, going over two arched wooden bridges, and winds through the indigenous forest where all the trees are sign posted with their names and the uses for their timber. The trail consists of part strips of boardwalk and gravel and is called the Mushroom Meander because a variety of mushrooms and fungi grow there.
The Mushroom Meander was funded by the Hill and Lena Trust and was built by volunteers about two years ago.
There is a R25 per person gate charge at the entrance of the garden and permission may be obtained to drive to the start of the trail if some bodies are still too sore from the OCC race.
Beween Knysna and Plettenberg Bay there is another wheelchair friendly trail at the Garden of Eden which takes you to an ancient 800-year-old Outeniqua yellowwood tree.
This is a well-established indigenous forest with a well-maintained, 1km boardwalk creating a lovely ambience and is certainly food for the soul. It is managed by SANparks. There is a R40 per person entrance fee.
Part of the Mushroom Meander in the Garden Route Botanical Garden in George.
'A Trail for All' being planned
From Plettenberg Bay it is a 49 minute drive (63km) to the quaint village of Storms River where a 1,6km boardwalk is being planned in the pristine Plaatbos indigenous forest. Plans are also afoot to install braille tags, story-boards and cell-phone triggered electronic information vantage points. Make this your third outdoor stop next year!
The fund-raising strategy is simple. Sell 12 000 planks at R90 each which will raise just more than R1-m. The project is called 'A Trail for All' and the master brain and project leader is Jimmy Wayland, a retired Storms River resident.
The organisation involved in the construction of this exciting venture is a registered public benefit organisation which means they may issue 18A tax certificates which in turn gives tax relief to donors.
Negotiations are currently in progress with SANparks in order to comply with environmental laws and regulations.
Come and enjoy nature at its best.
To find out more, look out for the “Trails for All” gazebo at the race on Saturday or contact Ken Gie on 083 6319 648.
‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’
