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Just over the mountains from
Cape Town , the Overberg offers a wide
variety of experiences.The area is filled with fynbos, beautiful beaches, rolling
wheatfields and farmlands, and its waters are the breeding ground for the southern
right whale. Betty's Bay consists of many holiday homes, mostly set in the surrounding
fynbos. The Harold Porter
Botanical Gardens comprises five hectares of cultivated
fynbos and 195 hectares of pristine natural fynbos.The garden has a restaurant
and an indigenous plant nursery.The sea at Hermanus
is the nursery of the southern right whale, and between June and November each
year courting, mating and calving whales can be viewed from the rocky cliffs.A
whale-crier walks the streets, giving information about viewing sites.The old
harbour served the fishing industry for over a century.Fernkloof Nature Reserve,
consisting of 25 km of hillside fynbos, contains many walking trails.Stanford
is a village well-known for its rich history, fynbos farming and a wealth of
artists and crafts people.
The town of Caledon
, the capital of the Overberg, is well known for its spring Wild Flower Show
and its hot mineral springs.Genadendal is home to the first Moravian mission
station (1737) in South
Africa .Further inland,
Greyton is a beautiful village at the foot of the mountains.Bredasdorp is
set in an important agricultural area.The Agricultural
Museum displays farming equipment from previous generations
and the Shipwreck Museum
features items salvaged from various ships wrecked off the south coast. The
town of Elim, established in 1824 by German missionaries,
has South Africa 's
oldest watermill.The restored mill dates back to 1828.The
Moravian Church 'sclock dates
from 1764.The attractive fishing village
of Arniston has
whitewashed fishermen's cottages, turquoise seas and endless white sand-dunes.Waenhuiskrans
is a large cave along the coast, which can be visited at low tide.
Cape Agulhas, 230 km
from Cape Town , is the southernmost
point of the African continent.The De Hoop Nature Reserve has five hiking trails,
ranging from easy to challenging, the most difficult of which follows the coastline.Advanced
bookings are recommended and overnight trails are also an option.
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