Hermanus

Wendy trying to snap picture of the whales.
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Once again Tovah and I decided to extend our stay in Hermanus after getting a good vibe from the hostel, Hermanus Backpackers (we arrived at night so we didn't even get a good look at the town- nonetheless it was a good call).  It was a laidback hostel with very chill people and lots of animals (a puppy, hand sized kitten, dog, and cat).

Most people who come to Hermanus, use the town as a kick off point for the Shark Diving trips, but we weren't into the idea of 5 people in the water, in a cage with snorkels, waiting for a shark to get attracted by chumb (fish guts/blood). Instead, we went hiking along the coast looking for whales.  There are tons of whales in Hermanus.  They gather there to mate and then use the rocky coast to help with protecting their young from sharks.  The path along the coast was very well planned with benches scattered throughout so people can just sit and look out at the sea for the whales.  They actually come pretty close to the coast line.  We don't however have a good picture to put up as you mainly just see their tails and spray.

"Whales, Beer, and Wonderful People."

The cliff hike along the Hermanus coast.
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Just a note about the Western Cape's town, compared to a town and coastal hike we did in Port St. John is the "European"-ness of the towns.  For instance, the hike along the coast in Hermanus is paved, with donated benches cemented into the cliffs.  While in a Transkei town (like Port St. John), the path is a made by the previous people who walked it and the roads are dirt or gravel.  The Transkei is South Africa's coast east (or north) of Port Elizabeth, it's more huts and large rolling hills, and "African" farming areas.  The Western Cape, West of Port Elizabeth, is very beautiful, but seems to be littered more with large holiday homes.

Birkenhead brewery selection. Wine tops on the bottles.
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We ended our hike at the markets in town where I bought a big wooden giraffe from one of the vendors to send to my parents.  This giraffe- Herman (after Hermanus)- ended up occupying much of our remaining time in Hermanus!  I tried to send him home, but he needed to be packaged in materials that the post office didn't have.  So we carried him through town to the post office, grocery store, stationary store, back to the post office, back to the grocery store and then to their warehouse to try to get a box big enough to fit Herman in, and then finally back to the hostel where we prepared to do surgery on 2 different boxes to make 1 big box.  Luckily we didn't have to go through with our mission.  One of the girls that works at the hostel, Alda, had kindly offered to take her day off the next day to take us to tour the local brewery since she had never been there herself.  She told us that she could drive us with Herman to the shipping/packaging store (PostNet) on our way to/from the brewery!

Tovah on the hike
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So we drove to Birkenhead Brewery the next morning for the tour.  Much of the bottling process there is done by hand such as individually putting the bottle neck stickers on.  Tovah knows so much about the process that she asked so many (pertinent) questions that went right over my head.  Alda once referred to her as a human encyclopedia.  After the tour we got to taste their different beers which were very good.  We found one that was particularly unique and quite good called Red Reloaded.  It was partially an energy drink (with caffeine/taurine), had a citrus flavor to it, and was served with ice in it.

Alda and her new puppy
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From the brewery we stopped at a cheese factory to sample/buy some specialty cheese.  Then once again the day was dominated by Herman.  The shipping place said it would be hard to ship something as tall as he was and suggested I bring it back to the vendor to switch for a smaller one.  Since the particular vendor didn't have many others, Alda came to my rescue by offering to buy Herman from me (since she had been wanting one of these giraffes) so that I could buy a smaller one from a different vendor.  After many trips back and forth from the market to the shipping store to make sure the new giraffe (now named Herman Jr.) was a shippable size we finally made it back to the hostel.

One of the greatest parts of travelling is encountering such wonderful and generous people like Alda who went way out of her way for us.  We sadly left the lovely town and people of Hermanus for Stellenbosch later that evening.