Hiking around Hermanus

We've been staying in the town of Hermanus, on the western part of South Africa's south shore. It's a pretty seaside community with a lot of beach homes and vacation rentals. There's a golf course, and quite a few expensive looking homes.

To get a good view of the area, our couchsurfing hosts Celeste and Greg directed us to the mountains behind the town where the Fernkloof Nature Reserve has a series of free hiking trails.

Here's where we are...

Hermanus is about 120 kms (75 miles) SE of Cape Town.

So, we set off hiking around 9:45am. Beautiful day for a hike! We chose a route that followed a contour path half way up the mountains. So a little bit of climbing at the beginning, but then the path was fairly level as it followed the contour.

Looking west down on Hermanus. You can see the golf course and expensive homes on this side of it.

Looking east from Hermanus. This bay is a popular feeding and breeding area for whales, but only from June through October.

Fairly easy hike, but with great views.

We did about 5 kms along this trail and then took a path that led to the downtown area. We stopped and bought an ice cream, then wandered around. Ruth needed a new pair of sunglasses, and we found a "dollar" store type of place and she found a pair for R35 ($3.75). 

We looked around for a bit, and then spotted an Italian restaurant... Fabios Ristorante where they had a sign out front saying they would do gluten free pizza crust and pasta!

Sold!

Chicken and mushroom pizza with gluten free crust.

One pizza was enough for two people. I had two beers (you can't have pizza without beer!) and Ruth had a cider. Total bill including tip was R170 ($18.00).

We continued back to the house along a coastal path.

Ruth, looking east.

Kevin and Walker Bay. No whales to be seen at this time of year.

Beautiful area.

Made it home around 3:00pm. Figured out that we probably walked about 12 kms (7.5 miles). By this time, we were pretty tired and sweaty! But, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the hike.

Sat and relaxed with our hosts for the rest of the day. Oh, and Josephine! She is just over two years old and is the cutest little teacup poodle. She's really entertaining to have around...

Josephine