Agulhas National Park visit

Last week-end I spent a gorgeous two days in the Agulhas National Park at Cape Agulhas (L'Agulhas) which is the southern most tip of Africa where the two oceans, the cold Atlantic and the warm Indian, meet.   It is the stormiest part of our coast line, due to the meeting of the two oceans, and has many shipwrecks dotted all along the coastline, most of them underwater.

We left Franschhoek on Saturday morning and took the route past Villiersdorp towards the N1 to Caledon.  This is mostly sheep, wheat and canola fields and usually a good spot to find Blue Cranes.  True to form, we came across about 100 birds in a sheep pasture.  Many of them were doing their courtship displays and throwing bits of vegetation in the air. We hung around taking photos and enjoying the spectacle for a while, it really is very interesting to watch.

We arrived in Struisbaai a few hours later and went to have a look at the harbour.  Apparently there are stingrays that come close to the slipway but we didn't see any.  We checked out the birds and then went for nice walk on the beautiful white sand and collected some shells.

Cape Cormorants on a moored fishing boat in the harbour

Kelp Gull

White Fronted Plover on the beach

We continued along the coast and eventually found the National Park.  Finding where to check in is a bit of tricky thing but after much to'ing and fro'ing we found where we were supposed to be and found our chalet.  The chalets look almost brand new.  Beautifully designed and built log structures with thatched roof.  Inside the furniture is great, a huge king size bed in the bedroom.  The kitchen is fully equipped and the lounge has a small wood burning stove for the cold evenings.  Out on the deck that faces the sea is a very nice and big Weber braai unit.  I can highly recommend a week-end in these chalets.

Agulhas National Park

The group of chalets nicely blended into the surroundings.

We had already spotted quite a few birds and at the chalet a pair of Rock Kestrels were flying around.

Rock Kestrel on our chalet roof

 Carlo was eager to go fishing so as the afternoon drew to a close, we headed down to the beach not far from us and he spent a few hours casting his hopeful line into the ice cold sea.  I wasn't that silly ;)  I sat on the sand and watched the White-fronted Plovers, Cape Cormorants and Black Oystercatchers on the rocks.

Carlo braving the icy water determined to catch something

Quite a large contingent of White-fronted Plovers on this beach, often flying together over the water

A Cape Robin-chat close to our chalet

 That evening we had a lovely braai out on the deck and when it got too cold to sit there any longer, we went indoors and enjoyed a cosy fire in the lounge.

The next day we went exploring.  The only shipwreck that is visible in the immediate area is this one of the Meisho Maru No 38, a Japanese fishing vessel that ran aground on 1 November 1982.  Broken in half, only this part is still around and is usually a roosting place for a large number of Cormorants.  When I was here two years ago, there were tall structures protruding from the roof of the ship that the birds used.  I see they have since broken off.

Meisho Maru No 38

 Carlo and I explored the rocky pools and found all sorts of interesting things.  One of my favourite pass times.

Finding Alikreukel

Sea Urchins by the dozens.. also many of the lovely green skeletons which are my favourite shells to collect

This tiny Chiton was attached to the inside of an old Alikrekel shell

Lovely orange starfish

Also loads of very large spiny starfsh hiding in the crevices

These limpets grow their own algae gardens to feed off, allowing them to remain fairly sedentary and avoid food competition with their neighbours

 Next stop was to the famous "Southernmost tip of Africa".

Then off to see the Lighthouse.  It is 27m high and the strobe has a radius of 30 nautical miles which is equivalent to 55.5km.  Quite an impressive light.

The wooden ladders we had to climb are quite steep and pretty old.  Foot marks have worn into the wood from all the years of people climbing them.  The last section was quite tricky but the view at the top was great.

Most of the fitting and instruments in the lighthouse are still of shiny brass.

A bit windy up there but a pretty view

On Sunday we went through to Arniston to have lunch with some friends at the Arniston hotel.  The weather was still great.  I love sunny winter days in the Cape.

Relaxing with Carlo after a huge seafood platter lunch

 Not too much wildlife other than birds around.  We did see a small grey mongoose and this little Angulate Tortoise on the road.

On the way to Arniston we passed a large ephemeral pan full of Greater Flamingos and lots of Black-winged Stilts.  

Great Flamingos enjoying the temporary pan

Some of the Canola fields are in full bloom and look so pretty against the blue sky. Always something to look forward to in winter.

Canola Fields

 The next morning we left the park fairly early to make our way home and caught this beautiful sunrise on the way out.

We took the scenic route home through Elim, Gaansbaai and Hermanus.  We stopped in Gaansbaai to look for whales but unfortunately didn't see any.  Still a good place for a pit stop.

Had a really great weekend.  Hopefully we will be going to explore the other side of the country, the West Coast, in the not too distant future. Cheers.