This morning we headed back down to the coast with a stop at Stony Point to see more penguins – in sunshine this time! We then went to Hermanus to see Southern Right Whales from shore. It’s one of the best places in the world to see whales without having to go into a boat. That said, they were quite far in the bay today and didn’t give us a great show. I’ve included my two best photos but National Geographic definitely won’t be banging on my door to use them any time soon! The town and the bay are just gorgeous though and the warm sun feels really nice after the cooler weather we had in Cape Town.
We then began the long journey to Oudsthoorn with a couple of photo stops along the way, including when our driver spotted the national bird of South Africa – the Blue Crane. The drive through the mountains and valleys was just gorgeous. We went from lush, farmland (including bright yellow canola flowers) to the dry Karoo. We drove on Route 62 that has signs similar to Route 66. It’s known as the world’s longest wine route.
One brief photo stop we made was at Ronnie’s Sex Shop. This is a little pub in the middle of nowhere was meant to be a farm stand called Ronnie’s Shop but friends played a prank and added the word ‘Sex’ to the name. While upset at first, it stuck, became a pub and seems to attract a lot of patrons! Clever marketing indeed!
Other blog posts from this tour:
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Days 8 & 9 | Days 10 & 11 | Days 12 & 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Days 16 & 17 | Day 18