On Saturday we woke early and set off through a bracing dawn to Hermanus, home of all things Whale. The sun shone and the haze slowly burned away as we headed around the ocean road. I was trying desperately hard not to get my hopes up for a whale sighting and when we arrived at Hermanus I almost didn't look at the sea for fear of being disappointed. There was no need to be so cautious.
As we approached the rocks in the mouth of the bay a southern right whale was just a few metres off shore and countless other whales swam around just a few metres further out. Twenty or so early-morning whale watchers stood in silent awe as the giants of the sea skirted the shore. Twenty not-so-silent children and me exclaimed at every movement - a glimpse of a head (breaching), a flick of a tail (fluking or sailing), and then finally we were rewarded with the closest whale performing a great big belly roll right in front of us (belly-flopping - ha ha). Mike had to hang on to me for fear I'd fall in through excitement. We topped off a lovely morning by drinking lattes at a very swanky cafe on the cliffs and planning the next couple of weeks.
As if a morning of whale watching wasn't enough we found a restaurant serving giant bowls of seafood to live jazz. Neither of us can quite believe we are able to do all this on our backpackers budget.
We left Hermanus in the late afternoon and drove a quiet road inland to Montagu in the Little Karoo - a sleepy, remote farming town. The drive there was overwhelming, as we crossed each ridge another breathtaking vista unfolded in front of us. Newborn lambs skipped in the afternoon sun, birds took flight as we passed by and the greens of the countryside with the snow capped mountains behind were almost too much to believe. We met maybe two other cars on a two hour drive.
We arrived in the late afternoon to our farm stay at 'De Bos'. A Cape Dutch style farmhouse was nestled amongst pecan trees. For ten pounds a night we had two adjoining rooms and en suite bathroom in an old barn. The owner showed us around "you can play with the puppies, but don't let them into the yard as they chase the chickens. If you go round the back of the stable the peacocks are performing at the moment so don't miss that. In the end field are our ostriches - they have chicks with them at the moment so be careful about approaching them.....". Needless to say, we both melted into a little puddle on the floor - this was just too much for us after a day of perfection.
As we approached the rocks in the mouth of the bay a southern right whale was just a few metres off shore and countless other whales swam around just a few metres further out. Twenty or so early-morning whale watchers stood in silent awe as the giants of the sea skirted the shore. Twenty not-so-silent children and me exclaimed at every movement - a glimpse of a head (breaching), a flick of a tail (fluking or sailing), and then finally we were rewarded with the closest whale performing a great big belly roll right in front of us (belly-flopping - ha ha). Mike had to hang on to me for fear I'd fall in through excitement. We topped off a lovely morning by drinking lattes at a very swanky cafe on the cliffs and planning the next couple of weeks.
As if a morning of whale watching wasn't enough we found a restaurant serving giant bowls of seafood to live jazz. Neither of us can quite believe we are able to do all this on our backpackers budget.
We left Hermanus in the late afternoon and drove a quiet road inland to Montagu in the Little Karoo - a sleepy, remote farming town. The drive there was overwhelming, as we crossed each ridge another breathtaking vista unfolded in front of us. Newborn lambs skipped in the afternoon sun, birds took flight as we passed by and the greens of the countryside with the snow capped mountains behind were almost too much to believe. We met maybe two other cars on a two hour drive.
We arrived in the late afternoon to our farm stay at 'De Bos'. A Cape Dutch style farmhouse was nestled amongst pecan trees. For ten pounds a night we had two adjoining rooms and en suite bathroom in an old barn. The owner showed us around "you can play with the puppies, but don't let them into the yard as they chase the chickens. If you go round the back of the stable the peacocks are performing at the moment so don't miss that. In the end field are our ostriches - they have chicks with them at the moment so be careful about approaching them.....". Needless to say, we both melted into a little puddle on the floor - this was just too much for us after a day of perfection.
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1 comment:
Forget the whales ~ "serving giant bowls of seafood to live jazz ... on our backpackers budget."
Now I am envious ! How cool is that ... ?!
Wish I was there
- D
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