Arrival in South Africa, Bo-kaap, Waterfront, Table Mountain

On Friday, October 29, we landed in Cape Town, still tired from our short night but excited to begin our journey. We haven’t fully realized yet that it is for a year that we are leaving, letting behind our city life.

The boat carrying our van Uyo, has been delayed and will only arrive in Cape Town on November 14th. This leaves us two weeks to explore this beautiful area of the West Coast.

We’re settling down in downtown Cape Town for the first two nights. We want to explore some of the districts of this city and especially discover its nature. Cape Town is a big, lively, very occidental city.

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After a day of walking the streets of the center, we decide to take advantage of the good weather to climb to the top of Table Mountain, a natural wonder of the world, overlooking the city. 

To get there, we walk from our hostel in the center of town. The paved streets leading to the approach road begin to climb. We pass through wealthy neighbourhoods with beautiful houses protected by the latest security systems. We can read on all the houses the sign “armed responses”. This reminds us that despite the infrastructure we are not in Europe anymore. The high inequalities, and the history of the country make security an important business in South Africa.

The hike is beautiful, we are coming into spring and the trails are covered of flowers. Table Mountain Nature Reserve is home to over 2200 different plant species. It is protected and part of the UNESCO world heritage. We feel very small next to it as much in size as in time scale. This flat summit, have overlooked the ocean of more than 1000m for 260 million years.

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For our second evening, we have the chance to be invited to a Braai (barbecue) at a French woman’s house living in Cape Town. It is the opportunity for us to learn more about the country, its culture, the life of expatriate in Cape Town…

On the way to Hermanus, to spot whales

On the third day, we rented a car to go to Hermanus where we hoped to observe whales. We are at the end of the season and the chances of seeing them are quite low, but that doesn’t stop us. After sitting behind the steering wheel, on the right side, we have to start by leaving the big city. Which is not an easy task when we don’t know all the local codes yet and that the driving is on the left. To get there, we choose to drive along the coast. We are not disappointed, the view is exceptional between the green mountains, the groves of wild flowers and the waves which break on the orange rocks below. 

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On the way, we stop at Stony Point to meet the Cape penguins. This is a protected species found in the southern hemisphere in South Africa and Namibia. This penguin does not fly, the short feathers of the adults look almost like scales. The young have a uniform blue-grey plumage which they lose as they grow up in favor of black and white bicolored feathers. Penguin pairs for life, the male and female meet each year to breed. Then they share the responsibility of incubating the egg for about 40 days.

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The best time to watch whales is between May and November. In May, the first whales arrive to give birth. Then, they are joined by the others as the months go by. The peak is from September to October, then the males leave first, followed by the mothers and their calves when they are strong enough to start the crossing to Antarctica. The last whales that remain in early November are preparing their calves for the big trip.

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As soon as we arrived in Hermanus, at the end of the day, we walked along the bay in the hope of seeing whales. We then discover a superb spectacle of cormorants hunting on the sea a few dozen meters away from us. Thousands of birds dancing in the sky to follow the group of fish, before diving steeply in the hope of catching one.

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The next day, we left early to the sea front. The wind rose and we know that it will not be long before it rains. Just arrived, we see fins in the distance. First two or three, then about twenty. Maybe even fifty fins belonging to common dolphins that always travel in bands. They are recognisable by their black, white and yellow colours. The rest of the day we walked along the coast between two rain showers, without success to spot the whales.

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On Monday, still no whale in sight from Hermanus. Hence, we go to the other side of the bay to De Kelders to walk along the coast. The landscapes change but are still beautiful. Large rocks fall into the sea, sometimes forming caves that make the waves crash. In the distance, we can see a huge wild beach of sand.

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It is in this direction that we see our first whale. With a lot of excitement, we settled down to observe this giant mammal playing in the waves. The next day, while watching the videos, we discovered that it was two whales: the mother and her calf.

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Back in Cape Town waiting for our van

We plan to stay in the area until the van arrives.

We are back in Cape Town. We are going to stay for more than a week in Muizenberg, close to the beach and the Cape of Good Hope, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. I write in the Uber that drive us there. The road is calm without traffic jam. The day started at dawn. I opened my eyes at 6:10 am, 10 minutes before the alarm rang. The light was entering the room. The excitement of going in search of whales one last time got me out of bed despite the chill in the air. This morning, we only had a 30 minute window to try our luck one last time before leaving to return the rental car. As soon as we parked on the parking lot, facing the ocean, a grey mass came out of the water. We were not dreaming, it was a whale right there below the viewpoint, a few meters from the rocks of the coast.

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Muizenberg is a well-known surf spot suitable for all levels. The conditions are favorable in the first days after our arrival. We take the opportunity to rent boards and do one or two sessions a day. The waves are great even for beginners, a chance for Laurène who has very little experience. The city overlooks False Bay, one of the largest bays in the world. It is also surrounded by green mountains that offer beautiful hikes. There is no lack of activities for the week ahead. The favorable wind to get on the water the coming days draws our program.

To be continued in our next article…