Day 10 – Saturday 23 August

Cederberg to Langebaan

Today would be a long day of travelling, heading west to the coast. We left the misty Cederberg Mountains behind and stopped in Clanwilliam to buy a picnic. Roadside stops just beyond here had further plants of the Fynbos biome.

Leucadendron pubescens, male

Leucospermum rodolentum

We reached the coast at the small fishing port of Lambert’s Bay to visit Bird Island. It is one of only six breeding colonies of Cape gannets. Between 1933 and 1965 up to 300 tonnes of guano was extracted from the island each year.

Cape gannets and cape fur seals at Bird Island

The harbour at Lambert’s Bay

We had lunch on a wild Atlantic beach south of Lambert’s Bay and further stops on the coast road as we travelled south were an opportunity to see flora of sand dunes.

The passing landscape included large areas of dunes at Elandsbaai Nature Reserve, the coastal freshwater lake and reed swamp connected to the sea by a small estuary of Verlorenvlei, and pink-tinted salt pans at Velddrif beside the Berg River. There were also many beach-side developments of new houses and Frank said this was a popular area for holiday homes.

The wind became gusty in the afternoon with heavy showers so we headed straight on to our stop for the next two nights, a couple of lovely guesthouses at Langebaan.

Lake at Verlorenvlei

The beach at Langebaan