After some welcome rain during the third week in February 2016, perfect weather on Sunday morning invited us to explore the coast line between Stilbaai and Jongensfontein and we’ve decided to start at Jongensfontein. We’ve left our vehicle there and prepared for a three hour hike with sunscreen, lots of water and some snacks, hats and our small but awesome Nikon Coolpix camera.
According to information gathered before, the ‘complete’ route of this trail that stretches from the Jongensfontein caravan park to Morris Point in Stilbaai (or the other way round), is about 11 kilometres in distance and one had to keep the tides in mind as high tide at certain places can be problematic.
On this day, the sea spewed lots of foam onto the rocks and sand making for some ‘different’ views…
Soon after our early morning start (we started just after 8:30, but suggest an even earlier start to avoid walking over midday), we’ve reached the disintegrated whale carcass on the rocks (this carcass has been there since late 2015). We’ve enjoyed the views of the orange rocks; the white foam on the edges and the blue sea and sky on the one side and the bright green vegetation almost all along the route on the ‘inland’ side.
It was great to see that there were visitors at most of the secluded break-away venues (follow the yellow arrows on the rocks – some of which are quite faded though – so as to not disturb guests’ privacy at these destinations). We also passed the huge Jongensgat (a hole in the rocks) and the view from the ‘lookout’ point is absolutely beautiful.
It was low tide and we walked on the beach at some places (we will wear hiking shoes next time as sand in our open “off-road” shoes was quite uncomfortable) and saw quite a few of the endangered Black Oystercatchers. It is their breeding season now (between November and March) and hikers are warned to take care around these birds (note the boards that are erected at Jongensfontein).
The route will take hikers past the ancient fish traps at Skulpiesbaai (always a special place to visit – and the historic fish traps deserve their own write-up) all the way to Morris Point close to the harbour and yes, the total distance is about 11 kilometres.
It is an enjoyable (quite easy) and beautifully scenic hike (more photos here) we can definitely recommend.
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A scenic hike between Jongensfontein and Stilbaai (Photo by www.mystilbaai.co.za)
