Hermanus

Whew it's been a busy month! I went with my international student girlfriends  (together we represent Canada, USA, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden) to Hermanus which is a coastal town about 1.5 hrs drive west of Stellenbosch for the annual Whale Festival. Hermanus is famous for the whales and I've been told sometimes the whales will come so close to the shore that you could almost jump off the rocks onto them!

Hermanus usually is packed for the whale festival with over 150,000 visitors expected to attend every year. The town isn't that big so an extra 150,000 means the place is packed. The backpackers we stayed at has a capacity of 75 beds and was full. So you get the idea.

Fortunately (in my opinion) we had quite terrible cold weather and I think this kept the numbers down. Either way, the place was busy.

This is a view from across the little cove to the main part of the festival. The coastline at Hermanus is quite rocky and not ideal for swimming but the scenery is really spectacular. The festival was still quite busy and there was everything from a "Death Drop" ride to shops and even a quilter's show. Definitely a happening place.

 

Here you can see some of the rocks and the ocean. There is definitely a rugged beauty to Hermanus and something very peaceful about it. Even with throngs of people, I still felt a calm. It was an intense weekend for me as I had a big personal decision to make but I think Hermanus was the best place to be to think. I would love to see it sometime when it isn't jam-packed.

 

 But of course, it wouldn't be the Whale Festival if we didn't see whales! There were several jumping and playing, although none jumped in the Free Willy style. During the festival, there is a guy called the Whale Crier whose sole job is to blow on this vuvuzela-type horn everytime a whale comes close to the shore. It's a great idea in theory, but trust me, you don't want to be right next to him when he blows!

All and all it was a great weekend and we had lots of fun!