This is Part 3 of a several part series documenting our trip through South Africa to include a Safari, our trip to Cape Town and Hermanus, and our viewing of the Penguins at Betty’s Bay. This part details us leaving Safari and going to Hermanus and Betty’s Bay.
The final leg of our trip was to another Royal Portfolio property called Birkenhead House. Birkenhead House is set atop the cliff side overlooking Walker Bay, a great whale watching spot.
There are walking paths along the coast for miles as well as paths up nearby mountain sides providing stunning views of the surroundings. After the very scheduled itinerary of the Safari game drives, it was nice to come here and just relax with no set agenda. We walked several miles down the walking paths. We hiked up the mountain side trails viewing the endless coast line below us.
We were lucky enough to be there just in time to catch the start of whale watching season. Below are a few of the pictures we were able to get. It was fun trying to predict where the whale might breach next to grab these pics. We also took some good bird pictures.
The staff told us we could hike up a nearby mountain to get a stunning view of the coastline. They did warn us about local baboons though. This was a bit scary as we saw how aggressive they are on Safari. The morning weather was perfect and cool for a walk, so we made our way about halfway up.
We took a day trip to Betty’s Bay to view the African Penguin colony. We also saw Cormorants and Rock Dassies.
The food at Birkenhead House was top notch. In the evening, we walking down the stairs from our room which were now lit with candles. We made our way to our table as the live musician played. He was doing cover songs and was quite good. We had filet several nights as well as local seafood. Lunch was served family style one day and had excellent offerings such as meatballs, crispy beef, and calamari.
Adam Woods
Take a look below for our next post on our trip to South Africa.