In Toto Retreat

In Toto Retreat is a solar-powered, contemporary four-star guesthouse on the shores of the Swartvlei Lagoon in The Island Conservancy of Sedgefield, on the Garden Route between George and Knysna. The six individually styled suites and garden rooms each tell a local story: the Swartvlei Suite with 180 degree views over the lagoon, the Goliath Heron Suite where herons, cormorants and egrets jostle in the towering gums, the Seahorse Suite named for the Knysna seahorses of the lagoon, the self-catering Strelitzia Studio, the Yellowwood Room honouring the giant indigenous forests, and the Outeniqua Room, a nod to the mountains. There is a heated pool in the central courtyard, wifi across the property, braai facilities and free parking.

The birding is the point: take the retreat's canoes onto the Swartvlei to find African Fish Eagle, Goliath, Grey and Purple Herons, egrets, cormorants, Red-knobbed Coot and Little Grebe; watch sunbirds and Cape White-eye in the garden; stroll along Swartvlei Beach to Gericke's Point for breeding African Black Oystercatcher and Hartlaub's Gull; and visit the Rondevlei and Malachite bird hides of the Garden Route National Park just 10 km away, where African Spoonbill and Greater Flamingo are possibilities. The Goukamma Nature Reserve, Groenvlei and Platbank add Knysna Turaco, Giant Kingfisher and Malachite Kingfisher. In Toto Retreat is a BirdLife South Africa affiliated property.