Van Loveren wine farm – nice stop on our way from Cape Town to Gourikwa to stretch our legs and taste some wine https://www.vanloveren.co.za/
Gourikwa coastal nature reserve https://www.gourikwa.co.za/ such a peaceful, beautiful and wild place to explore! Lots of information boards educating everyone about the local wildlife. Interestingly, there are some ancient fish traps (stone structures) crafted by early settlers, are a testament to the rich history of human interaction with the sea and the sustainable fishing practices of the past.
I was properly scared to realise that three of the most dangerous snakes in South Africa occur on Gourikwa: the Cape cobra, Puffadder and the Boomslang. I really wasn’t very curious to meet any of these and I was relived to know they hide in the hills in winter so likely to have been away at the time we visited (true or not, I desperately wanted to believe this story).
The area is rich in Aloe Ferox, from which the bitter aloe juice was tapped. Thatch reed was another source of income. Used in thatch roofs, the reed is still being harvested today. Wildlife used to be prolific all along the dunes and towards the interior. In recent years, however, poaching has decimated the bushbuck.
You know it aaall! 