Dutch tourist injured in Knysna Forest in South Africa after rock pool jump

A 31-year-old Dutch orthopedic surgeon and his partner, a general surgeon, are currently visiting Knysna from Amsterdam.  The man was seriously injured Tuesday after jumping into a rock pool in the Knysna National Parks forest.

According to Jerome Simonis of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), the man had been on a hiking trail with his partner when the incident happened.  Apparently they were walking the Drupkelders hiking trail with a tour operator, when the man jumped into the rock pool.

“While Drupkelders (hiking trail) is a relatively short hiking trail of only 3.6km, it involves vertical cliff traversing making it a barely accessible and remote area,” said Simonis.

Once the incident occurred, Simonis said, “They remained where they were not wanting to move the injured man fearing complicating the injury.” The tour guide then hiked up a cliff trail to find a higher spot with a cellphone signal, then called for help.

The NSRI, together with paramedics, met the guide and they then hiked the steep cliff for around a kilometer, down to the Goukamma River.  Six NSRI Knysna rescue swimmers, together with a river guide, then swam upstream, looking for the two tourists.

“The swim upstream involved going over numerous waterfalls. A kilometer upstream the two hikers were found, with the injured man in a serious condition,” Simonis said.

Rather ironically, with his profession as an orthopedic surgeon, the man had sustained a suspected fracture to the lumbar spine and was placed on a floating basket stretcher and gently taken downstream.  Extra care had to be taken as there were numerous waterfalls along the way.

Around a kilometer downstream, police and paramedics were on hand. Paramedics immediately gave the man treatment on the scene to stabilize him and then used a rope and pulley system to haul the stretcher up the steep cliff.

“A Medlife ambulance transported the man to hospital in a serious but stable condition, accompanied by his partner,” said Simonis.

The tourist's name cannot be released until his family in Amsterdam have been advised of the situation.

According to Nandi Mgwadlambam, spokeswoman for the South Africa National Parks (SANParks), the tour operator who was guiding the two Dutch men did not have a kloofing permit. Kloofing is a term used for following a mountain stream or river, floating, jumping in or swimming along its course.

“They had the right permit for access to the Drupkelders hiking trail but we never issue permits for kloofing,” she said, adding that, due to the nature of the terrain, they don't allow kloofing there at all.  However, she said the local tour operators do this when the rangers are not watching. Mgwadlamba said that she could not release the name of the tour operator.

With the very craggy nature of the Knysna Forests and National Park, it is essential that tourists follow the correct and legal guidelines to avoid a situation like this happening.

Knysna Heads on the Garden Route in South Africa - Photo: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Vaiz Ha