I cling tightly to the waist of the man in front of me as Mopani gets to her feet and we lurch backwards. Suddenly we are nearly three above the ground and my legs are spread across Mopani?s wide leathery back, her wiry hairs scratching my calves. With a gentle instruction from her trainer (the man whose intestines are being squashed by my anxious arms), she sets off at a strangely comfortable gait.

We are at the Crags Elephant Sanctuary, which is located just beyond Plettenberg Bay, a pachyderm sanctuary home to six African elephants and offering a range of informative and interactive programmes with the elephants.

Mopani?s trainer for the day has been working with the elephants since 1997 and it is amazing to witness his bond with this gentle giant. Our guide helps me off Mopani?s back and with a huge grin plastered across my face I give her a pat and feed her some of the brown pellets they seem to enjoy. Elephant riding is not for everyone and those looking for a slightly less adrenalin-filled encounter can walk hand-in-trunk with the elephants.

The one hour trunk-in-hand programme allows you to touch, feed and interact with the elephants, under the guidance of the elephants? dedicated trainers, who use a reward-based training method and share special relationships with the ellies in their care.

As we leave the sanctuary and head for Monkeyland, I entertain the notion of quitting my job, leaving the city and coming to work with these magnificent animals. A notion which begins to fade quite rapidly at the prospect of mucking out those big stalls every morning.

Monkeyland

In Monkeyland, we are greeted by Burt ? a walking encyclopaedia on all things primate ? and set off on our tour of the Monkeyland forest ; the first multi-species free-roaming sanctuary in the world. Previously caged primates are rehabilitated and released into the free-roaming environment where they can act as they would in the wild. It is for this reason that guests are not allowed to feed or touch any of the monkeys.

Burt begins his tour by explaining the difference between the different groups of primates ? it?s all in the thumb; the higher and more functional the thumb, the closer the primate is to the human species.

We come across some lemurs (think Madagascar) which are pretty much at the bottom of the evolutionary chain. As Burt is explaining why these are the least intelligent of the primates, we are startled by an almighty noise which sounds like an inter-species monkey war.

Clearly our surprise shows on our faces, because Burt starts chuckling and explains that all that noise came from a single female lemur! Apparently they have two tongues, which is why they can create more than one sound at a time.

Next we come across some clever little South American monkeys called Brown Capuchin, which are sometimes trained as pickpockets ? while it sits on your shoulder and chatters in your ear, its tail relieves your pockets of their contents.

After a brief demonstration of the Spectacled Langur?s warning system (if he sticks his tongue out three times it is time to avert your gaze) we reach the suspension bridge; at 128 metres, it?s the longest in Africa. It is also more than eight stories high in the middle, which is quite a scary prospect if you?re even the tiniest bit afraid of heights. Did I mention that the slats of wood are rather thin and fragile-looking?

An advantage of the suspension bridge is that you can walk through the canopy of the forest and encounter those primates which live only in the treetops and never go down to the floor of the forest. Acrophobia aside, the view is fantastic.

With the adrenalin pumping, and a collection of photos worthy of National Geographic on the memory card, we head next door to the Birds of Eden.

Birds of Eden

This is the biggest free-flight aviary in the world ? an entire forest, river system and several dams are all housed under a mesh dome ? with sloping wooden walkways twisting and turning along the forest floor and back up through the canopy.

The icy rain, which is drenching us through our makeshift raincoats, doesn?t deter the indigenous and exotic birds from displaying their array of glorious colours. Parrots, macaws, parakeets and lorikeets sit on the handrails and suspended feeding stations, eyeing us disinterestedly as we ?ooh? and ?aah?.

As we make our way up through a forest, a tame cockatoo hops on one of our party?s shoulder and pecks at her earring ? jewellery is a serious hazard in this place! We emerge at the top of the canopy and encounter a number of small dams filled with ducks, flamingos and beautiful black swans.

It would have been wonderful to have spent more time in this idyllic sanctuary, but being a little less resilient to the cold, wet weather than our feathered friends, it is time to move on?

Ocean Safaris

Okay, so this isn?t any warmer or drier, but the excitement of speeding across the water on an ocean safari somehow keeps my mind off the cold. Strapped into bright orange lifejackets, our cameras poised, we eagerly anticipate our first whale encounter.

Before we leave the bay, we come across a seal colony where hundreds of these large creatures sun themselves on the rocks, using their seemingly disproportionate flippers to hoist themselves into the aquamarine water, where they frolic with surprising agility.

Unperturbed by a boatful of gawking tourists, a playful seal dives deep into the water and then propels itself high into the air right beside the boat. The skipper spots a whale in the distance and we hurriedly return to our seats and set out for the open seas.

It is a humpback and her calf. We approach slowly as the guide explains that we may be the first humans to have come across this young calf. The whale tolerates our presence and we watch transfixed as she lifts her massive tail out of the water.

Plagued by a mild dose of seasickness, my enthusiasm wanes slightly as the trip progresses and I don?t give the school of dolphins the attention they deserve as they dip in and out of the water next to the boat.

After an eventful two hours, I am once again on dry (and, more importantly, stable) land and I head back to the hotel for a nice hot cup of tea next to the fire.