Tuesday, 29 July 2008

De Hoop Reserve
De Hoop Nature Reserve is roughly three hours drive from Cape Town and just east of the town of Bredasdorp. The Reserve covers an area of 34,000 hectares and one of the favorite destinations for those who want to spend time away from frenetic city life. The reserve offers diverse scenery for hikers, bikers and bird watchers and Koppie Alleen is a famous lookout spot for the avid whale watchers, with about 40% of the world’s Southern Right whales coming to the De Hoop Marine Reserve each year during breeding season.
Visitors have a lot of freedom within the reserve. Take a leisurely game drive along the circular route that covers the reserve and see the Cape mountain zebra, eland, grey reebok, the rare bontebok and if you are lucky you will see the mating dance of the ostrich. The reserve is also home to caracal and leopards and the ever-present troops of baboons. Visitors can, however, safely leave their vehicles during a game drive to explore on foot and view some of the 1,500 plant species up close. Continued