Wednesday, 6th
Cape Town was done. We picked up our hire car the next morning, and despite our next hotel being a long drive east, we headed southwest, making our way towards Boulder’s Beach because… Penguins.
Look! Penguins!
More Penguins. They’re the best:
After Penguins (yes, we saw all of the Penguins. African or ‘Cape’ Penguins, to be precise), we drove as far south as we could, down to the place of childhood lore; the Cape of Good Hope. This peninsular is not the most southerly point in Africa, despite what Geography teachers might have told you (or you’d mis-remembered Geography teachers telling you). Don’t worry though, Shona is here to correct you, and point out that it’s the most South Westerly point in Africa, the point at which the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet.
I kind of hoped for a spectacular convergence; two great oceans crashing into one another – a momentous conflagration of waters sending spumes of spray into the heavens. Of course, it’s one body of water. Daft political boundaries. Anyway, it was a great detour. We climbed up to a lighthouse, then drove down to the actual Cape of Good Hope, before driving back through the arid landscape to Simon’s Town, where we had lunch.
In the afternoon, we drove for several hours to reach Hermanus, our stop for the next two nights. Hermanus is famous for two things, whales and Great White Sharks. It’s situated at the edge of a large bay, itself made up of several smaller bays. A glorious rugged coastline receives a constant barrage of waves, enhanced while we were here by a strong wind, creating a magical display.
Thursday, 7th
One of the main reasons for coming to Hermanus was to dive with Great White Sharks 🤩). Our itinerary had us cage diving on the 7th, but we were informed that the weather was against us (again), and our dive was cancelled. We booked onto the next day’s trip, and instead decided to hike along the Cliff Edge Walk, a 20km route that hugged the coastline all the way around the bay.
After breakfast, and a brief stop at a pharmacist for some cold & flu tablets (I’ve picked up a cold)… they serve you it at the counter and give you a wee prison for the tablets as you wander over to the till!
We kicked off, and an hour or so in spotted our first Southern Right Whale, nursing its calf in Walker Bay.
We continued around the coast, scaring a Cape Gray Mongoose (too quick for a photo), and met a few Dassie Rats (which are not rat-like and are rather cute). Ending up at the end of the path on a huge expanse of beach. The wind was fierce and we took a sand-blasting before turning around and heading back to Hermanus.
We finished the hike after lunch and after seeing a spectacular display of another whale breaching; feeding on the krill in the chilled waters.
That evening, we enjoyed a steak dinner at a local restaurant before an early night, writing the blog, editing photos and preparing for an early departure to Gainsbaai in the morning, for actual Great White sharks…
Travels with Sklaroffs 