Whale-watching in South Africa—one of the most exciting activities in some of the most beautiful destinations in the world. The South African Whale Route stretches from Paternoster/Saldanha Bay on the West Coast (Atlantic), south around the Cape of Good Hope, and some 2,500 kilometres northeast to Kosi Bay in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (St. Lucia), a World Heritage Site, just south of the Mozambican border on the Indian Ocean. Southern right whales leave Antarctica in May/June, and swim thousands of kilometres to mate, calve and entertain whale-watchers along the coast. When they leave, the humpback whales arrive with their carves. Enthusiasts have the option of land-based viewing—with excellent opportunities in the Cape’s Stillbaai, Witsand, Hermanus (the self- proclaimed whale-watching capital of the world, with its own whale crier!), De Kelders near Gansbaai, as well as along the breathtakingly scenic Garden Route at Mossel Bay, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay—and northeast up through the Wild Coast and finally to the Dolphin Coast of northern Zululand. Boat-based expeditions are also growing in popularity and offer whale-watchers a chance to get up-close and personal with these wondrous denizens of the deep. This book offers visitors and enthusiasts all they need to know to plan a whale-watching trip—and will teach you the meaning of blowing, breaching, lobtailing, spy-hopping and grunting!
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