(Posted at Sedgefield on Sept. 24th). On Tuesday morning we drove to the airport in Port Elizabeth and picked up a VW microbus that we would use to transport the six of us with luggage to De Hoop and then on to Cape Town. We repacked and got on our way down the “Garden Route” en route to De Hoop, a journey of about 650K, of which the last 60-70K is on dirt roads. Our accommodation was in self-catering cottages and was very nice. We had two adjacent cottages and set up one 
as the main base where we would eat. The reserve contains the 15K long De Hoop Vlei: “A wetland of international importance for 
migratory birds. Of the 260 bird species recorded, 97 are waterbirds, etc." The vlei was formed by a river mouth being cut off by sand dunes.
In addition to the birds, there are many species of antelope in the reserve, including the bontebok which is indigenous to the area, but was almost hunted to extinction until the remaining 22 where protected by being placed in a reserve.
Although we were interested in both bird and game viewing, our main hope of coming to De Hoop was to see the whales! Quoting the tour guide: “The waters off De Hoop have the largest concentration of
southern right whales along the South African coast and the reserve offers superb vantage points for viewing these majestic creatures”. We were not disappointed. On Wednesday morning when we got to the shoreline, we were able to see many, many whales in the shallow blue water along the coast. These whales have come into the bay to calf, so do not “jump” and thrash about, but they are quite clearly visible and 
“blow” huge spouts of water into the air. Unfortunately, they are also very difficult to photograph and I don’t think we have a “great” picture of the whales to show you. They are much easier to follow in the video.
It was another great day.
as the main base where we would eat. The reserve contains the 15K long De Hoop Vlei: “A wetland of international importance for 
migratory birds. Of the 260 bird species recorded, 97 are waterbirds, etc." The vlei was formed by a river mouth being cut off by sand dunes.In addition to the birds, there are many species of antelope in the reserve, including the bontebok which is indigenous to the area, but was almost hunted to extinction until the remaining 22 where protected by being placed in a reserve.
Although we were interested in both bird and game viewing, our main hope of coming to De Hoop was to see the whales! Quoting the tour guide: “The waters off De Hoop have the largest concentration of
southern right whales along the South African coast and the reserve offers superb vantage points for viewing these majestic creatures”. We were not disappointed. On Wednesday morning when we got to the shoreline, we were able to see many, many whales in the shallow blue water along the coast. These whales have come into the bay to calf, so do not “jump” and thrash about, but they are quite clearly visible and 
“blow” huge spouts of water into the air. Unfortunately, they are also very difficult to photograph and I don’t think we have a “great” picture of the whales to show you. They are much easier to follow in the video.It was another great day.
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