The Restory Retreat Centre

Only when the last tree has died  and the last river been poisoned  and the last fish been caught  will we realise we cannot eat money.                                                                  - Cree Indian Proverb. Think about Knysna and you think about wood. In many ways it is the indigenous wood capitol of South Africa. The names of the trees itself lead you into the cool, moist surroundings where they grow – Outeniqua Yellowood, Hard Pear, Cape Blackwood, Ironwood, Candlewood, White Pear, Stinkwood, White Elder, Cape Beech. From this timber craftsmen have brought forth the most beautiful furniture for almost three centuries. The 300 000 hectares of forest seemed to be an unlimited source of wood when it was first exploited in the 18th century and during the years that follow...

On our recent visit to Knysna we took a short trail through one of the magnificent indigenous rain forests. Aptly called The Garden of Eden, one cannot help but gape at the immensity of it all. Something happens to me when I enter into this type of cathedral: I become quite unaware of myself but feel myself totally immersed, totally one with Nature in her green skin. I am a cell, a branch, a leaf, a stream. I come home to this place of moistness. What strikes me as I flow through the arteries of this great Being, is how the main themes of life play out here quietly and beautifully. The birth of a fern leaf, bathed in a sliver of filtered sunlight beneath an ancient yellow wood tree brings me close to tears. From the decay of a fallen giant and the life forms engaged in this process, to the air thick with moisture and the sounds of the rain forest musicians: birds and frogs endemic to this place, I am reminded that everything is as it should be. Everything belongs. I belong. ...