The Kogelberg and Cape Cobras
I have certainly never been somewhere with as many nature reserves as we’ve encountered in South Africa. Every twist, turn, and town reveals another reserve or preserve, each one somehow more beautiful than the last, bursting with awe inspiring flora, fauna, history and trails. Will’s cousin had recommended a series of eco cabins tucked into the Kogelberg Nature Reserve, just above the old seaside holiday town of Betty’s Bay, home to one of the largest penguin colonies in Africa and a popular place to watch the whales as they migrate by. Needless to say, we added it to our itinerary. After a 3-hour drive from Swellendam (with a stop in Hermanus to gorge on mussels and gelato and swim in the perfectly protected tide pools that dot the coastline) we headed into the park, immediately lost all cell reception, and wound our way up a tiny road between two captivating hills, bursting with stunning flowers and scrub bushes, divided, of course, by a pristine river running through. Our little eco cabin was as beautiful as the surroundings, with a giant glass front and retractable doors that spilled into the nature surrounding it. All for $100 a night. Granted, we only had power about half the time, which meant we could only cook and heat water when load sharing wasn’t happening, there were composting toilets which made it necessary to keep the bathroom door closed at all times, and you have to close all windows and doors when you leave so that baboons or snakes don’t sneak into your cabin, but still, it was pretty gorgeous none the less 🤪. Plus, perhaps best of all, the reserve had a handful of trails that were “safe” to run, finally! 🙌 🙌 For two people used to running about 35 miles a week, I think the biggest shock of this entire trip so far has been the complete inability to do so. Yoga and Pilates videos are lovely, but they just don’t give the same endorphin rush of breathing hard and seeing, smelling and listening to the quiet of nature around you and feeling the wonderful release that is a good run.
Our first morning I head out, literally bursting with excitement to run through the fynbos and protea and get my heart rate up. Will had mentioned he saw a garter snake on his run and to keep eyes out for them warming in the morning sun. About 15 minutes into my run, I cross this little stream covered with rocks and see a flicker of a hooded golden head and forked tongue out of the side of my eye…it looked an awful lot like a cobra. I run along for 20 more minutes, trying to convince myself otherwise, but finally am so freaked out realizing I’m in the middle of nowhere, completely by myself, about 4 miles from Will or the closest human, with no reception anywhere and decide to head back home. I slow down as I get to the stream and rocks and sure enough, lying in the sun is a big golden yellow snake. It hears me coming, raises up to standing and flares out its hood. Yep, that’s a cobra…!! I’m trying to come up with anything I might know about cobras…do these ones spit venom? How fast can they move? How far away do I need to be to be ‘safe’? I pick up some rocks and start tossing them toward the cobra, not trying to hit it but hoping to scare it enough to get it to slither off the trail so that I can get by. Finally after about 5 tosses it gets annoyed with me and takes off into the bushes. I proceed to sprint across the rocks and back home faster than I have run, most likely ever, and arrive home panting and vowing to stick to my Pilates videos, heart rate sufficiently spiked 🤣 🐍. South Africa and the Garden of Eden continues to tantalize! The rest of our stay was rather tame in comparison, only boasting boring things like Will and Holden getting chased by baboons while out on a hike, Huxley and I stumbling upon a huge tortoise while out taking photos of flowers to watercolor for ‘art class’ and walking with him for about 20 minutes down the road, and visiting a colony of 18,000 African Penguins who were in various stages of molting, making some look like adorable puffballs, some look like silly waddling suit wearing fellows we expect, and some half way in between looking very splotchy and funny. Just another week in South Africa 😊
RANDOM RECS
A visit to Hermanus and lunch at any of the wonderful little cafes dotting the coastline
Stay at the Mbali or Oudebosch Cabins in the Kogelberg Nature Preserve…just watch out for those cobras 😆
A day visit to the Stony Point Penguin Colony
Surprisingly good coffee, croissants and specialty grocery items at the Carry Me Home Deli in Kleinmond…we came down to do our homeschooling on days we needed internet and fell in love with their cappuccinos, avocado toast and pastries!
A day trip into the Hemel and Aarde Valley just above Hermanus for a taste of wine country. Creation Farm was particularly lovely!