Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

The Overberg Region starts about 100 kilometres east of Cape Town on the other side of the Hottentots Holland and Wemmershoek Mountains. Formerly this region was practically cut off by the mountains, from which circumstances its name comes. Nowadays the Overberg can easily be reached via the Sir Lowry's Pass. The region is interesting because of a number of the picturesque seaside resorts and fishing villages of Kogel Bay, Rooi Els, Betty‘s Bay, Kleinmond, Hermanus, Gansbaai, Struisbaai, Cape Agulhas and Arniston / Waenhuiskrans.

Whale watching and white shark ecotrips 

Every year between July and November dozens of Southern Right Whales come to the calm waters of Walker Bay for breeding. All along the bay the whales come within a few metres of the cliffs and can be watched at close rank. One of the best spots to see whales is Hermanus. Hermanus calles itself the "whale capital of the world" and attracts a massive number of tourists each year. Although most whale watchers go to Hermanus in my opinion whale watching at the other side of Walker Bay is much more productive. I always go to the town of Gansbaai and watch the whales from a spot known as 'De Kelders' ("The Caves" in English). 

Staying in the Overberg

If you're planning to go the Overberg I can recommend staying at Aire del Mar guesthouse in Kleinbaai. This guesthouse is operated and owned by friends of mine and is located 200 metres from Kleinbaai harbour. This makes it the perfect spot to stay if you want to go on a shark trip or want to do some whale watching.

Fynbos 

Fynbos is the natural vegetation occurring along a narrow belt which stretches north and east of Cape Town. Most famous for its proteas this small area is, in fact, home to over 8000 species of plants. An astonishing 5000 of these do not occur anywhere else in the world and many are extremely rare and in danger of extinction. This is the smallest and, for its size, richest of the world's six floral kingdoms. In the Overberg there are vast stretches of fynbos where you can walk for hours and hours. See some of the pictures I took on such a walk in the fynbos section.