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Blogs from Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 5
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... the Whales at Hermanus
Published: November 1st 2007Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Hermanus
October 18th 2007
... we drove across from the Winelands to visit Hermanus, a very famous location where Whales can be seen from the Coast in October ... and even though we had a short visit, we spotted some Whales and watched then blowing, and splashing. Even though they were a fair distance, we could still enjoy their sheer size and power and was very excited as we sat in the car watching then playing in the water (it was a bit too windy outside). Went round the corner for a hot chocolate and enjoyed briefly a few closer to the shore ... but it was too cold to stay for too long! Amazing experience !... read more
WONDERFUL WHALE WATCHING
Published: September 20th 2007Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Hermanus
September 20th 2007
Drive to Hermanus next. Before we even get there we can see whales from the shore road!! This is what South Africans can do on a sunday afternoon, pack a picnic and head off to watch some whales?! Mental. We are super excited as we see tails and breaching really clearly from the shore. The best shore based whale watching in the world apparently. They come to these parts to mate and then calve a year later. Stay in Hermanus backpackers which is lovely, bright and friendly and treat ourselves to a double rather than a dorm. Well, we are on honeymoon!! Go for an utterly amazing kayaking adventure with Derk and his jack russel Emma right in to the 'whale sanctuary' a huge expanse of water that no boats apart from the kayaks are allowed ... read more
July 7th 2007
Bright and early this morning (at 5:30 am, to be precise), the group got together to take the buses to Gansbaai to go shark diving. So exciting! The trip down was about a two hour bus ride, during which I attempted to sleep, but Courtney and Kenny entertained us all with mask shenanigans and early 90s sing alongs. Our trusty boat was known as the Barracuda, and after waiting around for a while, we finally launched. The water was kind of choppy, with 6-8 foot swells, and the boat ride out to “shark alley” was pretty fun (if not wet). I managed to get into the first group to go in to the shark cage. After donning a wetsuit (which was fun to get in, let me tell you), I hopped in the cage with ... read more
Hermanus, South Africa. Tourist information.
Published: July 5th 2007Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Hermanus
July 5th 2007
Hermanus, Cape Town, South Africa Hermanus is a delightfully pretty seaside town, only an hour and half from Cape Town, which is sandwiched between the very scenic coastline of Walker Bay and a high lofty mountain range, afew kms inland. Regarded by WWF and Greenpeace as being one of the world's best locations to watch Whales, it holds the annual week long Whale Festival at the end of September, which attracts over 100,000 eager Whale watchers. Southern Right Whales, Humpbacks and Bryde Whales are spotted, with the highest number of 198 Whales ever being viewed in one day in October 2008. (Whale watching season is from June to December each year.) Boat trips will take you out to sea to meet them up close, but cliff top viewing spots are everywhere, allowing you many very good ... read more
May 26th 2007
Yes it is true. First, today we drove to a small village out of Cape Town it took us about 2 1/2 hours. We were really beginning to like Cape town, but there are so many other areas and territory we are covering in South Africa. Our drive was once again, no memorable, we took tons of pics, and little movies. When we got to our small guest house, on cliff st. you can only imagine how set into cliffs, and so beautiful our surroundings are! This place is called whale song lodge, and the reason is because every year the whales ( all different species) make the journey away from Antarctica’s cold water to these warmer waters to mate, from May till Sept. The people here are so used to this that I swear, they ... read more
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Sunday 1st April - Diving with the great whites!
Published: April 1st 2007Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Hermanus
April 1st 2007
It’s April fools day and I am up at 5.00am to travel to Kleinbai about 40km east of Hermanus to go out on a Great White cage diving boat. I’m nervously excited as I drive through the dawn to arrive just after 6.00am. We (me and a load of Germans including kids!) were welcomed with a light breakfast before being introduced to the events of the day and provided with oue equipment. It’s really foggy this morning and we arrive at our boat for our 3-4 hours excursion just after 7.00am. After our short 20 minutes trip to an island just offshore colonised with seal the skipper drops anchor just off a kelp bed about 400m offshore. The crew than started to put out a chum trail to lure the sharks into our area. Within ... read more
Hiking the Hermanus coastal trail
Published: March 31st 2007Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Hermanus
March 31st 2007
Woke up to another beautiful day in Hermanus at the “16 reasons” Guesthouse. SA is having a mini heat wave with temperatures reaching 38 Degrees inland. After a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit and a fry-up we pack our day sack in preparation for our walk. It’s been a while since we’ve done some exercise so today we’ve decided to walk the ocean trail between the old harbour in Hermanus and Grotto beach about 7km east of Hermanus. We set of and wandered down into the old harbour in Hermanus where we wandered around a craft fair (where I buy a hand made hunting knife with a handle made of South African Black wood) and pop into the gallery to pay for the art we purchased earlier in Groot Constantia. After arranging the wire transfer ... read more
March 17th 2007
With the water freezing and the sharks not keen on hanging around after sampling the chumming bait. We were not too disappointed at not being able to get in the cage. However, we managed to get a great view of the sharks from the boat due to the water being crystal clear. The most scary part of this trip was when one of the boat engines caught fire just as the sea mist descended, leaving us with an hour of zero visibility & smoke back to the jetty. ... read more
Yet another year my friends
Published: January 2nd 2007Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Hermanus
January 2nd 2007
I am having a great time here in Gansbaai!!! Like they say the greatest teacher youl ever have is life and I am learning alot and having fun doing it. A lot of people asked me why Gansbaai?why didnt I just go over to England.Well Ill tell you why...my friend Davidian said it best..."the classroom may be different but the lessons are the same no matter where you are." The friends Ive made here are amazing and I love each and everyone of them. New years I spent at Buitesteen which is the pub where I spend alot of my time.My new friends work there. I work at a geust house at the moment as a personel chef.Crusie job and the moneys pretty good,but I have to confess... I do miss the feeling of a sunday ... read more
November 19th 2006
Colleen who James has been staying with packed us off with everthing we could need for a weeks holiday and we spent Friday night in Hermanus. Picked up Alisa and Anne on route and spent the day watching the whales off the shore. I am an appalling spotter and saw nothing for the first half an hour except a seal and a dassie (little guinea pig type animal) that was sitting on the rock next to me. Was getting a little bored, but it picked up. The Rock was another super place for food and drink Friday night...my last night out with some of the people I've spent a lot of time with over the last two months. A mellow drunkenness where everything made me laugh, should have stopped there as getting up at 6.30 for ... read more
