Best Wind Direction - EAST, SOUTH EAST, SOUTH,
SOUTH WEST, WEST, NORTH WEST ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE COAST
The river mouth as above offers one the wave experience or a lagoon experience at high tide. Great Kitesurfing place with a shallow shelf of sand this offer one the long flat water sections between waves. Great for Easterly. With a west one will have to go to the far side of the bay. Take the road to the end where a gravel car park will be the place to leave your vechicle. Lock it!
A happy informal holiday village divided by a large river mouth. Ideal as a holiday centre with a fine swimming beach, excellent boating on the river and fishing in the estuary or on the coast. These attractions together with an equable climate have lured people here for centuries. Prehistoric man found it a convenient place to live having worked out an ingenious and easy way of catching fish. He maneuvered boulders to form low barricades between high and low water marks. At high tide fish swam in to feed among the rocks and as the tide receded were trapped in great numbers. These fish traps are still evident today, as are shell middens where waste was discarded forming a mountain of shells.
The small, but active fishing harbour is a wonderful attraction. The harbour is used especially by small concerns. Primarily Hake and Cob are sold here.Fresh fish may be bought at the harbour.
See the remnants of an extinct culture. The ancient fishtraps are circular stone structures that the Khoi-San created hundreds of years ago to catch fish at low tide. Some of these traps are still maintained and used. The middens are piles of shells created by the accumulation of ancient domestic refuse consisting primarily of mollusc shells. These ancient shell middens are open for close viewing. Middle Stone Age artifacts and replicas of artifacts of the world famous Blombos Cave are on display at the Tourism Bureau. Due to the sensitive nature of the cave, it is regretfully not open to the puiblic.
Conducted tours of the reachable sites on the outskirts of the town are arranged to co-incide with lowtide in order to also view the ancient fish traps.
In Jongensfontein the historic little White House serves as a local museum and information centre.
Visit the Stilbaai Tourism Bureau, housed in the Palinggat Homestead, a famous historical building which is a National Monument. It also houses a historical exhibition and adjoins a nature garden. Here you will have the rare opportunity of viewing the only tame eels in South Africa fed in the fountain adjacent to the Bureau.
These freshwater eels belong to the Anquilla genus of the family Anquillidae. The eels in the Palinggat Fountain have been living here for the past 125 years. These eels move to a specific area in the ocean to mate and spawn. The larvae are carried to the mainland of Africa by ocean. currents. The environment at the Palinggat Fountain seems to be ideal for the eels.
Nowhere else in the country are so many eels concentrated in one secluded invironment and as tame as the "Palinggat" eels. They are pampered and cherished by the staff of the Tourism Bureau. They are hand-fed daily on chicken livers at 11:00, excluding Sundays. During December-January they are also fed on Sundays and public holidays with the exclusion of Christmas day.
The popularity of this attraction is reflected in the fact that a yearly figure of 5000 visitors attend the feeding of the eels.
Visit the Jagersbosch homestead, a national monument and the headquarters of the well known Jagersbosch Community Care Centre. Enjoy the beautiful view from the veranda. Also visit the Soete-Arbeid Craft Centre, an art workshop and the Soete-Inval Botanical Garden at the Soeterus Care Centre in Melkhoutfontein. Book in advance to enjoy traditional cuisine in the lapa.
The Pauline Bohnen Nature Reserve is also another worthwhile area to visit, especially during Spring time to see the exceptional floral display. The same applies to Stilbaai and surrounds which have far more blossoms than the traditional flower areas.
Between July and October the whales visit the coast between Stilbaai and Jongensfontein in large numbers. Excellent vantage points for whale watching are available. The whales can be observed from the restaurants at Lappiesbaai and from the harbour.
|
BOOK FOR DEC 2010/11 - LESSONS AND RENTALS IN CAPE TOWN AND KNYSNA.
justin@pixeltierra.com for lessons and accommodation send me an email today! |
