Whales! - Hermanus, South Africa

Today we went to Hermanus to take a whale watching boat ride. We had went there yesterday but the boat was full (9 am, 12 pm, and 3 pm tours and we had got there at about 1pm ) so we had lunch at the Harbour Rock restaurant perched on a cliff just above, you guessed it, the harbor. My pear and blue cheese salad was quite good as was Don's sweet potato and butternut squash soup. My seafood curry, however, was not so great. First off, the prawns were whole and not shelled. Really? I wish restaurants would get over the fad of giving you unshelled seafood in messy dishes like curries, stews, and soups. The curry was chock full of fish, calamari, prawns and mussels. All of it dry and overcooked. I love prawns and yet I stopped trying to eat them after one, they were so dry it wasn't worth the effort. Also, the curry just wasn't that good, under spiced and dull. Don's yellowtail fillet was tasty although at least 1/4 was dark and not edible. The proprietor of the place noticed that I wasn't eating my curry and asked for my truthful opinion and I told her. Don said his was just fine. She gave us a free dessert (we had the Grand Marnier creme brulee, very tasty) and we thought that was nice of her. What a shock to get the bill and see that they had removed both of our entrees! She really needn't have done that, the free dessert was enough. Also, it didn't seem that they needed our repeat business, the place was full and many tables were reserved. We tipped the waiter big time. 

This morning we left for Hermanus again, planning to make at least one stop for pictures at the top of this mountain.

See that? That's a guy getting ready to para-sail off of a mountain. We pulled over into this scenic overlook and our timing couldn't have been better. Here was this crazy person getting ready to jump off of a really high place. It was amazing to watch. Don thought he was taking a video but it stopped filming. Here's another picture:

See the white sail about a smidgen to the right of center and almost centered vertically in the picture? He went for quite a long ways, over the highway. I wonder if someone was waiting for him down there. 

We bought a painted wooden bowl and an abalone necklace while up there, there were a few guys with their stuff laid out on the ground. Don didn't haggle as much as he usually does, he heard that wasn't done as much as it is in other countries (like Mexico). We felt we got good prices for what we bought and that's what matters.

Now, whales! 
The southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genusEubalaena. Like other right whales, the southern right whale is readily distinguished from others by the callosities on its head, a broad back without a dorsal fin, and a long arching mouth that begins above the eye. Its skin is very dark grey or black, occasionally with some white patches on the belly. The right whale's callosities appear white due to large colonies of cyamids (whale lice). 

(Gotta love Wikipedia, I didn't want to type all of that out!)

 Yes, this is blurry but that is my arm and hand. That whale was so close that it swam under the boat!

 Amazing picture of the two blow holes!

 See the rainbow colors in the mist from the blow hole? We saw that more than once.

Whales!

And one seal! I had become tired of the crush of people at the front of the boat and the whales had gone away for awhile so I decided to walk to the back of the boat and to the other side where there were fewer people. I'm standing back there and up comes this large seal! Just swimming back and forth, right there in front of me and I don't have a camera. I head back around of the boat towards Don and I'm yelling at him but of course he can't hear me, the wind is blowing the wrong way. Just when I start to get close to him I hear this loud honk and it's the seal! He followed me around the boat and I'm telling Don to take a damned picture already! By then the seal had had enough and this was what Don was able to get as the seal turned around under the water and left us.

I must say that Don did a stellar job of photography. The boat was either moving towards the whales or, if the motor was shut off, the boat was still rocking back and forth and of course the whales were always moving. Not the best conditions for taking pictures.

 A flower as big as my head.

 View from touristy area of Hermanus.

 The touristy area is very lovely.

 Calla lilies (or arum lily as they call them here) grow everywhere!