Doch noch ein Wal gesehen, oder war es nur ein Seehund

Unfortunately, today was the day again when we had to leave Cliff Lodge in Gansbaai, with Gill and Gideon. The weather was also crying, no, it was lightning, thundering, and raining.

Once again, we enjoyed the excellent breakfast with Gill and Gideon in the conservatory overlooking the bay. No whale in sight, the mood was repeatedly dampened, firstly because we could not see any whales and secondly, we would have to leave this beautiful place today.

After breakfast, we loaded the suitcases into the car, said goodbye to Gill, settled any outstanding payments, and then we set off for Hermanus.

When saying goodbye, Gill casually said, look into the bay as you drive away. We did just that, and what did we discover in the water not even 300 m from our accommodation? A whale, there it was, waving to us with its pectoral fins, or was it just a seal? We quickly parked the car and went on a hunt with the telephoto lens. After a few minutes, the whale/seal must have grown tired of it, it dove underwater and disappeared into the sea.

We headed towards Hermanus, where we walked along the coast and had tea at Just Pure Bistro. No whales in sight here either, but there were plenty of seals on the grassy strips who were so used to people that they didn't bother them.

Our journey then took us towards Franschhoek, we made a brief stop near Grabouw, at Peregrine Farm Stall. This place was recommended to us by Claudia Grob, and Claudia, you're right, it's definitely worth a stop. We fortified ourselves with quiche or pie at the bistro. Now we understand why you love this place so much! Thank you for the tip.

We safely arrived in Franschhoek via the Franschhoek Pass, checked into our room at Le Petit Manoir for the next few days, and briefly talked with the landlord about the upcoming days. Today, we had dinner at the restaurant at Le Petit Manoir, highly recommended, it was fully booked as well.