Eddie's holiday in the Western Cape

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When our friend Eds met up with us in Cape Town last Christmas he had very little time, only nine days, not nearly enough time to explore much of South Africa's Western Cape other than Cape Town and places nearby due to the driving distances involved. So now with us already back in Southern Africa we arranged to meet up with him at Cape Town airport again, only this time he had three full weeks in South Africa.

Last time here we'd had to book nearly all of our accommodation along 'the garden route' up front, due to it being December and busy because of the South African school holidays, but this time we were able to draw on all the word of mouth recommendations we picked up last time on who and where is better backpacker accommodation along the way.

One of these recommendations was the Beach House backpackers near the town of Wilderness. It's not quite on the beach, but it does have views over the beach. One morning after having breakfast in town we were stepping out of the car outside the beach house when I caught a glimpse of what I took to be the black wetsuits of surfers in the break. Then I looked harder and realised it must be dolphins I was looking at. I've never seen dolphins in the sea before and I don't think Eds has either so we walked up to the top front balcony of the beach house that looks over the bay to watch them for a while. I think they looked at play, me and Eds saw one leap up out of the water a couple of metres into the air, although Lynn was looking the other way at that moment.
We watched as repeatedly they lined up facing the beach and rode within the momentum of the bigger waves as they curved over, they were surfing, it looked almost synchronized, clearly these aquatic mammals like the power of the surf just like some people do.

Some of the places we took Eds to we'd been to last December like Nature's valley and Storms river within the Tzizikama national park on the garden route. But without looking too hard I found plenty other places in this area we'd not been before. Basically the garden route starts after Mossel bay and continues eastward for about 150 kilometres or so of mountain scenery, rivers, lagoons, old growth forest and miles of white sand beaches, with very few people on them. Most turns offs along this part of the N2 lead to some place you're glad you went to.

This time round we went to the Robberg peninsula which is a marine national park near Plettenburg Bay. It's a part of the garden route we were glad to get an opportunity to see as we weren't even aware of it's existence last time. You can follow a walking trail mostly along the cliffs the six kilometres around the peninsula itself which is what we did. I didn't know it before hand but along the way you pass a Cape fur seal colony. You smell them before you hear them before you see them. The smell reminded me of that stink you get near fish processing and canning factories.
After walking on a little while we could hear the sound of them cavorting on the rocks below. It sounds like there's a lot of boisterous guffawing going on, like a stag party that's gotten out of hand. It almost sounds like it could be they're egging each other on, maybe to jump into the water from greater and greater heights, I dunno. And when you do finally see the colony in full it looks like all they do is party all day. Lolling about on the rocks shouting their heads off then driving in and out of surf in synchronized timing with their mates. They seem to really enjoy being seals, that much is clear.

At the end point of the peninsula the path winds down onto the shore. We sat for a bit and I saw what I thought were more seals out at sea. I took a look through the binoculars and saw that they weren't seals but dolphins, hundreds or possibly thousands of bottle nosed dolphins spread out over about a kilometre, all moving purposefully over and under the waves, possibly fishing?

June to November Southern right whales visit the coast of South Africa. They most famously visit Walker Bay where they can be seen from the coastal cliff walk within and from the town of Hermanus. Southern right whales are so named because on whaling vessels whalers knew them as the 'right' ones to hunt. They use the shallow waters in the bay off Hermanus to give birth safely away from predators like killer whales. Hunting whales ceased in South Africa in 1975 by which point they were nearly extinct. There numbers have recovered and Hermanus makes a tourist living from people coming to see the whales during season.
Last year we got to Hermanus on around about December the 10th, the whales had been spotted in the bay that morning but by the time we'd dropped the bags and gone to look for them in the afternoon they'd gone, and gone for good for that year. So it was great to come back this November with Eds and see that they were still here and visible, rolling across the bay in small groups of two or three adults and sometimes an infant. You can see them on land for free from Hermanus or pay and see them from a tour boat, there's no guarantee of seeing them from the boat so we didn't bother.
Later I wished we'd taken the chance and used a tour boat because someone we met who'd taken the boat trip told us the story of how while out at sea they came close to a whale and watched as it tilted it's body in the water until vertical, it's head rising up a metre or so out of the ocean until it's eye was visible above the surface of the waves where it took it's time and eyed the boat and the people on it curiously for a few seconds before heading back under the water. I think that moment would have been something.
Ironically one of the best places to see whales in Hermanus is from the old harbour. The old harbour was built for the purpose of whaling so you can only imagine the bloodbath it must have been back in the day when it must have been possible for the whalers to harpoon the creatures right there in the harbour and haul them in.

There one morning on the way to breakfast we stopped to watch the passage of a group of whales crossing in front of us not far beyond the entrance to the harbour, the stately rise and dipping motion of them surging through the water can be hypnotic. Lynn had just pointed to the hills away out on the far left hand side of Walker Bay where it looked like there was some dark cloud bubbling up and a small localised shower falling. The sky above us was a benign and patchy white blue. When, literally out of the clear I heard the loudest sound I've ever heard. I thought it might have been the birth of a new universe. We couldn't have seen it because we were facing the ocean but some bolt or fork of lightening hit something on the ground just behind us. So close I felt the electricity come up through my feet, my toes hurt and my fingers tingled. Lynn and Eds and myself all felt the hair on the back of our heads and necks stand up. After the sound of the lightening had dissipated there was still a tangible charge in the air, like it might happen again at any moment. I not ashamed to admit it but we ran! some big South African blokes at a nearby cafe laughed at us, nervously, but then I saw them soon leave their chairs and go move inside as well. Southern Africa can be surprising for extremes of weather. Eventually a full five minutes later came the clouds with the rain.

It's not true of everybody but me and Lynn don't feel the need to eat much during the day when we're in hot countries. Sometimes we only eat a small breakfast and then maybe something else once later that day. But all that had to change when Eds came out, he officially likes to eat. He'd have two English breakfasts and three or four pots of tea for breakfast most days, sometimes by the end of breakfast it was nearly lunchtime. And lunchtime rolled on half the day some days. This is how the John, Lynn & Eds long breakfast late lunch club was effectively formed.
When I look back at the photos it looks like we were on a three week 'food and drink festival' tour of South Africa, which if you throw in a few bottles of wine and cocktails is pretty much how it was. The photos tell the story.

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Photos

Hermanus Bay
Spotting whales out at sea from the cliff walk around the bay

the old whaling harbour in Hermanus
Must have been a bloody mess when whaling was legal up until 1975, ironically, it's one of the best places to spot whales today

Lynn and Eds in Jacuzzi at the Zoete Inval backpackers in Hermanus Bay
Some backpacker accommodation in South Africa is better quality than others

Storms river mouth
you can see the green of the river meeting the blue of the ocean

Wilderness beach
The area around wilderness has it's own micro climate, it's often misty and cold when just a few kilometres away it's sunny

Wilderness beach
From the balcony of the beach house backpackers

Robberg marine reserve
spotting seals and dolphins

Robberg Marine Reserve
wild flowers

this beach is called Brenton-on-Sea
such an English name, but that's where the similarity ends

the lazy bastards afternoon tea drinking club
near Buffalo bay

the lazy bastards afternoon tea drinking club
nice place to waste hours on the way to Buffalo bay

Nature
Lynn and Eds swimming in the fresh water sand bottomed lagoon that empties into the sea, this place is a bit special

Comments

[Eds]

..and what a tour that was:-)!!!
See you both soon xx