The Whale Trail: Pursuit of Whales & Whale Watching in South Africa
Paperback, 178 x 100mm, 176 pages, 55 colour photos, 10 maps
South Africa... Whale Watcher's Heaven on Earth
Whale-watching in South Africa—one of the most exciting activities in some of the most beautiful destinations in the world. The South African Whale Route stretches from Paternoster/Saldanha Bay on the West Coast (Atlantic), south around the Cape of Good Hope, and some 2,500 kilometres northeast to Kosi Bay in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (St. Lucia), a World Heritage Site, just south of the Mozambican border on the Indian Ocean.
Southern right whales leave Antarctica in May/June, and swim thousands of
kilometres to mate, calve and entertain whale-watchers along the coast. When
they leave, the humpback whales arrive with their calves. Enthusiasts have the
option of land-based viewing—with excellent opportunities in the Cape’s
Stillbaai, Witsand, Hermanus (the self-proclaimed whale-watching capital of the
world, with its own whale crier!), De Kelders near Gansbaai, as well as along
the breathtakingly scenic Garden Route at Mossel Bay, Knysna, Plettenberg
Bay—and northeast up through the Wild Coast and finally to the Dolphin Coast of
northern Zululand.
Boat-based expeditions are also growing in popularity and offer whale-watchers a chance to get up-close and personal with these wondrous denizens of the deep.
The Whale Trail of South Africa Pocket Guide offers visitors and enthusiasts all they need to know to plan a whale-watching trip—and will teach you the meaning of blowing, breaching, lobtailing, spy-hopping and grunting!
For Allan Davie, author of The Whale Trail of South Africa Pocket Guide, it all began with a fascination with dinosaurs at a young age
and names like Stegosaurus and Dimetrodon featured large in his vocabulary,
leading to degrees in geology from the Natal, Rhodes and Leeds universities. He
has an enduring interest in the natural world, the evolution of life and Earth
history, rivaled by an almost equal passion for travel, having wandered widely
on all the continents except Antarctica, which is still an aspiration. He is a
contributor of earth-science articles for the Natal Witness, publishes a blog
titled ‘Romancing the Stone’ and runs Old Canvas’s earth-science workshops for
those who might be interested. When he isn’t expounding on some aspect of our
natural world he enjoys the Natal Midlands life, cold weather and hitting the
open road in his trusty old Land Rover.
The Whale Trail of South Africa Pocket Guide by Allan Davie is...
Easy to use, entertaining and packed with cool stuff
Focuses on a specific and growing area of eco-toursim
Highlights one of South Africa’s foremost, but endangered, natural resources
Perfect for...
All visitors to the Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
People with a general interest in the fauna and flora of South Africa
Tourists, scholars and schoolchildren