Category Archives: South Africa

South Africa ’13, Part 2: Hermanus whale watching

September is a good time to go whale watching in Hermanus. Southern Right Whales are on average about 14m long, 41 tonnes heavy and can live up to 50 years. A pregnant one can reach a weight of 80 tonnes. They come to South Africa during the local winter time to mate, calve and nurse their baby which they carry for about 13months and only once in every 3 years. Impressingly they do not feed at all during this time. In fact, they fat up themselves between Jan-June down in Antartica and literally “starve” for the rest of the year. Human, try to feed a baby who sucks up 600 liters of milk (!) from you per day for 8 months long WITHOUT feeding! That is truly a nature wonder.

The tour often goes on like this: you go out there on big tourist boats searching around until you see any whale in sight. Then you turn off the engine and wait for them to approach you. Yes, otherwise they’d feel “disturbed” and dive away. The three-hour boat tour in such a stormy weather was a hard one on me that day. But we did see some whales and one of them even made a little dance for us, so it was all worth it I guess.

P

Exploring a bookstore in Hermanus while waiting for the boat.
Exploring Hermanus downtown while waiting for the boat.

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Coast line of Hermanus
Coast line of Hermanus
Large waves hitting the coast - the boat tour may become a bumpy ride....
Very big waves that day

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Leaving the harbour, it took quite a while before spotting the first whale - and yes, the boat tour was a bumpy ride with 3-4m waves......

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waving good-bye

 

Hermanus whale watching

South Africa ’13, Part 1: Cape Town

This is my first time in the continent and J’s third time in the country so I left all the planning for him. We spent the first 4 nights in Cape Town doing the normal tourist routes: hiking up Table Mountain, visiting Bo Kaap quarter, dinner in Camp Bay, seafoods at Hout Bay, penguin watching at Boulder Beach, whale watching in Hermanus (where I got seasick very badly), and reaching the Southern most part in Cape of Good Hope. Although we had heard many stories about security issues in Cape Town, nothing bad happened to us, we were neither robbed nor threatened but we wouldn’t say we felt completely at ease hanging around town either. While we did enjoy our time in the city, we were more than glad as we hit the road and headed up North.

Greenmarket Square, one of the oldest market places in Capetown, lots of stands with the usual African stuff for tourists
Greenmarket Square, one of the oldest market places in Capetown, many stands selling the usual African souvenirs for tourists

Bo Kaap quarter, formerly known as Malay quarter. It had been build as a housing area for slaves that had been brought to SA by the Dutch.
Bo Kaap quarter, formerly known as Malay quarter. It had been built as a housing area for slaves brought to SA by the Dutch.
Lunch time in Bo Kaap
Lunch time in Bo Kaap
The Nurul Islam Mosque of Bo Kaap, established in 1844
The Nurul Islam Mosque of Bo Kaap, established in 1844
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African Gold Museum
speaks for itself....
speaks for itself….
Table Mountain
The clocktower at V&A waterfront
The clocktower at V&A waterfront
Lunchtime
Lunchtime
V&A waterfront at night
V&A waterfront at night
Boulder's Beach
Boulder’s Beach
African penguins are a lot smaller than their Northern relatives. Despite seeming very harmless, we were warned that they can get quite “stinky” so you’re not supposed to get too close.

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Last picture at Boulder's Beach...
Boulder’s Beach
... and first picture at Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The cape
The most Southern part of the continent
P on top of the cape
P on top of Cape of Good Hope

Someone lost a key some time ago

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Ready for a swim?
It was the Alantic ocean right after winter so the water was icy cold
On the way back, somewhere between Kommitjie and Hout Bay
Somewhere between Kommitjie and Hout Bay

map

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Our route for the next 3 weeks