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An update from Evaneos
South Africa

Hermanus, whales from the beach

Situated to the east of the beautiful city of Cap, Hermanus is a unique town that you should definitely visit during your trip around South Africa.

The beautiful city of Hermanus

Set on the oceanfront and about 120 kilometres from the magnificent city of the Cap, Hemanus is a lovely peaceful village in the Overberg region. Far from the chaos and frantic rhythm of The Cap or even worse Johannesburg, Hermanus has a pleasant seaside atmosphere. It resembles and is mistaken for a small peaceful town in the province of the United States You should definitely pay a short visit and doing so would only take a day or two from your journey through South Africa. With regard to cultural visits, some beautiful museums will be able to help fill your time in the town. The Old Harbour Museum shows a small collection dedicated to fishing and diving. Unfortunately it is not well laid out, organised and isn't the most interesting of the museums. The Photo Museum is aimed at people passionate about photography above all. You will find old clichés of the town and large fish caught here. The most interesting and the only one to visit if you don't have much time is the Whale House Museum. The collection is dedicated to cetaceans, dolphins, sperm whales and the whale who is the local star.

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Watching the wales

Like all tourists who come here, you'll have to go to the oceanfront. You can walk for around 12 kilometres along the seafront which has been beautifully done up. Prepare yourselves to watch a show almost unique to this part of the world. Between the months of June and November, you will have the pleasure of seeing whales on dry land.No need to go on a boat trip, they themselves approach very close to the shore. The show is sensational and incredibly touching. Even more so because they are so incredibly numerous. You won't only see one or two pass by; there will be dozens if not a good hundred. And that's no exaggeration. Some show a fin, a tail, a back, others fire out a large jet of water. Some pass so close that you can even hear them communicate with each other. What do they say to each other? Leave it up to your imagination. With a little luck you can even see them jump out of the water and then fall heavily with a huge splash. At some moments during your walk you may hear the sound of a fog horn. This is made by the Whale Crier, who is the only person in the world to have this profession, which consists in sounding the appearance of a whale.

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David Debrincat
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