I would say that Kevin picked us up bright and early on Friday to head toward Hermanus, but, in all fairness, I can only say early. We are living under an enormous rain cloud that will not go away. The sky is totally black. Still, we are heading right into the clouds to drive over the mountain pass to Hermanus and the whales. We will drive through the Drackenstein (dragon’s something?) and Hottentot Holland mountains today, through huge orchards of apples and pears to arrive at the coast in the small town of Hermanus, famous for its whales.
The Southern Right whale migrates from Antarctica to Hermanus annually, either to mate or to give birth after a 13 month gestation period. The spend months here, not eating a thing ( I cannot even imagine!) and providing unbelievable entertainment to people like us. You do not need a boat or even binoculars to see these whales, they frolic right along the shore, in droves. We sat on the rocks for about an hour watching them and trying to snap photos of them jumping out of the water. I have a lot of shots of the splash, right after they returned to the water, but the boys got some good shots that I will steal later to add to the blog.
I will also add a photo of the Whale Crier, the only one in the world, who blows his long horn to let folks know when the whales are out in the harbor and visible. He was quite a piece of work. There were loads of Dassies here too, they may be my favorite animal now. Perhaps I could take one home to keep my Cheetah company?
We lunched at Bientang’s Cave, a cave overlooking the sea and the whales. Scott had a curry he said was the best meal he had the whole trip, I had a huge plate of calamari and shrimp, for all of $18.00 with drinks and tip. Did I mention how great the prices are here? Then we indulged in some amazing gelato before heading back toward Capetown along the coast.
One last wine tasting at Hamilton Russell (what a beautiful setting) and their newest spinoff, Southern Right, where I sipped an excellent Pinotage. We drove up over the town for some great views and them we were off on our journey back to the big city.
We stopped to watch dozens of seals playing near the rocks and practicing their synchronized swimming. They made me laugh, and I got credit for spotting them unlike all the rocks I thought were animals when we were on safari. I will never live that one down.
We passed through a few small towns, Betty’s Bay where we did a short walk through a lovely botantical garden called Porters Garden. I think Porter and Betty might have been related. Certainly, Betty was related to someone in this area who made his fortune developing these vacation towns. Beautiful towns like Rooiels (named for the red tree), Gordon’s Bay and Bikini Beach (really).
By the time we arrive back in Capetown, Mike is feeling really lousy and so we agree to stay in for the evening. Its no hardship for me though, since they have upgraded us to the best room in the house, the Imperial Suite that normally sells for 5 times the price of our usual room. We have views of the harbor and table mountain from our huge balcony, a full bar and a cappuccino maker in the dining room, a comfy sofa in the living room, and as Mike says a “fainting couch”. Lots of room to spread out and enjoy ourselves. We put Mike to bed, and Scott and I start on the wines we bought, opening the Kanonkop “Paul Sauer” which is even better than I remembered and have a wonderful dinner from room
Service and an early night.
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2 comments:
April, what a trip! I wish I was there for all those wine tastings. Maybe we can meet at the Betty Ford clinic when you get back :-)
April, this is such fun to read. It's going to take months for your liver to recover. You can come sit next to me (for more wine).
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