Meet perdanot
For more than five years we have helped older South Africans discover the indigenous forests around Knysna and find real rest among the yellowwoods. We are here to make every walk safe, comfortable and worth remembering.
How it all started
perdanot grew out of a simple observation. Older people in and around Knysna wanted to walk, but there was nothing set up for them. They wanted to get into the forest, and they worried about what their knees and their balance would allow. And most of all, they did not want to do it on their own.
Our journey started in 2019, when the first perdanot team put on a trial walk on the Garden of Eden boardwalk at Diepwalle. Seventeen pensioners came. Every one of them came back smiling — and, as it turned out, every one of them wanted to come again.
Today we run regular outings for more than 300 older walkers a year. A walk with us is never only exercise. It is a bit of history, a few new friendships and a proper sense of freedom. The Millwood heritage walk, our flagship route, ties all three together: an old gold-rush village, indigenous forest and a morning that costs you nothing but the effort of showing up.
We are not in this to get rich. We do it because we believe every older person deserves an active, satisfying life. At perdanot, rest is not a luxury item — it is something everybody has a right to.
What guides us
Six values sit underneath everything perdanot does. Every walk and every decision should reflect them.
Safety before anything else
Every walker is a priority. We check our routes regularly and again after heavy rain, our walk leaders hold current first-aid certificates, and we keep group sizes small enough to look after everybody.
Respect for the forest
The Knysna forest is a living system and a national park. We teach walkers to read it, to understand its rhythm and to leave it exactly as they found it. No litter, no picking, no shortcuts off the path.
Community and belonging
A walk is not only physical movement. It is a place where friendships form and where people feel part of something bigger than themselves — which matters enormously in later life.
Open to everyone
Whatever your fitness, we will find a route for you — from a level kilometre of boardwalk to a three-kilometre heritage loop. perdanot does not believe in leaving people out. Every older walker belongs here.
Curiosity and learning
The forest has a great many stories. From the Millwood diggings to the biology of a 600-year-old yellowwood, our walks are lessons that inspire as much as they inform.
Practical thinking
A traditional approach with sensible modern tools. Route notes you can read on your phone, trained walk leaders, well-placed rest points and a WhatsApp group for each walk — all of it for your comfort.
How we work
Organising a walk properly is a craft. perdanot has worked out a method that keeps every walker safe, comfortable and glad they came.
A chat and a plan
Every walker has a short conversation with us first. We ask about fitness, preferences and any worries. There is no one-size-fits-all answer — everybody gets a plan that fits them.
Choosing the route
The Garden Route forests offer dozens of options, from a one-kilometre boardwalk to an eight-kilometre morning. The Millwood heritage walk is our flagship: history and indigenous forest in one gentle loop.
Walking with support
A walk leader is with the group the whole way. They do more than help physically — they point things out, explain what you are looking at and share what they know. Every walk is both a lesson and an outing.
Coffee and a catch-up
Afterwards we sit down together over coffee in Knysna. We talk, we laugh and we plan the next one. That is the moment the group actually becomes a community.
Our mission for the years ahead
"We want every older South African to know that the forest is not only the past — it is a present full of possibility. That age is not an obstacle, but the experience that makes a walk richer."
perdanot is growing. We want to reach more older walkers, open more routes and train more walk leaders, in Knysna and further along the Garden Route towards George and Plettenberg Bay. But we will always keep what defines us: a personal approach, a strict attitude to safety and a genuine love of these forests.
This is not a business in the ordinary sense. It is a community project that has given us satisfaction every single day for more than five years. And that is exactly why we will carry on with it — for as long as older people want to walk, to look around them and to feel properly alive.
Important information
The material on this site is provided for general information and education. Walks in the Knysna forests and on the Millwood heritage paths are suited to older adults in reasonable physical condition. We recommend that you speak to your doctor before joining one of our programmes, particularly if you live with a chronic condition. Every walker takes responsibility for assessing their own fitness on the day. perdanot does not guarantee any specific health outcome — our walks support an active, healthy way of life, but they are not treatment and are no substitute for professional medical care.