Sodwana, Plettenberg Bay, Knysna and Hermanus

Tonight I rest my head at a backpackers lodge in breathtaking Hermanus! This is the southern-most point on our trip, and we are just 2 hours from Cape Agulhas, the very tip of the entire continent. Everything I've read about Hermanus discusses their phenomenal whale-watching, but the swells were at 7m today and tomorrow is supposed to be much the same, so I doubt we'll get out on the sea while we're here. Even still, this place is like nothing I've ever seen before and I am adding it to my official holiday travel list. I realize I'm starting to sound like a broken record when I talk about how beautiful each place is, but they are all so unique and each one has something about it that makes me want to stay longer.

We spent Thursday night in Plettenberg Bay, a seaside town made for tourists and movie stars. We started the second half of our tour there after a quick break in Grahamstown. Plettenberg was so clean and tropical that I felt as though I was back in Sarasota, FL. We met with some great people at the Plett Surf Lifesaving Club who start training children as young as 6 years old how to rescue people who are in peril near the shore. They are basically training people for Baywatch in real life. 

The club is along a great stretch of beach right next to a former whaling station that was so unsuccessful (they only ever caught one whale! ONE!) that it shut down shortly after being built and was eventually turned into a 5-star hotel. The whole town feels relaxed and focused on sailing, surfing and general ocean play, but much more based on the tourism aspect than any other place we've been so far. They are also still recovering from an accident that happened this past August where a surfer was fatally wounded by a shark. Instead of hunting down any shark they can find these people are actually going about things the right way. They're holding an Ocean Festival on 12th November and have created a shark attack fund for the development of ocean skills and education, in memory of the lost surfer. Their theory is that we all share the sea with these dangerous wild animals, so the best way to keep accidents from happening is to educate marine users and train them to be more careful. We will be in Cape Town on the day, otherwise I'd try my best to be there, but hopefully it goes well and the coverage reaches far and wide.

Before leaving Plett we did a live radio interview with MC 90.3FM which was scary and a first for me. It actually went so well that we ended up doing a second one for KnysnaFM a couple of hours later. Knysna and Plettenberg Bay are only a 30 minute drive from one another so it was a busy day of running between the two places, but we ended up talking to a lot of really interesting people. As we ended the day in Knysna I felt a greater appreciation for the people on CBC Radio 2, and am glad that I chose science over radio broadcasting.

This morning we packed up and left Knysna for Hermanus and on the way saw two elephants. They passed by too quickly to get a picture, but it was a nice reminder of the abundance of life around here. Sometimes we get so busy that I forget just how amazing this place is, from the rich cultural background to the amazing wildlife. I am really starting to feel that I may never want to leave.

 

I'm adding to this post a list of fish from my three dives in Sodwana two weeks ago. This is just a list of the ones I could remember seeing after I surfaced, and although I'm sure there are many more I'm missing here, it's worth looking up these few to see some pretty amazing fish. 

After those three glorious dives with Christo and his crew in Sodwana, I am still searching for ways in which I can convince the South African government to let me stay. I tried hard to think of skills I have that no other South African has, and apart from being able to put down a substantial amount of fish n brewis when I’m hungry, I came up dry. Even if I could use that as a reason, the people here love fish too much to let me stay and eat them boiled with hard bread. I'm open to suggestions though, and no, getting married to a South African is not an option.

Here they are, happy google-ing,

Jill


P.S. If you're having a bonfire tonight watch the flankers.

Powder Blue Tang

Lieutenant surgeonfish

Maypole butterflyfish

Yellow Longnose butterflyfish

Threadfin butterflyfish

Halfmoon butterflyfish

Limespot butterflyfish

Moorish idol

Clown triggerfish

Orange-spine unicorn

Blackbar triggerfish

Honeycomb filefish

Round ribbontail ray

Diamond ray

Blue-spotted ribbontail ray

Blue moon parrotfish

Ember parrotfish

Crescent tail wrasse

Bluestreak cleaner wrasse

Horseshoe hawkfish

Raggy scorpionfish

Twobar anemonefish

Threespot angelfish

Emperor angelfish