Cape Whale Route, South Africa

I grew up in Northern California. There were many a day my parents plopped my brother and I into the car and we drove up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. It's a beautiful drive, one that I appreciate much more now that I am older. But...

What I am going to say next I don't say lightly.

The Cape Whale Route - from Cape Town to Hermanus along False Bay - just may be - The. Most. Beautiful. Coastal drive I have ever been on. Yes, better than the PCH, I said it.

Do you see what I mean?

We spent the day driving from Stellenbosch to Hermanus on the whale route. At certain times over 37 species of whales and dolphins can be seen from the shores of South Africa. Unfortunately we didn't see any whales as it was the end of the calving season, but we did see some fantastic scenery!

On our drive we visited the Stoney Point penguin colony in Betty's Bay, one of only two penguin colonies on the African continent.

It was awesome! Thousands of penguins all over the place. The penguins were just finishing up their annual molt, so some of them are quite fluffy looking. Piper thought the penguins were kitties, she kept saying "kitty kitty kitty" at them.

After we spent time with the penguins we continued on our way to Hermanus for lunch. Very cute little town overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Many of you may know that I am a HUGE fan of sharks. Now I would prefer not to be eaten by one, but I think they are amazing animals. So being in one of the premiere great white shark areas in the world is very exciting. One of the things I will definitely do while here in South Africa is a great white cage dive. As this area of South Africa is known for its great whites, particularly the breaching whites, I of course had to photograph all my shark sightings.

Unfortunately it was a poor visibility day for the shark spotting programme. Next time...

My compressed pictures for the blog just don't do the Whale Route justice, to see better images go to my Cape Town smugmug gallery or to come visit us in South Africa to see for yourself!