Explore the verdant dappled light of South African forests

TThen there’s the equally amazing Mkhuze Fig Forest, set in a World Heritage Site. If cycads interest you, these prehistoric plants proliferate in the Ongoye Forest, in company with the green barbet, a bird found nowhere else in the world. Other forests found in this province include Hawaan, Hlatikhulu, Karkloof, Ngome and Weza, each with its own endemic plant and animal species that set it apart from its surrounds.

The Grootvadersbosch near Swellendam is another one of the forests in South Africa that has enormous cultural and natural value. Its habitat includes rare fynbos vegetation and walking trails that wind around massive trees.

However, the most mysterious of the country’s forests has to be the Limpopo province’s Modjadji Cycad Forest. The oldest cycads in the world grow here and are inextricably linked to the magical culture of Modjadji (the rain queen) and her people, the Balobedu. The deep gorges and ravines that characterise the rugged Eastern Cape are home to forests such as the indigenous Afro-montane Hogsback, Kologha, Longmore, Plaatbos, Storms River and the fynbos biome of Witelsbos.