Page 228 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

226  THE WESTERN AND SOUTHERN C APE

1 Betty’s Bay
Road map B5. R44 SE of Gordon’s
Bay. * 1,400. n Protea Centre, Main
Rd, Kleinmond, 028 271 5657.
∑ ecoscape.org.za
This seaside village, named after
Betty Youlden, the daughter of a
property deve loper who lived
here in the 1900s, is a popular
weekend retreat. Hundreds of
timber holiday cottages are
scattered throughout the
dunes, while the beach offers
tremendous views across False
Bay to the Cape Peninsula. Wide lagoon mouth and beach at Kleinmond
Of significance is the Harold
Porter National Botanical 2 Kleinmond grysbok and steenbok that
Garden on the slopes of the Road map B5. R44 E of Betty’s Bay. occur in the coastal fynbos
Kogelberg, which rises behind * 2,900. n Protea Centre, Main Rd, and on the lower slopes of
Betty’s Bay. Harold Porter, a 028 271 5657. ∑ ecoscape.org.za the mountain.
partner in a property agents’
business in the village, bought Surrounding Kleinmond, the Y Kogelberg Nature Reserve
this tract of land in 1938 to stony hills with their thin green Off R44, 8 km (5 miles) W of
preserve the rich mountain veneer of fynbos scrub once Kleinmond. Tel 028 271 5138.
and coastal fynbos vegetation. harboured small bands of Khoi Open 7:30am–4pm daily. & Ó
More than 1,600 species of and runaway slaves. In the ∑ capenature.co.za
ericas, proteas and 1920s, Klein mond, at
watsonias – one of the the foot of the Palmiet-
densest concentrations berg, was a fishing 3 Hermanus
in the Southern Cape – settle ment; today it is Road map B5. * 32,800. @ Bot
attract sugar birds and a holiday spot where River 30 km (19 miles) N on N2.
sun birds. The Leopard rock angling for n Old Station Building, Mitchell
Kloof Trail runs kabeljou (kob), and Street, 028 312 2629. _ Wine & Food
through dense riverine fishing for yellowtail Festival (Aug), Whale Festival (Oct).
forest to a pictur esque and tunny are popular ∑ hermanustourism.info
water fall. The penguin pastimes. Kleinmond
reserve at Stoney Point Erica, Harold Lagoon, where the Originally established as a
(open daily) protects a Porter Garden Palmiet River reaches the farming community by
small breed ing colony of sea, offers safe swimming Hermanus Pieters, the town
African penguins. and canoeing. Visitors can enjoy became a fashionable holiday
beautiful sea and moun tain and retirement destination
Y Harold Porter National views from a well-planned due to the sunny climate and
Botanical Garden network of hiking trails in the attractive location. Fishermen
Cnr Clarence Dr and Broadwith rds. Kogelberg Nature Reserve, and and sailors also found a
Tel 028 272 9311. Open 8am–4:30pm maybe even glimpse some of relatively easy life, while visitors
Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm Sat & Sun. & - the dainty, shy gazelles such as frequented the Windsor, Astoria
Ó = ∑ sanbi.org klipspringers, as well as the and other august hotels. Today
the town’s grandeur is a little
faded, but it still has plenty
to offer most tourists.
The focal point is the Old
Harbour Open-Air Museum,
which traces the history of the
town’s whaling days, and
contains a whale skull and old
weapons. Fishermen’s boats
dating from 1850 to the mid-
1900s lie restored and hull-up.
There are also bokkom stands,
racks on which fish are hung
to dry in the sun, and
reconstructed fishing shacks.
The tranquil Harold Porter Botanical Garden at Betty’s Bay
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp386–7 and pp403–4

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