Whale Route

The Cape - Whale Route

Cape Town’s metropolis huddles in the ‘bowl’ that is formed by majestic Table Mountain, its flanking peaks and the broad sweep of Table Bay. Suburbs and satellite towns sprawl across the low-lying Cape Flats and southwards over much of the scenically beautiful Cape Peninsula and the Table Mountain National Park. Inland are the grand mountain ranges and fertile valleys of the Cape Winelands, contrasting with the rugged, windswept West Coast (Cape Wilderness) and, beyond, bleak Namaqualand, which is transformed in spring with vast, sweeping fields of brilliantly coloured wildflowers. South Africa’s oldest city, Cape Town was founded by the first Dutch settlers who, led by Jan van Riebeeck, landed on the tip of Africa in April 1652. Set beneath the grandeur of Table Mountain, the area was described by English circumnavigator Sir Francis Drake as ‘the fairest cape in all the circumference of the earth’. The harbour is quieter than it was in the heyday of the great Union- Castle passenger liners, but a part of the waterfront has been imaginatively redeveloped for tourism, plenty of ships still call, and marine and mercantile industries contribute much to the local economy. Among the top attractions are the wide choice of eating and drinking places, excellent hotels, craft markets and speciality shops, a lively calendar of arts, superb beaches, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Table Mountain and the cableway and the Peninsula’s unique mountain and coastal scenery.

Whale Route

The 120km-route (75miles) from Cape Town to the quaint seaside centre of Hermanus is a scenic delight. Beyond Somerset West the marine drive cuts through coastal mountains to the picturesque village of Gordon’s Bay, popular among Capetonian weekenders, upcountry holidaymakers and affluent owners of second homes. Private yachts and commercial fishing boats bob companionably together in the harbor; sunlovers make for the soft sands of Bikini and Main beaches, sporting anglers for the open sea, where fine catches of tuna and yellowtail are routinely recorded. Deep-sea fishing boats are available for charter; pleasure cruisers and paddle-skis for hire. The small village is known for its speciality shops (hand-knitted Kei carpets are a feature), its Van Riebeeck Hotel and its tree splendid holiday resorts. Gordon’s Bay is one of the number of pleasant little resort centers along this stretch of the southern coast. To the south is tranquil and unspoilt Pringle Bay and Betty’s Bay. The nearby Harold Porter Botanic Garden is famed for the rich beauty of its wild flowers (the ericas are especially noteworthy) and its entrancing waterfall. Kleinmond, at the mouth of the Palmiet River, is a holiday centre with all the amenities and a relatively wine-free climate. A variety of waterbirds congregate in their thousands of the lagoon and marshlands, and in Kleinmond Coastal and Mountain Reserve, which is also sanctuary to more than 1500 plant species. The little village of Botrivier, a short distance inland, is the centre of a thriving wildflower industry, its most colourful product the salmon-pink Bot River protea.

HERMANUS
The town, nestled between the mountains and the blue waters of Walker Bay, is one of the Western Cape’s premier holiday spots and a magnet for whale-watchers. During the autumn and winter months these giant marine mammals, most of them southern rights, come inshore. One can’t get too close – local conservationists make sure of that – but there are good views from the cliffs above the bay. An official ‘whale crier’, complete with uniform and horn, announces the arrival of these leviathans. For the rest, Hermanus offers fine beaches, safe bathing and surging, splendid opportunities (along the rocky coast to either side and in the placid Kleinriviersvlei lagoon) for yachtsmen, for fishermen and for divers in search of juicy crayfish (rock lobster) and perlemoen (abalone). Recommended is the walk along the cliff tops, and the Rocky Mountain Way, a scenic drive that slices through the hills. The local 18-hole golf course welcomes visitors, as does the nearby Hamilton Russell estate, which boasts Africa’s southernmost vineyards. Among the town’s more ambitious tourist schemes is its Old Harbour, preserved in toto as a museum and a national monument to the fisherfolk of the yesteryear. The work-worn little boats on view date from the 1850s to the 1960s; scenes of the early days, when the place drew all its prosperity from the fruits of the seas, can be seen in the small stone museum building. Commercial fisherman, sporting anglers and other owners of leisure craft now use the splendid new marine complex. Some of the boats can be hired for deep-sea fishing expeditions.

OVERBERG
In late Victorian times the town of Caledon, in the Overberg (‘beyond the mountain’) region to the east of Cape Town, ranked as the southern hemisphere’s most fashionable spa, its complex of pools, sanatorium, grand pavilion and superb mineral springs attracting devotees from afar. The springs, seven is all, yield more than two million litres of irradiated water a day. Much of Caledon’s splendor disappeared after the devastating fire of 1946, but imaginative efforts have been made to restore the resort to its former glory. It now boasts the splendid De Overberger Hotel, built o the site of the old Victorian Bath, and a growing number of visitors and ‘taking to the waters’, drawn by the combination of hot springs, exercise, aromatherapy massage and the sense of physical well-being these create. Aerobics, horse riding, golf, squash, bowls, tennis and walks in the lovely countryside are also part of the health-and-leisure scene. The Caledon museum is also worth visiting for its interesting Victoriana displays and is textile section. The quickest way to get to Caledon is via the N2 national highway that twists its way over Sir Lowry’s Pass before running eastwards through flatter terrain. If you’re on an overnight visit, the De Overberger is the logical place to book into, but for a more cosy country stopover, your could try a venue in the attractive Elgin valley at the foot of the pass. The Houw Hoek Inn, the country’s oldest licensed hotel (its been in business since 1794) is a rustically ranch-style cluster of buildings looking out onto the duckpond and lawns over which Shetland ponies, ducks and geese wander at will. Its pub is exceptionally sociable.

Cape Town

TABLE MOUNTAIN
This is Cape Town’s premier attraction. The mountain rises 1086m (3564ft) above sea level and there are magnificent views from its distinctively flat-topped summit. Often, though, the heights are mantled by clouds and in summer, driven by the strong ‘southeaster’ wind, they tumble over its precipitous northern face to form a spectacular ‘tablecloth’. At the top there are short walks, a licensed restaurant and a souvenir shop. You can reach the summit on foot along one of several charted paths; some are easy, others difficult – and the mountain, despite warnings, regularly takes its toll of human life. Arm yourself with a good map or climb with someone who knows the way. Take warm clothing with you: what starts as a warm, sunny day can, and often does, change to mist and bitter chill within minutes. Most visitors ride up in the shiny new gondolas which recently replaced the old 27-seater cable cars when the Table Mountain Aerial Cable Car Company upgraded its facilities in 1997. The new cars, boasting revolving floors and a magnificent 360° view over the city, carry up to 65 individuals at a time. The six-minute trip may be taken at virtually any time of the year – from 08:00–22:00 December–April, 08:30–18:00 May–November. Because of the larger carrying capacity of the cars, queues are short and bookings are no longer taken. Please note: there’s still a lot of poverty and unemployment in the city and surrounds, and muggings are a risk. Be sure to take the basic precautions. Strolling along well-used roads is quite safe in daylight hours, but you’ll feel even safer in company.

THE VICTORIA AND ALFRED WATERFRONT
City and harbour have been reunited by the ambitious Victoria & Alfred Waterfront redevelopment scheme, a multibillion-dollar private venture that has borrowed ideas from San Francisco’s harbour project, Boston’s Quincy Market and others, but retains a lively character of its own. Among its various attractions are the Two Oceans – a world-class oceanarium complex housing both Atlantic and southern Indian Ocean species. Features include a functioning riverine ecosystem, a touch pool, and an ‘underwater’ tunnel – a walkway partially enclosed by glass. Restaurants, bistros and bars, speciality shops, bookshops, craft markets, fish and produce markets, cinemas, hotels and a maritime museum are all under the roof of the Waterfront complex, and exciting new structures continue to be erected along the banks of the yacht basin and marina. This is a lived-in, workaday area as well as a fun place: fishing boats still use it (some also acting as tourist craft); and office and residential complexes edge the border. It’s highly recommended, though it does become crowded (and the service rushed) over weekends and holidays – get there early in the day to find parking and avoid the crush.

BO-KAAP
This inner suburb, on the lower slopes of Signal Hill west of the central area, is a splash of exotic culture in an otherwise standard city setting: a picturesque place of mosques and quaint flat-roofed 18th-century houses, and home to part of Cape Town’s Islamic community, many of whom are descended from Indonesian slaves and political exiles brought in by the Dutch colonists. The name in translation means ‘above Cape’, though it is also known as the Malay Quarter. There is a small museum – a period house affiliated to Iziko Museums – at 71 Wale Street, which covers the history of the Bo- Kaap. Contact the museum at tel: (021) 481-3939.

SHOPPING
Cape Town’s many craft markets are the place to shop for contemporary African art and artefacts, curios, ethnic jewellery, leatherware and clothing (although South Africa has a sophisticated clothing industry and boasts a number of top designers). There are also plenty of antiques shops but beware of tourist traps; try Long Street and the Church Street open-air antique fair (open on Fridays). Openair markets are held at Greenmarket Square, St George’s Mall, the Grand Parade and the railway station, and offer fun shopping. You are likely to find a lot of junk, but, occasionally, a real bargain. For sophisticated shoppers there’s the V&A Waterfront, Claremont’s stylish Cavendish Square and the grand new Century City and Canal Walk complex in Milnerton. Gold and diamond jewellery are available tax free for overseas visitors.

CAPE PENINSULA
A leisurely day’s drive around the Peninsula’s coastline, a visit to the botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch, and wine tasting at Constantia’s wine estates are some of the choice options available to the visitor to the Cape Peninsula. To visit Cape Point, drive southwards along the coastal road from Sea Point to picturesque Llandudno, passing Bantry Bay, Clifton and Camps Bay (the imposing Twelve Apostles, an extension of the Table Mountain range, line the route on your left), and down to the fishing harbour of Hout Bay. Either continue inland through lovely Constantia and the scenic Ou Kaapse Weg (‘Old Cape Road’) or, now that they have finished repairing the cliffside route, over spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive to Kommetjie and Scarborough and on to the Table Mountain National Park and Cape Point. An alternative route back to town would be along the east coast, past Boulders and Seaforth, through Simon’s Town (steeped in naval history), Glencairn, Fish Hoek and Muizenberg, and on to Ladies Mile past Tokai and Constantia.

CAPE POINT
Often mistaken as the meeting place of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, Cape Point is Africa’s second most southerly point after Cape Agulhas, the geographical meeting place of the two oceans. The headland is part of the extensive Table Mountain National Park – a place of marvellous floral diversity (at its best in spring) and a sanctuary for grey rhebok, Cape mountain zebra, duiker, Cape fox, caracal, dassies and baboons (do not feed or tease the baboons). Facilities include fishing and boating, picnic spots, a restaurant and a gift shop. There is also a selection of hiking paths (maps available at the entrance); of note is a short trail from Olifantsbos, skirting rock pools and leading to the wreck of the Thomas T. Tucker. A new funicular takes visitors up the hill to within walking distance of the Cape Point lighthouse.

KIRSTENBOSCH NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
On the eastern slopes of the Table Mountain range, above the affluent southern suburbs, lies Kirstenbosch, one the world’s most celebrated botanic gardens. An astonishing array of flowering plants (around one quarter of southern Africa’s 24,000 species) are cultivated here: proteas, pelargoniums, ericas, mesembryanthemums, ferns, cycads of ancient origin and much else. There are delightful walks through herb and fragrance gardens, a pelargonium koppie, a cycad amphitheatre; trails lead through the forests of stinkwood, yellowwood and silver trees; the birdlife – particularly the sugarbirds, drawn to the vast protaceae in the Garden – is enchanting. An impressive new Visitors' Centre and gift shop is located at the entrance. A Garden Shop at the entrance sells plants, gifts and books, and the restaurants are a popular venue for lunches, teas and dinners, and during the summer months, for outdoor champagne breakfasts (bring your own bubbly). Summer concerts are held on Sunday evenings, and a wonderful way to spend the afternoon is to take a stroll through the Garden followed by a lazy picnic before the concert begins. Check the newspapers for up-to-date details.

CONSTANTIA WINE ESTATES
There are currently four wine estates in the beautiful Constantia valley, and together they form the local ‘wine route’. Groot Constantia, the oldest and stateliest of the homesteads, dates from the late 17th century and is notable for its architecture, period furniture, two-storeyed wine cellar, museum and lovely grounds (the oak-lined avenue leads to an ornamental pool). For visitors there are daily wine sales, with some superlative vintages on offer, cellar tours, a horse and carriage for hire, picnic lunches on the pretty, shaded lawns and three restaurants. Klein Constantia is smaller and more private, and Constantia Uitsig has an excellent wine shop. The Buitenverwachting homestead houses one of the country’s best restaurants. Ticket prices to the summer concerts (jazz and classical music) on Buitenverwachting’s sprawling lawn, girded by giant oaks and vineyards, include a bottle of the estate’s excellent wine. Bring a picnic basket and a blanket. Check the newspaper for concert details. Visit the nearby Old Cape Farm Stall for high-quality South African fruits, preserves and a tantalizing range of gourmet delicacies.

Cape Winelands

The Winelands of the Cape comprise a region of grand mountain ranges, fertile valleys, vineyards and orchards heavy with fruit, and of homesteads built in the distinctive and gracious style known as Cape Dutch. These were the first rural areas to be taken over by the early white colonists: they began infiltrating the traditional lands of the Khoisan people of the interior in the 1660s, turning the countryside over to pasture, the growing of wheat and, increasingly, the cultivation of wine grapes. The farms prospered, the colony expanded, and a number of small towns were founded: Stellenbosch in 1679, Franschhoek (‘French corner’, named for its Huguenot settlers) 10 years later, to be followed by Paarl, Wellington, Tulbagh, Worcester, Robertson and others, all of them worth visiting for their history and the beauty of their surrounds.

THE WINE ROUTES
Touring the various wine routes in and around Constantia, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl, Worcester and Robertson is a very pleasant way to spend one’s day. There are hundreds of wineries and estates, so visitors with limited time will be able to cover only a fraction of them. A visit to four or maybe five is the most you can expect to manage in a day’s outing. Most cellars offer tours (at set times) and tastings, and there’s no limit to the number of wines you’re allowed to try, though many of the places charge a small initial fee. Some run excellent restaurants; at others there are farm stalls selling local specialities, gift shops, and sometimes galleries or museums.

Four Passes Fruit Route - If you’re in a motoring mood, the scenically splendid Four Passes drive leads you from Cape Town to Stellenbosch, and over the Helshoogte Pass which towers above the Drakenstein valley area. It then takes you past Boschendal Estate and Franschhoek, over the rugged Franschhoek Pass and through the apple orchards of Elgin and Grabouw, before bringing you home over the Hottentots–Holland range via Sir Lowry’s Pass and through Somerset West. You may also like to take Viljoen’s Pass to Vyeboom and Villiersdorp. If you feel inclined to taste a few wines, pay a visit to Anglo-American’s new multimillion-rand wine cellar on the Vergelegen Estate. Designed by a Parisian architect, the winery is built into the hillside and offers a 360- degree view unequalled by any Cape wine farm. You can enjoy a light lunch or stay for tea; visits to the winery are by appointment. Nature lovers shouldn’t miss a visit to the nearby Helderberg Nature Reserve, which offers lovely scenery, as well as interesting flora and birdlife.

Cape Wilderness & West Coast

THE WESTERN SEABOARD
The Cape’s west coast is very different from the southern maritime belt – dry, treeless, windy, for the most part rather bleak. But it has its attractions, and at times and in some places its beauty as well. The journey up the shoreline from Cape Town will take you along the R27 highway, past the fast-growing centres of Boubergstrand (magnificent views of Table Mountain in the distance), Melkbosstrand (popular among fisherman) and Darling (15km inland but worth visiting for its cultivated lupins and the beautiful chincherinchee members of the lily family) to Langebaan lagoon. For much of the way you’re in sight of the sea and the drive is pleasant: its rather stark but often strikingly scenic coastline jagged cliff and wide beach, heath and sandveld. On your left, opposite the tiny resort of Yzerfontein, you’ll see Dassen, one of the regions larger, and in conservation terms, most important islands. Described by one scientist as among ‘the naturalist’s wonders of the world’, it supports huge numbers of seabirds, serving as a breeding ground for, among others, the threatened jackass penguin (so named for its loud, braying call), nearly 100,000 that congregate on its rocky surface in February and again in September. Access is restricted, but visitors can approach by boat. Langebaan lagoon, 120 km (75miles) north of Cape Town, is an even more impressive bird sanctuary. The 16km-long (10 mile) channel, which opens into Saldanha Bay, is both one of Africa’s finest wetland areas and focal point of the west coast’s tourism industry. Its shallow waters, the fringing mud and sand banks and the bay’s islands and rocky shores, are a magnet for great concourses of summertime migrants from the Artic and sub-Artic regions – and for cormorants, Cape gannets, gulls, herons, plovers, knots, turnstones, sanderlings and other species. The lagoon is the centrepiece of the fairly recently created West Coast National Park, which embraces the Postberg Nature Reserve; haven for a variety of buck species and, in springtime , venue for a breathtaking fantasia of wild flowers. Visitors stay at Langebaan Lodge, a pleasant hotel that also does duty as the park’s head quarters and information centre. The lagoon is much favoured by the yachting and watersports fraternities. Further up the coast, nearly 100km (62 miles) beyond Saldanha and best reached via the inland route, is Lambert’s Bay, a large fishing village popular with casual holidaymakers. People come for the variety of fish and rock lobsters at Bosduifklip, one of the region’s open-air, marvelously rough-and-ready seafood eateries. And for the bird life: Bird Island (connected to the harbor) sustains vast colonies of Cape gannets, cormorants, penguins, and a number of other seabirds (in fact, 150 species altogether). There about 12km (7 miles) inland, is where flamingos gather in their thousands.

INLAND OF THE WESTERN SEABOARD
For the first 150 km (93 miles) the national highway (N7) leads through the Swartland, or ‘black country’ – so named for the rich darkness of its fertile soils – to the Olifants River. Other colours, through, are perhaps more descriptive of the countryside. Gold for the great fields of waving wheat, for instance; green for the wines and orchards and a dozen other bountiful harvests. Malmesbury is the region’s principal town. More noteworthy, perhaps, are Citrusdal and Clanwilliam, set in the lushly productive Olifants river-valley. Citrusdal is well named: it’s the centre of splendidly extensive orange groves whose first seedlings were nurtured in Jan van Riebeeck’s Cape Town garden. One particular tree (now a national monument) has been bearing fruit for the past 250 years. Washington, Naval and Valencia oranges make up the bulk of the harvest, but orchards also yield lemons, grapefruits and easy-to-peel hybrids. During the winter months around 6000 workers pick, sort and pack the golden crops, and air is heavy with scent. The local cooperative lays on tours of its giant pack-house. Clanwilliam is the headquarters of the country’s rooibos tea industry. Again, visitors are welcome: tours of the estates and processing sheds are conducted during weekday for tour groups of 15 and more. The programme includes an audio-visual presentation that covers the cultivation, grading and versatility of the leaf. The area is also noted for its gorgeous springtime blooms, and their best in the Ramskop Nature Reserve and Clanwilliam Wild Flower Garden and, further away, in the enchanting Biewdouw valley. The valley’s farmers are commendably aware of this precious floral heritage, and move their herds of sheep and cattle to other pastures during the flowering season. To the east of the two towns looms the towering Cederberg, a mountain range that takes its name from the rare and lovely Clanwilliam cedar tree. This is a vast (71,000ha) wilderness area of starkly and often strangely eroded rock formations, of caves and overhangs, peaks, ravines, cold upland streams and waterfalls, and of magnificent vistas. The highlands are criss-crossed by some 250 km (155 miles) of well defined paths, and they attract hikers, ramblers, photographers, nature-lovers and campers from all corners. For those with energy, a couple of days to spare and a liking for great, quite spaces, the Cederberg is the ideal destination.

NAMAQUALAND
Beyond the Olifants River is a dry, desolate, thinly populated region of sandveld terraces (the ‘raised beaches’ are relics of a time before the ocean receded) known as Namaqualand – a narrow belt of increasingly arid countryside that stretches up to the Orange River and the southern dunes of the ancient Namib desert. Surface water is virtually non-existent; the terrain is harsh and seldom blessed by good rains; some places record less than 50mm a year. To the casual observer, it seems that the rather arid land here cannot possibly sustain any but the toughest, least attractive life-forms. But Namaqualand, incredibly, is home to more than 4000 floral species, most belonging to the daisy and mesembryanthemum groups, though others – aloes and lilies, perennial herbs, succulents – are well represented. The plants are resistant to drought, their seeds lying dormant just beneath the sandy surface during the long dry spells. Then, in that brief, promising period after the winter rains and before the onset of the searing desert breezes, they burst into glorious flower, transforming the countryside with great carpets of colourful blooms. This wonderful springtime show is not confined to the semi-arid parts of the area. Patches of daisies and other sandveld annuals mingle with the proteas, ericas and pincushions of the Cape Floral Kingdom’s fynbos vegetation far to the south. The flowers are usually at their most eye-catching around mid-September, but this varies from year to year – as do the best viewing areas – according to the subtle interplay of temperature, wind and rainfall.