South Africa: The Cape

CAPETOWN, HOUTS BAY and PENGUINS

We arrived to Cape Town - windy and rainy so we had a couple needed 'work' days. We picked up a rental car and headed to the cape hearing that good weather was coming. We stopped at soggy Lion’s head and Signal Hill to overlook Robben Island. We could see Table Mountain and at times catch a peak at the top through fast drifting clouds. On to Hout’s Bay that afternoon to watch seals in the harbor - we had an awesome lunch of chowder and sautéed mussels in garlic/butter (OMG, delicious!) and then headed on a scenic drive though incredible coastal cliffs (wow!) and then on to Simons Town and Boulders where the African Penguins were hanging out RIGHT by the trail. Some fish and chips and quick stops by the cake shop and wine store for ‘take-aways’ and we were back at the hostel enjoying a nice birthday evening.






CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

Crystal clear skies for the Cape of Good Hope - YES! Cape Point and a walk to the old Lighthouse, overlooks on the cliffs...all of it was breath-taking (literally with all the gusts of wind)! We watched a peregrine falcon eat some white bird, watched Sunbirds on the blooming aloe plants, and took in the amazing amazing scenery. Just around the bend to the Cape of Good Hope stopping for Ostrich, Eland and other antelope on the road - and ‘cheeky’ Hyrax on the cliff trail. After a 'sundowner' (me sporting my windblown look), we made a wonderful discovery - "caravan parks". These we’d call campgrounds in the U.S. (so no wonder we were confused – “what, no one camps at rest camps? This ‘tented camp’ has a bed and a fridge and a bath?”). So we were finally using our tent in a quiet campground near the beach!









BIRDS:
African Penguins
Cape Cormorants
Crowned Cormorants
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Hadeda Ibis
Sacred Ibis
Spurwinged Goose
Peregrine Falcon
Cape Francolin
African Black Oystercatcher
Crowned Plover
Blacksmith Plover
Kelp Gull
Caspian Tern
Greyheaded Gull
Rock Pigeons
Cinnamon Doves
Whitenecked Ravens
Pied Crows
Cape Rockjumper
Capped Whetear
Cape Robin
Grassbird
Longbilled Crombec
Spotted Prinia
Cape White-eye
Cape Wagtail
Yellowthroated Longclaw
Redwinged Starling
Malachite Sunbird
Lesser Doublecollared Sunbird
Cape Bunting

MAMMALS:
Eland
Chacma Baboons
Cape Hare
Cape Fur Seals
Sable Antelope
Rock Hyrax

KLEINMOND

There are about 20 clawless otters in the little village of Kommetjie (near our camp spot) that can only be seen at dark right before dawn. The sun doesn’t rise until 8 a.m. here …and we were too late to see them getting out of the campground/caravan park around 8:30 – dangit! So we cleared out and cruised along the coast by Fish Hoek and Muizenberg over toward Gordon’s Bay (in the direction of Hermanus). We stopped at Betty’s Bay for a visit to an internet/coffee shop and found information on the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve - we wanted to do some hiking there. “The Kogelberg has the most complex biodiversity on the planet including over 1880 plant species.” We read somewhere that 68% of the biodiversity there was endemic – so this was our kind of place…and we needed a nice long hike. The weather had been keeping crystal clear so we lucked out. We camped at another caravan park right on the beach and near a nature reserve – we love these parks!



BIRDS:
African Penguin
Whitebreasted Cormorant
Cape Cormorant
Grey Heron
Great White Egret
Greater Flamingo
Sacred Ibis
Spurwinged Goose
Epytian Goose
Yellowbilled Duck
Cape Shoveler
Peregrine Falcon
Blackwinged Stilt
Blacksmith Plover
Caspian Tern
Greyheaded Gull
Royal Tern
Pied Kingfisher
Hoopoe
Pied Crow
Cape Reed Warbler
Fiscal Flycatcher
Fisdcal Shrike
Lesser Doublecollared Sunbird

KOGELBERG BIOSPHERE RESERVE

We started on the hike at 8 a.m. (sunrise). The place is oozing with waterfalls, majestic mountain ridgelines and these endemic forests tucked into box canyons – the forests felt like the fire swamp in Princess Bride…I kept looking for ROUS’s!! We split up at the top – Charles took the all-day route back into the core of the reserve – a nice scenic hike but unfortunately 2 burns last year scorched a lot of the area. Kristi chose the route through Leopard Gorge (yes, leopard are there - yikes) and ending at Betty’s Bay botanical gardens – an amazing canyon straight down to the sea. And, by the way, ending a 3-hr canyon/waterfall hike in total solitude taking tons of photos … at a beautiful botanical gardens is THE way to end an awesome hike. Birds and flowers and people…wow, how surreal. (Some botanical garden educators were headed up to Kogelberg – what luck! - so I hitched a ride with them as they asked me endless questions of where was I from, what do I do in the U.S, where have we explored in Africa, did I see the ‘big five’ in Kruger, etc etc. At the end, we exchanged business cards – maybe I’ll take the field school to South Africa! Yes…maybe so!






BIRDS:
Eastern White Pelican
Whitenecked Raven
Paradise Flycatcher
Cape White-eyes
Orangebreasted Sunbird
Yellowbreasted Apalis

HERMANUS

The sun sets early - around 5:30 - so we're hard pressed to stay up past 7:30 or 8! Good, though - we were well awake for sunrise at Hermanus Bay. Charles spotted the first Southern Right Whale close offshore. Hermanus is one of the world’s best places to see whales from shore – so we went out early to test that theory. Between taking photos of sunrise and looking for whales, it was an eventful morning! Charles saw a glimpse of a dorsal side a tail of a nearby whale. Later that morning we had coffee and hot chocolate with Jackie, we met Jackie, Ronnie and another couple at Kruger our second night on the continent. We made arrangements to spend Friday night dinner with them on our way back to Cape Town.

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MAMMAL
Southern Right Whales

BIRDS:
Cape Cormorants
Cape Gannets
Pallid Harrier
Springbok
Black Crows
Blue Cranes

CAPE AGULHAS

The rain started again leaving Hermanus – so sad! We drove through soggy wine and merino sheep country and onward to the southernmost place on the African continent – Cape Agulhas. Windy and cold cold cold. This is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Amazing waves and green ocean. After a quick walk to the point, we drove to an overlook and had an inside car picnic – we’ve begun to love these! We now always carry a bottle of wine for these sandwich picnics. Then still heading east in the Overberg, our destination was De Hoop Nature Reserve. Our trusty Wild Card pass came in handy again – it seems everywhere we go accepts this card we bought on day 1 at Kruger. This ‘wild card’ is awesome – a one-time fee gets you entrance to over 80 parks and reserves in several countries in southern Africa (including Namibia, Botswana, etc - yes!).





DE HOOP (“woop”) NATURE RESERVE

Wwwoowww. We were watching 15-20 whales for a couple hours at the dunes/beach – and at the end while eating our PB&Js, they were breaching - we could not believe how amazing and beautiful it was. We braved the cold, wind, and periodic rain and it was SO worth it. Rainbows on the beach with whales - you can't beat it. Then driving back past ostriches, baboons, elands, and bonteboks to have a nice cup of tea before braii and sundowers - not a bad day. Awesome trip. Love South Africa.








BIRDS:
Cape Cormorants
Pinkbacked Pelicans
Grey Herons
Blackcrowned Night Herons
Lesser Flamingo
Hadeda Ibis
Yellowbilled Duck
Cape Francolin
Helmeted Francolin
Helmeted Guineafowl
Ostriches
Redknobbed Coot
Blackwinged Stilts
Caspian Tern
Grayheaded Gull
Laighing Gull
Namaqua Dove
Black Swifts
Rock Martin
Pied Crow
Black Crow
Cape Bulbul
Cape Robin
Fiscal Flycatcher
Cape White-eye
Cape Wagtail
Bokmakierie
Redwinged Starling
Lesser Doublecollared Sunbird
Bully Canary
Cape Bunting
Lemonbreasted Canary

MAMMALS:
Cape Clawless Otter
Southern Right Whales
Bontebok
Eland
Grey Rhesbok
Rock Hyrax
Porcupines
Yellow-tailed Mongoose (1 with snake in mouth)
Chacma Baboons