Hermanus

A path of 12 kilometres follows the cliff edge around the bay. Where no rail runs, people settle onto the rock to watch.

A horn of dried kelp is blown to say where the whales are. The pattern of the blowing is fixed, so the sound gives the location.

A long strand follows the bay on its eastern side and the water stays cold. Whales breaching offshore are seen from here too.

Native scrub known as fynbos covers the mountain slope. The species count runs high, so dozens turn up within a small patch.

In a nearby bay a steel cage takes people under to see sharks. When the water is murky the trip stays on deck and turns back.

The small harbour used in the whaling years survives as it was. Boats and harpoons from that time sit on the quay.

Cold air off the sea keeps this vineyard valley as cool as winter. Pinot noir is the main planting and about ten estates work here.

Twenty minutes by car reaches a rocky shore where African penguins live. A boardwalk runs between the nests.

Foundations of the works where whale oil was boiled remain on the rock. Penguins and cormorants hold the ground now.

In a wetsuit swimmers move through water where kelp grows tall. The cold keeps the swim short and a seal sometimes follows along.

A national botanical garden at Betty's Bay that keeps the fynbos and ravine forest as they grow. The ladder trail up Leopard's Kloof to its waterfalls needs a permit and a gate key from the entrance. No keys are handed out after 1 pm.

Africa's southernmost point, where a marker on the rocks fixes the official Atlantic-Indian Ocean boundary. Climb the 1848 lighthouse to look over the low, flat cape. Driving from Hermanus takes around two hours each way, which makes it a full-day outing.

A small village of Victorian cottages on the Klein River, 20 minutes east of Hermanus. Little boats potter along the river between the reed beds. Bakeries and a brewery cluster round the village square, enough for a slow half-day stroll.

A road along the ridge behind Hermanus that looks down over the whole of Walker Bay and the town. Fynbos covers the slopes beside it, so flower colours shift through the year. Plenty of people walk it or ride it on mountain bikes instead of driving.

A coast road from Gordon's Bay to Kleinmond where mountainsides plunge into the sea. Pull-offs along the way let you stop, and in winter whales pass below. Between Cape Town and Hermanus many choose it over the highway despite the extra time.

A lighthouse on the point past Gansbaai; on its offshore reef the British troopship Birkenhead sank in 1852. Women and children were put in the boats first as it went down, and the rule is traced to that. From the rocks below you face the wreck site.