Southern landscapes, northern wildlife: returning to South Africa (page 3 of 6)

Yes! 😉

Isn’t the Cederberg and Mount Ceder just gorgeous?

(For the entry tickets... you could buy them at MC...)

Isn’t the Cederberg and Mount Ceder just gorgeous?

It’s stunning! And so peaceful 🙂

(for the tickets... you could buy them at the MC...)

I thought we just had to show the wildcard at the entrance like we did at Kogelberg and Stony Point (and like we did around the peninsula too).

Thursday 10/15 For sure, we’d have loved to stay one more day (just to do at least one of the lodge’s hikes!), but we’ve got to head back to civilization already 🏴‍☠️. The 37 km of dirt road go by faster than on the way there (probably just getting used to it 😉), though driving on dirt roads definitely won’t become one of my favorite travel activities!).

Since the weather forecast for Saturday is uncertain, we stop at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens today (especially since they’re practically on our route). The temperature is much cooler than in the Cederberg, and the wind is blowing hard! It’s a huge garden with themed areas. We stick to the main paths, but plenty of trails wind all over through the different sections.



An Egyptian goose with her goslings.









A Cape eagle-owl mom (well, I assume so), protected by barriers, brooding her chicks (on the ground).

The (short) canopy walk

with a view of the city:

The cycad/prehistory area:





And, near the exit (or entrance), a sculpture area:





We arrive at our accommodation in the late afternoon. The place is fenced, barricaded, and electrified (like all the others) 😕. ... But it offers a beautiful view of the bay from the upstairs rooms (we were upgraded since we were the only guests).

Why Hout Bay and not Camps Bay or Constantia (which we passed through and seemed like a pretty nice neighborhood)? I fell in love with the photos of the bay 😛 and besides, we don’t plan to visit Cape Town itself (we’re not really "city" people), but it’s close to the peninsula.

Our hosts recommend several restaurants. The local Mexicola turns out to be an excellent choice—really good and not expensive at all.

Well Muriel, I missed the start... I’ll have to catch up by taking something other than a Tata Tiago 😅 We really loved the south of South Africa during our trip at the end of 2018. Your travel journal is going to bring back some great memories 🤗

Ah, Hout Bay, I loved it so much! Hope you’ll give me updates on my buddies the seals, Muriel 😊

I reread your travel journal, Isabelle (like others about this destination), but you’d better hurry—we’re almost done with the south, and you’re gonna miss your flight to Johannesburg 😉

Oh no, Christelle! No more seals in Hout Bay than whales in Hermanus 🏴‍☠️ I think there’s a season for them too, but I’m not sure which one.

On the other hand, I often thought of you when I saw all the people (all Black 🤪) hitchhiking along the roads, a ticket (or not) in hand... We really wanted to pick someone up, but we didn’t dare 😊.

We're not exactly super brave either, Muriel—we had 90% women in our group 😄. And I knew there was a whale season, but I didn’t know sea lions had one too. I thought they were there all year round!

Quick search done: there’s no real season for the seals... but they’re mostly on Duiker Island, even if they sometimes hang out at Hout Bay beach (we didn’t get that lucky 😕)

No worries, they send you hugs and kisses 😢😘😙

🤗🤗🤗 ... but that just makes me regret it even more!

I wonder if you're not just looking for an excuse to come back to the area, Muriel 😄

With animals, you never know what to expect... I just re-read your South African travel journal: you were really lucky with the animals, both in Kruger and in the south!

Honestly, I had no idea, Muriel. I found this trip amazing in terms of wildlife, but I thought it was "normal" in South Africa. Apparently not! We plan to go back, but we don’t know when yet. Have a great day! 😊

A bug (it had been a while since the last one) and now I just have to start over

Anyway, yes Christelle, it's a bit "normal" to see animals in South Africa (after all, that's often why people go there 😉) ... but luck plays a part too.

To be continued:

Friday 16/10 The weather forecast is confirmed: rain is expected for Saturday 😕 (though, to be honest, we haven't really had anything to complain about weather-wise so far).

Two activities are still planned in the area: the peninsula tour and the hike up Lion’s Head. The first will take the whole day, the other half a day ... we decide to do the peninsula today and keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow ...

A classic tour if ever there was one. We start in Muizenberg with its colorful beach huts. The huts are still there, but the seafront is under construction.



By 10 AM, surfers are already out in force. The lifeguards are training:



Well, not all of them ... 😎



We then follow the coast to Boulder’s Beach (not feeling particularly inspired to stop in Kalk Bay) to visit another penguin colony. It’s packed with people, and we have to wait for a parking spot. On the access path, we spot the swimming beach (access is through a different entrance; the shallow water might be a pleasant temperature):



And we can already see penguins on the access path, behind the fence.



Lots of people at the ticket counters too, but with the wildcard, we skip the queue 😎





After all the talk about it, the famous "secret beach" isn’t so secret anymore ... though there are still fewer people than on the main platform.

But as I was waiting for that famous “secret beach” (listed in the *Routard* guide, so secret level 🤫) that’s been talked about so much on this forum!!! 😏

Okay, I’m even more excited now for the hike up Lion’s Head! 😛

I don’t want to spoil it for you, but you might be disappointed 🏴‍☠️

A quick look at Miller’s Point for the view (but we didn’t stop) and we continued on to the Cape Point reserve… quite a few people there too. Some paved roads, numerous trails—there’s plenty to do! We’ll stick to the classics given the time we have. First stop along the way:



Once parked, we headed first to the old Cape Point lighthouse, accessible on foot or by funicular.





(in the background, the Cape of Good Hope)

(the new lighthouse is all the way at the end, in the middle of the cliff)

From there, we walked back down to the legendary (more legendary than spectacular 🤪) Cape of Good Hope (you can also drive to the foot of the cape).





Our eyes were glued to the beautiful Dias Beach below when I remembered what our hosts said this morning: you can see zebras, porcupines, antelopes… Sure enough, on the land side, an antelope in the distance! It’s a Cape eland, but what a pain to photograph with the zoom in this wind that could blow the horns off an ox—no stability at all!



Oh! A little farther away, there’s an ostrich… and even farther, more elands!