Khayalethu Township, Knysna

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Barber shop in Khayalethu Township outside Knysna.

© Chris Marais

Khayalethu Township nestles into the affluent Garden Route village of Knysna in a tumbled jumble of wooden shacks that are easy on the eye - but hard to live in.

That's why, as your guide takes you through this large and colourful settlement, you'll come across swathes of recently built, modern houses beginning to replace the higgledy-piggledy timber dwellings of old.

Looking down from your lookout point in Khayalethu at the upmarket Lagoon developments, you will see why they call Knysna the playground of the rich. And if you follow the journals of 18^th Century naturalist Francois le Vaillant, you will know this is where adventurers sat around large fires and cooked exotic dishes like elephant foot for breakfast.

Today, Knysna is a hot tourist spot, with many seasons and festivals.

Penny Mainwaring and Ella Mhlalu are the people behind Emzini Tours. They met at the local Baptist church, hit it off as friends and then formed a business partnership. Penny markets, Ella guides and between them they are raising funds for a soup kitchen and a safe house for abused women and children.

Another accomplished Khayalethu guide is Mawande Kondlo, who runs a b&b and a restaurant called The Roosterkoek ('griddle cake') Shack. This young, enterprising Denzel Washington lookalike, will feed you chicken, chops and the local delicacies of pap and chakalaka before you embark on your drive to the schools and projects of this vibrant township.

One of the highlights of a Khayalethu township tour is a visit to a place called Nekkies ('Little Necks'), also known as Little America. Here you'll meet a Ghanaian gunsmith who now cuts hair for a living, a Malawian tailor who has dreams of being a big businessman, Somalian shopkeepers and a Nigerian restaurateur who married a South African woman 10 years ago - and adds a touch of Lagos magic to his lunches.