Monday, 15 December 1986: A Smorgasbord of Lovely Landscapes

Denver, Colorado, April 11, 2023

Before heading out on a 5-day road trip to the southern tip of Africa and other points in between, I settled up with the folks at Emissary.  The bill came to R80.00 (about US$40) for seven nights.  Considering what a nice facility it was along with the friendly residents, I certainly got my money’s worth. 



                                           My circuitous route from Cape Town to Gansbaai.

 

As I was leaving, I caught a glimpse of Table Mountain which was covered with its famous “table cloth”, the white cloud which often adorns the summit in the morning.  I went into Cape Town briefly to make photocopies of my letters, mailed the letters, and picked up some snacks for lunch.  Driving east on Highway N2, I stopped in Strand to fill up the VW with 37 liters of petrol, then continued east.  Beyond Sir Lowry’s Pass, a sign in the Grabouw State Forest warned me that “VOER VAN BABBEJANE VERBODE”.  Below that message in Afrikaans, it read, “FEEDING OF BABOONS PROHIBITED”.  As I was to learn a few months later in northern Botswana, it should have read, “KEEP YOUR CAR DOORS & WINDOWS CLOSED OR THE DAMN BABOONS WILL STEAL ALL YOUR FOOD”.  

In less than two hours, I was in Caledon, a wheat cultivation and sheep ranching center.  From there, I went south on R320 crossing Shaw’s Mountain Pass, then west through the Hartbees River agricultural valley.  I passed a number of vineyards (no time to stop for tasting), then through forests and farmland in the Onrus River valley to Hermanus where I turned east on R43.  The highway ran east near the shore of Walker Bay for a few kilometers, then continued inland along the Klein River Lagoon, and turned south at the Stanford making a loop around the Walker Bay Nature Preserve.  As I neared the coast again, I had a nice view north of a deserted beach within the preserve which extended several kilometers along Walker Bay. 


View from the rugged coast at Hermanus over the Indian Ocean.  A few kilometers further east I found a deserted, sandy beach some 10 km long.  What a coastline!

 

In a few more minutes, I arrived in Gansbaai (Gans Bay), a small fishing community.  From there, I had beautiful views over the Indian Ocean of the setting sun.  This was my destination for the night.  I stayed in an old hotel for R21 and had crayfish for dinner.  It was tasty, but it couldn’t compare with Maine lobster or Alaskan king crab.   

 

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