Post written by Hills of Africa Travel’s Marketing Director, Brittany Urbach
Hands down, the Western Cape in South Africa is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Lined with quaint seaside villages, sprawling wine vineyards, lush fynbos vegetation, and a vast array of wildlife species, the Western Cape is where you want to go if you’re looking to unwind and enjoy the countryside and the sea.
During my trip to South Africa, in October, we stopped in Cape Town for a night to enjoy traditional Cape Malay cuisine and experience the nightlife at the famous Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. The following morning we embarked on a relaxing and extremely scenic drive along the Western Cape coastline to our next destination: Grootbos Private Nature Reserve.
During our three-hour drive, our driver explained the history of the area and entertained us with some fun facts! The drive first took us through Gordon’s Bay where we were able to see beautiful residential homes, dolphins in the bay, and baboons sitting on the side of the road! Our journey continued to Stony Point where we stopped and explored a residential penguin colony.
This was a real treat for us as we were the only ones there and it was a gorgeous day–not a cloud in the sky! As soon as we got out of the car, we saw thousands of penguins, basking in the sun–some even enjoying a dip in the water. We even spotted a little dassie in the mix (a furry, brown, gopher-like creature).
After spending a good half hour with the penguins, we then continued our journey to Hermanus, which is an incredible seaside town, famous for whale watching, sea kayaking, wine tasting, golfing, and hiking. Although we did not stay overnight in Hermanus on this particular trip, some of my favorite accommodations in this area include Birkenhead House, Arabella Western Cape Hotel and Spa, and the Hermanus Beach Villa.
We stopped in Hermanus to explore a charming farmer’s market that sold fresh-cut flowers, homemade breads and pastries, biltong (which is South Africa’s version of jerky), locally produced wine and other locally crafted goods.
Afterwards we continued driving to Grootbos and arrived around noon. As we pulled in we were greeted by the general manager who told us he had a surprise for us. And, wow, was it a surprise! But I’ll save that story for the next blog post . . .
