The weather turned absolutely foul the day we left Cape Town so our scenic Garden Route trip wasn’t quite so scenic as we were stuck in the truck with the tarps down and the beach roof on. It was wet, windy and really awful weather to be on the roads and some of the townships we passed looked really miserable places to be and were a very sobering reminder of how many residents of SA still live. This particular one, between CT and Hermanus, stretched for as far as the eye could see.
We did a bit of a detour and headed part-way down the Cape to the Boulder Bay penguin colony. Penguins are such funny birds to watch. They seem to have real character but perhaps its just the way that they walk. Regardless, this fellow had us in stitches as he ummmed and aahhhhhed about whether to cross this wee trickle of water.
He stood for a while peering at it, looking left and looking right while his friend behind him shuffled along until he too, was wondering whether to cross. He took the plunge eventually but then they both came scooting back out from behind a rock totally freaked out by something!
You could get really close to them - they weren’t fazed at all
and while the chicks looked really bedraggled
they still appeared larger than their parents (all fluff perhaps?)
We did a bit of a detour and headed part-way down the Cape to the Boulder Bay penguin colony. Penguins are such funny birds to watch. They seem to have real character but perhaps its just the way that they walk. Regardless, this fellow had us in stitches as he ummmed and aahhhhhed about whether to cross this wee trickle of water.
He stood for a while peering at it, looking left and looking right while his friend behind him shuffled along until he too, was wondering whether to cross. He took the plunge eventually but then they both came scooting back out from behind a rock totally freaked out by something!
You could get really close to them - they weren’t fazed at all
and while the chicks looked really bedraggled
they still appeared larger than their parents (all fluff perhaps?)
Our destination for that evening was Hermanus and, as I’d been through Hermanus years ago but not stopped to visit, I was looking forward to having a look around. Hermanus is billed as the #1 whale watching destination in the world and now, having been there, I can understand why. Even on a grey day the bay is beautiful, with rock faces, kelp forests and rock pools.
There were an estimated 120 southern right whales in the bay the day we were there and, if you held your eyes in one spot, you’d be sure to see a whale fin, tail, back or nose. They were so close to shore - in the photo below, there is a whale fin in the water just above the end of the rocky outcrop, that’s how close it was. The whale was seemingly just rolling around in the shallows playing or doing whatever whales do!
A wee bit further along, there were about five of them frolicking around in the shallows. You can just see a tail sticking out of the water.
We walked to the point to watch and once there, realise exactly what they were doing. There was a lot of rolling going on and it wasn’t until a big fin came up out of the water and very deliberately slapped the water, then did it again, that we realised they were actually mating.
Once done, they just bobbed in the water next to one another and another one came over and joined them. They were only about 20m off the point and you could hear them blowing (spouting?) from a long way away. The noise was similar to when you take a piece of plastic drainpipe and blow down it.
It was the kind of place I could have easily camped out at for a few days and just sat and watched the bay. We saw a whale, in a fit of energy, breach out of the water before slamming back in, saw another one rolling over and over in the waves, playing, all on his own and more that were churning up the water in what we now suspect was a whale orgy.
There were an estimated 120 southern right whales in the bay the day we were there and, if you held your eyes in one spot, you’d be sure to see a whale fin, tail, back or nose. They were so close to shore - in the photo below, there is a whale fin in the water just above the end of the rocky outcrop, that’s how close it was. The whale was seemingly just rolling around in the shallows playing or doing whatever whales do!
A wee bit further along, there were about five of them frolicking around in the shallows. You can just see a tail sticking out of the water.
We walked to the point to watch and once there, realise exactly what they were doing. There was a lot of rolling going on and it wasn’t until a big fin came up out of the water and very deliberately slapped the water, then did it again, that we realised they were actually mating.
Once done, they just bobbed in the water next to one another and another one came over and joined them. They were only about 20m off the point and you could hear them blowing (spouting?) from a long way away. The noise was similar to when you take a piece of plastic drainpipe and blow down it.
It was the kind of place I could have easily camped out at for a few days and just sat and watched the bay. We saw a whale, in a fit of energy, breach out of the water before slamming back in, saw another one rolling over and over in the waves, playing, all on his own and more that were churning up the water in what we now suspect was a whale orgy.
1 comment:
A whale orgy huh..... now that must be a messy affair. No swimming i guess :)
Ladi
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