Land Based Whale Watching?
Hermanus is one of the few places in the world where you can do land based whale watching. The whales come very close to the shore. Unfortunately we are not here in the right season to see them. The town is nice enough to come here though at anytime.
Zoete Inval Backpackers
This backpackers we stayed at is called Zoete Inval. It is run by a Canadian lady from Saskatchewan, my birthplace of all places. Our room was adorned with many things to remind of us home. A real maple leaf glazed on a plaque, a framed set of many Canadian stamps and a sunset picture with prairie grain elevators in the background. This was a very well run and clean place. It was more like a guest house, there was even an outside jacuzzi.
An Opportunity To Go To A Daycare In A Nearby Township
One of our highlights here was going with the backpack owner to the nearby township. She is very involved in many local community projects. One of them being a daycare/preschool in the township. Many children are left all day in the townships with no adult supervision. The ages range from very young toddlers to older children who should be in school but their parents do not send them for various reasons.
Others don’t have anything constructive to do throughout the day or get any proper stimulation. Others will not do well if they do go to school when they reach the proper age because of lack of preparation. This particular school had two classrooms. One was for children of ages 2 and 3. The other class was ages 4 and 5. It is full to capacity and can not take any more children. This one township alone could easily use 3 or 4 more places like this.
We went into the first classroom to see the 2 and 3 year olds. They were all sitting quietly as the teacher handed them out a small picture book. They were very cute and several of them took turns waving hello to us. It was valentine’s day so the backpack owner brought an art project for the kids to make.
The second class had the older students. We sat and watched them work on a craft project as well. Then it was playtime for the older students. We all went outside to a play area that had a slide, some swings, a monkey gym set up and a few other play areas. They were all running around like crazy and having a great time. After play time all the students lined up at the kitchen door to get their lunch. It was a bowl of warm maize meal with some milk. The kids love it. They stood patiently and quietly in line. We were amazed at how well behaved they were for such young children. We said our goodbyes and made our way back to the backpackers.
The Drive From Capetown to Hermanus Is Beautiful
Our drive here from Cape Town was another scenic one. In particular the part from Gordon’s Bay to Kleinmond is stunning. More mountains, cliffs, ocean waves and sandy beaches.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.