western Cape Virtual Tour - 3

            Wine Route and the Whale Coast

Two things which will always be associated with the Western Cape are Wine and Whales. While the northern provinces of South Africa are traditionally big game country, not many people are aware that the big five (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, rhino) roamed the valleys and mountains of the Cape until they were hunted to extinction by early  settlers. 

In fact there are moves to bring them back to the Western Cape, (watch this space), when that happens we will in fact be able to offer the big six, with the inclusion of the Southern Right Whale.

The Cape Winelands around the range of mountains to the east of Cape Town were settled in the 1600's by settlers from European countries who brought their knowledge of viticulture with them. Many of these early settlers were French Huguenots and their legacy can still be found in the names of the estates, La Provence,  La Motte, Haute Provence and L'Ormarins are some of the better known producers of fine wines founded by those early pioneers. 

The Wine Route, as it is known, is a popular day tour from Cape Town with most of the estates offering wine tasting and sales. Many of them also include top quality restaurants while others provide picnic baskets which can be enjoyed on the lawns under shady oaks, one of the first to offer this type of catering is Boschendal Estate, situated between the university town of Stellenbosch and Franschoek, the estate is a producer of several excellent wines.

The pocket sized town of Franschoek boasts some 27 restaurants at last count with an enormous variety of choice, from gourmet breakfasts to top quality dinners including smoked trout from the clear and unpolluted local rivers and lakes.

A worthwhile trip is a drive over Franschoek Pass to the Elgin Valley, the foremost region in the country for the growing of apples. The pass follows the route originally taken by elephants on their travels, although it is now well maintained asphalt.

One and a half hours drive from Cape Town along the coast to the east is the town of Hermanus. Popular with Capetonians as a weekend getaway, the towns main claim to fame is the annual arrival of the whales. The Southern Right Whale, so named because it was the Right whale to hunt is one of the success stories of conservation. Although hunted to near extinction in the early part of the century, since a ban was placed on hunting the whales in 1935 they have rebounded and return annually from their feeding grounds in the southern oceans to calve in the coastal waters of the Western Cape. 

Although the whales can be seen all along the coast from Saldanha Bay on the west coast to Plettenberg Bay in the east, they come closest to the shore at Hermanus, making it an ideal

 spot for viewing them from the shore. The whale watching season runs from mid- July to November and when viewed from up close their bulk becomes apparent. The calves are about five metres in length at birth, consume about 600 litres of milk daily and grow at a rate of three centimetres a day. Adults reach between 14 to 18 metres and weigh in at 54 000 kilograms (roughly 10 large African elephants).

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