Heart of the Whale Route - 310km

HERMANUS

...is the heart of the popular Whale Route, and the town's 12-km-long Cliff Path offers one of the best shore-based whale-watching spots in the world. The southern right whales arrive in Walker Bay in June/July to calve and remain until November. Visitors are kept up to date about the latest whale sightings by the town's Whale Crier, the only one of his kind in the world. The coastline around Hermanus is characterised by numerous sheltered coves and bays, which are ideal for swimming and sunbathing.

Grotto Beach, at the town's eastern end, features a magnificent sandy beach. On the hills above the town, visitors can enjoy walking among the fynbos flora in the Fernkloof Nature Reserve, which has 40 km of hiking trails. Not to be missed is a visit to the craftmarket and the old stone harbour with its interesting museum, where you can listen to whale sounds transmitted from a sonar buoy offshore.

Siyabona Africa travel recommends accommodation in Hermanus.

STANFORD

Built along the banks of the Klein River, Stanford's Victorian buildings, smallholdings and water furrows lend the village a charming, rural air. Facing the central market square is a cluster of Edwardian houses built in 1920–23. Also of interest are the thatched Anglican chapel, the first school built from local stone around 1890 and the original farmhouse of Captain (later Sir) Robert Stanford.

After retiring from the British Army in 1838, Stanford bought the farm Kleinrivier and exported his produce by boat from Stanford's Cove, 2 km north of Gansbaai. When the village was laid out in 1857, it was named after Stanford.

WALKER BAY NATURE RESERVE

The main section of the Walker Bay Nature Reserve covers 1 000 ha of lowland coastal fynbos and dunes between the Klein River estuary and Die Kelders. It is bounded in the west by Walker Bay and incorporates 17 km of white sandy beaches and rocky limestone outcrops. Excavations at Klipgat Cave, near the southern boundary of the reserve, have provided important archaeological records of Middle Stone Age occupation (between 85 000 and 65 000 years ago), as well as occupation by Later Stone Age people some 20 000 years ago. Recreational activities include day walks, angling and picnicking.

DE KELDERS

This small resort town owes its name to the nearby limestone caves, one of which has a series of natural freshwater pools fed by seepage from a spring. Among its early visitors was Lady Anne Barnard, who bathed in the pools during a visit in 1798. The rocky coastline provides ideal vantage points for whale-watching, and is also popular with anglers.

GANSBAAI

Situated in a protected cove on the eastern side of Walker Bay, Gansbaai is a busy fishing village with two harbours, a cannery and a fishmeal factory. It is also popular with angling, diving and boating enthusiasts, while the 7-km Duiwelsgat Hiking Trail offers magnificent views over Walker Bay. The narrow channel between Dyer Island and Geyser Island, 7,5 km off the Gansbaai coast, has one of the largest concentrations of great white sharks in the world.

Gansbaai is the centre of several shark-viewing and cage-diving operations; the months between April and October are generally the best for shark-viewing.

SALMONSDAM NATURE RESERVE

This small reserve lies in a basin at the foot of the Paardenberg mountains and covers 834 ha of unspoilt mountain fynbos. Visitors can explore the forested ravines, caves, waterfalls and interesting rock formations along three-day walks from one to two hours' duration or take the Mountain Drive to the viewpoint at Ravenshill. Among the mammals occurring here are bontebok, grey rhebok, klipspringer and common duiker, while more than 120 bird species have been recorded.

The area and the reserve were named after Captain Robert Salmond, the commander of HMS Birkenhead, which ran aground off Danger Point in the early hours of 26 February 1852. There is, however, no large dam as the name might suggest, only a small one made of earth.

RIVIERSONDEREND

...is the centre for the surrounding wheat farming region, an area well known for its colonies of blue cranes, South Africa's national bird. The town owes its name to what was known as the Rivier Zonder End ('river without end'), a tributary of the Breede River. The river's name refers to the difficulties encountered by early explorers in tracing it to its source.

GREYTON

Established in a fertile valley at the foot of the Riviersonderend mountains in 1854, Greyton has retained much of its rural charm: thatched cottages amid beautiful gardens, oak-lined streets and 'leiwater' canals. Among its many fine buildings are the Moravian Church, Greyton Lodge (the original buildings date back to 1876) and the Post House, which formed part of the original homestead on Weltevreden, the farm on which the village was laid out. In the 1890s, the building housed Greyton's first post office, hence the name.