The Whale Trail of South Africa

Whale-watching in South Africa - one of the most exciting activities in some of the most beautiful destinations in the world. The South African Whale Route stretches from Paternoster/Saldanha Bay on the West Coast (Atlantic), south around the Cape of Good Hope, and some 2,500 kilometres northeast to Kosi Bay in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (St Lucia), a World Heritage Site, just south of the Mozambican border on the Indian Ocean. Southern right whales leave Antarctica in May/June, and swim thousands of kilometres to mate, calve and entertain whale-watchers along the coast. When they leave, the humpback whales arrive with their calves. Enthusiasts have the option of land-based viewing - with excellent opportunities in the Cape's Stillbaai, Witsand, Hermanus (the self-proclaimed whale-watching capital of the world, with its own whale crier!), De Kelders near Gansbaai, as well as along the breathtakingly scenic Garden Route at Mossel Bay, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay - and north-east up through the Wild Coast and finally to the Dolphin Coast of northern Zululand.
Boat-based expeditions are also growing in popularity and offer whale-watchers a chance to get up-close and personal with these wondrous denizens of the deep. This book offers visitors and enthusiasts all they need to know to plan a whale-watching trip - and will teach you the meaning of blowing, breaching, lobtailing, spy-hopping and grunting!