A sh*t-ton of photos, that’s what!
So many that there was a fair amount of hair pulling as I tried to edit them down … as such, there are still a sh*t-ton of photos, so I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves and keep the ramblings short.
Just a quick word about where we went and what we saw: De Hoop Nature Reserve – pronounced deh woop (the oo’s are pronounced like the oo’s in “look”, not the oo’s in “loop.”)
From their website:
“Only three hours from Cape Town lies a special nature reserve situated in the Overberg region, near the southern tip of Africa. It is a favourite destination for hikers, cyclists, bird watchers and during the winter and early summer months, whale watchers.”
There are so many pics, that I’m breaking this up in to 3 posts. Today I’ll just share the pics of the coast with its amazing sand dunes, secluded beaches and WHALES! WHALES! Whales really close to the shore, breaching and bobbing and oh! Did I mention there were whales?
The other 2 posts will focus on the animals we saw and on some of the flora …
Oh, one more thing from the website, so you can appreciate this place more fully:
“The adjacent De Hoop Marine Protected Area, which extends three nautical miles (5 km) out to sea, is one of the largest marine protected areas in Africa and provides a sanctuary for a vast and fascinating array of marine life … Marine mammals such as dolphins and seals occur in the waters off the coast and southern right whales calve and mate in the sheltered bays of De Hoop each year between May and December. At least 250 species of fish occur in the marine protected area.”
The sand dunes are just STUNNING. From far away, they look like snow-covered mountain tops and up close they are truly spectacular:
There was one sand dune you could climb, and you know I had to do it!
Got a mouthful of sand ... but I did it!
Oh my goodness! Am I slow or what?? For the longest time FB decided I didn't want to see your posts and stopped listing them on my feed. When I finally figured out where you went it took me until just now to pick up on the fact that the links you've been posting are to your OWN blog and not some links you're finding on the interweb! Oy! I am clearly not techno savvy and very clearly have a lot of reading to do to get up to speed... What an amazing adventure you're having. Love, love, love the pictures! (And congrats on the DSLR - you'll never want to be apart from it I fear - and for good reason)
ReplyDeleteI am excited to catch up on all your adventures (and amazing looking food - I hope there are recipes to be found among the posts). Glad to have *finally* found your blog!
MinnesotaGal - AKA: Sieglinde
Oh yay and yumm!! You sure *do* deliver with recipes. Can't wait to try so many of these!
ReplyDeleteoh gosh, I'm even slower and worse with technology and didn't even see your comments! I'm so glad you're enjoying them ... and yey! hope the recipes are fun ... I'm posting homemade pizza with the world's easiest dough very soon! oh, and pupusas are coming as well!
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