Welcome to Steenbok Reserve!
This is a traditional cache placed near its main entrance gate. Entrance is open all day every day at no cost. Enjoy the artwork you will come to and read the signboard that informs you on the Great Knysna Fires of June 7, 2017.
About the cache container:
The cache is a magnetic pill container. Use stealth in your search- this is a oark frequented by muggles and their fzrry friends especially mornings and afternoons.
The History of Steenbok Park:
Steenbok Island captured the attention of George Cearnin 1929 and to the gret astonishment of many he set about turning the uninhabited little island into a place where people could live and build their homes, raise their families and retire in idyllic surroundings. He re-named it Leisure Isle and set about turning his dream into reality. The Island was declared a township in November 1935. Preparations took shape under Cearn’s meticulous eye and clusters of pine trees were planted as well as the avenue of gums along Links Drive.
During the 1930s George Cearn set about building a nine-hole golf course on the site now known as Steenbok Nature Park. Sand dunes were flattened and planted with grass, and fairways, bunkers and greens were laid out. The Cearns built a house near the course. The Knysna Golf Club had at that time a rather miserable course on the slopes near Thesen Hill known as the ‘goat course’, and in 1939 it was decided that they should make the new course on Leisure Isle their home. In time this became the clubhouse and with an extension a Private Hotel, which became the pivot of social life on Leisure Isle. Following the securing of a liquor licence it became the well-loved Leisure Isle Hotel which survived for many years.
A fire eventually destroyed the popular Leisure Isle Hotel and in the mid 1990’s, a group of concerned and dedicated residents initiated a management arrangement with Knysna Municipality to upgrade the eastern end of the northern shore from the disused golf course and established Steenbok Nature Park. Funds were raised from The Rowland and Leta Hill Trust and from individual residents of Leisure Isle. Significant progress was made with mowing pathways and creating open spaces around islands of indigenous grasses, enclosing the area with an attractive wood-pole fence, establishment and maintenance of an indigenous and other gardens and putting in place the entrance portico and signage. A start was made on the identification of plants and grasses in an herbarium and photographs of flowering plants displayed in a cabinet donated by a resident. Kingfisher Creek at the west end still retains its original character and charm with the salt mash vegetation in excellent condition.
Between Steenbok Park and Kingfisher Creek bowling greens and tennis courts were established and a small boat harbour constructed in the early 1990’s.
In June 2005 an Action Group comprising representatives of Leisure Isle Residents Association (LIRA) and environmental and sporting groups mounted an initiative to ensure that:
- the environmental heritage of Steenbok Nature Park and Kingfisher Creek is nurtured and protected in perpetuity
- appropriate environmental management and action plans are implemented on a continuous basis to achieve the forgoing
- the area can be enjoyed and appreciated by all the residents and visitors of Knysna.
The initiative bore fruit. Positive and active support was given by Cape Nature, SANParks, Knysna Environmental Forum and Knysna Municipality, in whose name the properties are registered. In February 2006 the Knysna Town Council entered into a partnership agreement with LIRA covering the management of these parklands.
The Reserve today covers a precious area of 17 hectares and forms part of the greater Knysna Protected Environment Area regulated by SANParks in terms of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 2003. Steenbok Nature Reserve is a joint initiative by Leisure Isle Residents Association and Knysna Municipality in close association with SANParks and with the support of The Friends of Steenbok Nature Reserve.
Whilst the Reserve contains most beautiful areas of original salt marsh, coastal dune and coastal thicket vegetation and probably one of the finest areas of the former, it also contains an indigenous garden featuring flora representative of the Garden Route and the coastal regions of the Eastern Cape, tree copses featuring Knysna forest trees, and small "cultivated" gardens. The reserve boast some 200 species of flowering plants and over 100 trees!
If you are lucky you will get hold of a little pamphlet with information on those as well as some of the fauna at the entrance gate's info box next to the info board. Much more information (in addition to the above courtesy of that website) can be found here: https://www.steenboknaturereserve.org.za
- info courtesy Steenbok Nature Reserve website-