Where: Hermanus, South Africa
When: November 18 - 19, 2012
With: Dave
My long awaited trip to South Africa began with a very jetlagged me being greeted at the airport by Dave and a stuffed penguin (henceforth referred to as Penguino). I had thought we'd be heading straight back to the rental house, but Dave surprised me with a little road trip so we could have some QT after spending seven weeks apart.
The destination was Hermanus, a small town on the coast he found while driving with friends along the Garden Route. The Garden Route is a stretch of road that follows along the southern coast line that has beautiful landscape and ocean scenery along the way. Technically, Hermanus is not on the Garden Route, but it is counted as a great jumping off point for the drive and gives a sneak peak of the incredible views it has to offer.
We stayed in a tiny B&B right near the water. I wish my jetlag hadn't rendered me useless for most of the afternoon, as it would have been nice to enjoy the town and hotel a bit more. However, taking an afternoon nap overlooking this view and listening to the ocean was a great way to sleep it off.
From our room, we got our first glimpse of the main attraction of this otherwise sleepy beach town: the whales! From our balcony, we could see one particular whale rolling and playing around for a good couple of hours.
After I came to and was actually able to register my surroundings, I was able to take in the scenery. It was just epic. Giant rocky mountains dotted with green forests that cascaded into the sea. On top of being incredibly beautiful and dramatic, the tufts of clouds that covered their tops added a mystique to the whole area.
We watched them for about an hour before they swam off into a protected harbor where we couldn't follow. At that point, the captain decided to head back in after a very successful viewing. However, we were happy to soon learn this would not be the end of our whale watching. When we got back on land, we decided to take a stroll along the coastline on the Hermanus Cliff Walk.
We had the whole place to ourselves at this sleepy little tasting lodge. We sat outside drinking away and nearly forget we were actually in Africa. This place looked like we were in the middle of Tuscany.
It was called Stony Point and had one of the only three land-based colonies of the African penguin in South Africa. We made sure to bring Penguino to see his buddies.
Many of the penguins were looking a bit scruffy. We later learned it was penguin molting season. During the months of November and December, the penguins will shed their old feathers to grow a new set that will be waterproof for the rest of the year. While they molt, they are completely landbound. Some were resolved to wait out the molting and just enjoy the sun and breeze, while others feverishly pecked away, attempting to rid themselves of the last remnants of their fluffy down.
Our last stop was at a lookoff point where a lifeguard sat hundreds of feet above the shore. What is the purpose of a lifeguard so far from water? He was a shark spotter, and his red flag waving meant he had spotted a shark within the last hour. Yikes.
But more on the sharks in this area later. For now, it was an absolutely incredible start to what would end up being an amazing 4 weeks, full of ocean, wine and wildlife.
For the rest of our trip in South Africa, click here.
When: November 18 - 19, 2012
With: Dave
My long awaited trip to South Africa began with a very jetlagged me being greeted at the airport by Dave and a stuffed penguin (henceforth referred to as Penguino). I had thought we'd be heading straight back to the rental house, but Dave surprised me with a little road trip so we could have some QT after spending seven weeks apart.
The destination was Hermanus, a small town on the coast he found while driving with friends along the Garden Route. The Garden Route is a stretch of road that follows along the southern coast line that has beautiful landscape and ocean scenery along the way. Technically, Hermanus is not on the Garden Route, but it is counted as a great jumping off point for the drive and gives a sneak peak of the incredible views it has to offer.
We stayed in a tiny B&B right near the water. I wish my jetlag hadn't rendered me useless for most of the afternoon, as it would have been nice to enjoy the town and hotel a bit more. However, taking an afternoon nap overlooking this view and listening to the ocean was a great way to sleep it off.
From our room, we got our first glimpse of the main attraction of this otherwise sleepy beach town: the whales! From our balcony, we could see one particular whale rolling and playing around for a good couple of hours.
After I came to and was actually able to register my surroundings, I was able to take in the scenery. It was just epic. Giant rocky mountains dotted with green forests that cascaded into the sea. On top of being incredibly beautiful and dramatic, the tufts of clouds that covered their tops added a mystique to the whole area.
I fully recovered from my jetlagged zombie-like state just in time for the sunset. We drove to the downtown of Hermanus, a really cute, small strip of restaurants and shops, all overlooking the water. We walked down to the ocean to watch my first of many South African sunsets. The waves were crashing into an explosion of foam on the rocks while the sky turned into a blaze of colors. While enjoying the view, we made some new friends - the dassies, a local groundhog-like creature that's closest relative is actually the elephant.
Afterwards, I had an amazing introduction-to-South-Africa meal that consisted of two of my favorites: mussels and wine. We sat outdoors in the shadows of the mountain to one side and the crashing ocean on the other: an excellent, relaxing start to the trip.
The next day, we embarked on Hermanus' number one activity: whale watching! The whales that make this area famous are the Southern Right Whale. The season for spotting them was starting to wind down, but we caught the tail end of it before they all migrated away. We headed out to sea with a company called Southern Right Charters.
Even without the whales, the landscape of the coastline was beautiful from the boat.
Off in the distance, we got our first sign of a whale. It was like a little wave hello.
As we got closer, our captain realised it wasn't one, but two whales, a mom and a baby.
Mom really liked rolling onto her back and sunning her belly. Apparently, the babies will often jump on top of their mom's belly when she's like this.
The baby was so fun to watch. He had a giant piece of kelp on his nose he liked flinging around.
At one point, we saw the baby's tail flip up in the air, which was exciting in and of itself. However, we soon learned that this dive indicated the baby was revving up to breech out of the water. Southern right whales are known to breech repeatedly over and over, and we were lucky the baby decided to do this all right in front of us, again and again.
The baby was like, "did you see me jump, Mom?"
We watched them for about an hour before they swam off into a protected harbor where we couldn't follow. At that point, the captain decided to head back in after a very successful viewing. However, we were happy to soon learn this would not be the end of our whale watching. When we got back on land, we decided to take a stroll along the coastline on the Hermanus Cliff Walk.
From here, we experienced another lovely part of Hermanus: the ability to whale watch from shore. First, we found another baby whale and mama. This time, the baby was white. We questioned whether we found Moby Dick.
We also found another large whale laying on his back. Well, hello to you too, sir.
Happy in Hermanus.
At this point, it was time to start a slow journey back to Cape Town, with many stops along the way. First, we drove to a scenic viewpoint over the top of Hermanus to sit and enjoy the view.
From here, we continued from the viewpoint to the other side of the mountain to find our first South African vineyard, Hamilton Russell.
Pulling ourselves away from the vineyard, we continued our drive along the coast. While we had been on our whale watch, we had gotten a little tip from the boat captain about a place that was fantastic for viewing penguins. The thought of the penguins made Dave very happy.
It was called Stony Point and had one of the only three land-based colonies of the African penguin in South Africa. We made sure to bring Penguino to see his buddies.
After entering the sanctuary, a long boardwalk weaved right through the middle of the colony where there were thousands of penguins on either side of us.
We hoped Penguino would meet some new friends, but they just looked at us like we were crazy. Poor Penguino.
On the left side of the boardwalk was the sea and the majority of the colony. On the right were hundreds of nests where small chicks could be heard, cheeping for food.
Many of the penguins were looking a bit scruffy. We later learned it was penguin molting season. During the months of November and December, the penguins will shed their old feathers to grow a new set that will be waterproof for the rest of the year. While they molt, they are completely landbound. Some were resolved to wait out the molting and just enjoy the sun and breeze, while others feverishly pecked away, attempting to rid themselves of the last remnants of their fluffy down.
Dave got the biggest kick out of penguins walking. He giggled like a small child the entire time we were here.
The penguins certainly knew how to pick a scenic spot.
The rest of the drive was stunning, with even more dramatic coastline, mountains and ocean. There was a pullover for a scenic viewpoint every 100 feet along the road, and we took advantage of almost all of them.
Our last stop was at a lookoff point where a lifeguard sat hundreds of feet above the shore. What is the purpose of a lifeguard so far from water? He was a shark spotter, and his red flag waving meant he had spotted a shark within the last hour. Yikes.
For the rest of our trip in South Africa, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment