Wineries and Whales

Just arrived at Strand Beach, a rather uninspiring and soulless beach town about an hour west of Cape Town, after a quick trip through the winelands of Stellenbosch and on to Hermanus on the south coast. Although the beach is superb, a howling cold wind makes it all a bit unwelcoming though some brave souls were in the water yesterday.

In Stellenbosch we had a night on a ‘boutique’ (ie: very small, in plain English) wine estate called Lovane where they only have 2 ha of vines but make a variety of red wines on site from those grapes, plus a white with purchased fruit. We did the obligatory wine tasting on arrival - paired with home-made chocolates - which was all very nice, though not a tour of the winery itself, and nothing I hadn’t done multiple times in Switzerland/France/Australia. Some excellent wines at very reasonable prices, though inevitably we didn’t buy. Set in stunning surroundings nevertheless and it was very comfortable accommodation: https://lovane.co.za/  including a free bottle of their wine in each of our rooms.

And then yesterday on to Hermanus for a night, to try and see the whales that come into the bay to breed and raise their young. We were advised that mid-afternoon and early morning were the ideal times, and during the afternoon/early evening yesterday we saw a good number - perhaps 12 to 15 though it’s hard to know - right up close to the rocky outcrops where we could stand. Difficult to identify the species; there are three which frequent the area (Southern Rights, Humpbacks and Bryde’s whales), but I guess the labels came off in the water. Most likely they were the first of these, because of the white marks on the heads and the V-shaped plume (see fifth picture below): https://www.whaletrail.co.za/southern-right-whale.html.  We were quite lucky, firstly because we saw them at all, and secondly because they were so close; this morning we saw nothing at all. But certainly these sightings from the cliff tops right outside the hotel were a far better option than spending cash on one of the numerous advertised boat tours. 

This morning, we persuaded the taxi driver, somewhat reluctantly, to take us from Hermanus to Strand Beach via the scenic route on the coastal road, with superb views across the bay of Table Mountain all the way south to the Cape of Good Hope (and Antarctica some way beyond!)

So we struggle on. The food is excellent and well-priced, with unusual and very tasty options (kudu and ostrich, for example), the beers are varied, and the wines are cheap. It could be a bit warmer (for my liking), but it’s closer to 40 degrees C at the next stop so I can manage till then.