De Hoop Nature Reserve on the South coast of South Africa is managed by CapeNature. It is probably best know for whale watching: Southern Right Whales make the bay their home between June and December .
Getting there: From Cape Town, take the N2 to Caledon (100km). From Caledon drive south on the R316 through Napier to Bredasdorp. From Bredasdorp take the R319 in the direction of Swellendam. At about 6kms turn right – signposted “De Hoop/Malagas/Infanta”. Gravel road for 35kms until you see a sign to the right for De Hoop Nature Reserve.
Cost: R40 per adult, R20 per child.
Accommodation
All accommodation options in the reserve have been outsourced and are managed by De Hoop Collection (+27 (0)21 4224522). Much of the accommodation is fairly upmarket and priced accordingly.
Fortunately, there are camping options for the rest of us.
Hiking
- Coastal Trail
- Klipspringer Trail
- Vlei Trail
- The Whale Trail: 5 days of slack-packing heaven
Things to do
- Guano Cave, and the only recorded cave-dwelling baboon troop (I saw this on the TV program Shoreline)
- There are a number of MTB routes