De Hoop – a paradise for hiking – and a reserve worth fighting for

Sue Barkly

Last year an article in an online publication caught my eye and had me riveted: The Bredasdorp Regional court convicted and fined a rogue fishing company for illegal fishing within a Marine Protected Area.

What was fascinating about this case was that the State, for the first time, ruled that if large-scale businesses fish inside a Marine Protected Area, they’re not just liablefor fishing illegally, but also for having a detrimental impact on the environment.

The company was the Gqeberha-based Unathi-Wena Fishing. The vessel had themisleadingly innocent name of White Rose. The fine – for both the illegal fishing, and for causing environmental damage – was R1 million.

The journalist, who wrote the story, said the landmark ruling signals a waytougher stance on marine conservation enforcement than previously. I found myself doing a happy dance at this news – not only because it’s high time companies stop screwing up the environment, but also because I’d just returned from – and fallen madly in love with - De Hoop, the Marine Protected Area concerned. How dare any company profit illegally from, and damage, one of South Africa’s finest natural reserves.

The De Hoop Nature and Marine Reserve is a no-take zone. Digging deeper into the case, my blood boiled at the incriminating images of crewmen from the guilty company pulling endangered spearnose skates and hammerheads, as well as sharks and rays, out of the water.

My reason for visiting De Hoop – known as the ‘jewel of the Cape - was to take part in the De Hoop: Vlei to Whales trail. After experiencing the wild beauty of the area, my fellow hikers and I agreed this must be among the most beautiful places in theworld.

A World Heritage Site within the Cape Floral Kingdom, the 34-hectare De Hoop reserve – one of the largest natural areas managed by Cape Nature - lies at the southern tip of Africa, three hours outside Cape Town, just beyond Bredasdorp.

The Vlei to Whales trail in De Hoop covers just under 40 km over four days and three nights and is fully catered and guided. A combination of stress-free walking, superb food, and luxurious accommodation, it takes hikers through the diverse natural, cultural and historical offerings of this magnificent landscape. Besides a range of different antelopes, and zebra, baboons and ostriches, the reserve features more than 1500 plants and 260 bird species. It’s a feast of fynbos, Indian Ocean beaches and huge dunes, along with a 19-kilometre Ramsar Convention-dedicated vlei which is home to at least 97 species of water birds.

The adjacent marine reserve, which goes 5 kms out to sea, is one of Africa’s largest Marine Protected Areas and plays host to more than 250 fish species. Between June and November, the ocean welcomes hundreds of whales.

I was part of a group of women invited to do the hike, set up by William Stephens, the owner of the De Hoop Collection and member of Cape Country Routes.

We left Cape Town on a Friday morning in a large vehicle travelling via Peregrine Farm Stall (their pies and frozen apple juice are a highlight of any trip along the N2), through Caledon, Napier and Bredasdorp, and into the De Hoop reserve. Our host was PR practitioner Theresa Gibbon, who represents Cape Country Routes, a group of privately-owned establishments in the Western and Eastern Cape.

The drive in itself was a treat. As we got closer to our destination we saw the windmills, ostriches, sheep and cattle that characterize the Overberg farmlands. Our group comprised influencers, a comms consultant, journalists, and a high-powered businesswoman with a passion for writing about food and wine. The hike adventure started immediately upon our arrival at the gate of De Hoop, just after 2pm. Our guide, Eduan Oktober, handed us our branded De Hoop water bottles and off we marched, through an area of the reserve known as Flatrock. The afternoon trail of just under 6km took us through acres of flourishing limestone fynbos, to Tierhoek, a stunning spot overlooking the vlei. To the right of us as we walked were acres of cascading soft-shaped hills and mountains; on our right the vlei. In the far horizon, we could see the sea.

As we walked, Eddie told us the De Hoop nature reserve was once farmland, but large amounts of limestone in the soil made it impossible to grow the canola, grain and wheat so successfully farmed in nearby farm areas. De Hoop became a wild breeding farm in 1956. It is run as a public/private partnership – the first of its kind in the Western Cape. Cape Nature manages the conservation, while De Hoop Collection has a concession to run it.

At Tierhoek, we were treated to refreshments – including bubbles for those who so wished – and plates full of delicious snacks, ranging from smoked salmon to crudites, samoosas and tasty roly-poly cake.

We spent time taking photos of the beautiful vlei before being fetched by an open-top vehicle to drive to the De Mond villa, where we’d spend the night. En route home, we spotted a few Cape Mountain Zebra and bontebok.

De Mond villa – recently restored and located right at the edge of the vlei - was a treat in itself. It’s a luxurious, beautifully decorated, off-the-grid house with five en-suite bedrooms, a barbecue area and an inviting swimming pool outside. The yellow African Jacquard towels and linen were enough to win me over immediately, décor wise.

We arrived at the villa as the sun was setting and, after settling in, we sat with glasses of local wine and watched the water birds flying over the vlei and wading over its shores in the evening light.

According to Eddie, the De Hoop vlei is a saline body of water of great importance to birds and which originally ran into the ocean at the Sout River mouth.

Today, after many years of silt deposits, it’s a coastal lake which does not join up withthe sea.

Scientists have described the vlei as an “anomaly”, Eddie said. “What’s fascinating is that its levels of salinity rise and fall, and its water levels rise and fall during drought,meaning there must be some unknown outlet between the vlei and the sea. Yet, there is no visible link,” Eddie continued.

The vlei has played host to greater flamingos, which have bred there successfully twice in recent decades - the only place in SA besides the Kamfers Dam near Kimberley - while lesser flamingos, pelicans, Cape shovellers, yellow-billed duck, Caspian terns and chestnut-banded plovers are also among the 260 bird species found on the vlei. It’s a birder’s paradise even if you are not a birder.

That night Chef Philip Lottering and his helpers stood over a fire outside, preparing the potjiekos we’d enjoy for dinner. We had a choice of lamb or vegetarian, or both, followed by an unforgettable apple crumble, all of which was accompanied by some very special wines from the Overberg.

The second day of our hike started with a six o’clock wake-up call, followed by coffee and home-baked rusks, before we set off on a seven km walk to Opstal, the main hub of the De Hoop complex, and where the Fig Tree restaurant (once a sheep- shearing shed), curio shop, and most of De Hoop’s accommodation options are located.

The De Hoop Collection offers a range of accommodation from campsites to self- catering chalets to luxurious self-catering cottages and fully-catered, upmarket lodges. The morning’s walk took us along the vlei where we saw more bird species and antelope, including an eland. From Opstal, we were ferried across the vlei to the glorious sandstone homestead, the Melkkamer Manor House which dates back to the 1800s and has been restored to its original condition.

We sat on the stoep, overlooking the vlei, and enjoyed brunch with more bubbles, before returning to our villa for an afternoon of rest and relaxation at the pool, followed by chocolate cake and coffee at around tea-time.

Suitably rested, Eddie collected us in the late afternoon and we walked from the villa into the dunes and made our way up and down their undulating curves, towards the sea. This was an incredible walk, challenging, magnificent, surprising. Who knew we had such amazing sand dunes in the Cape?

Dinner back at the villa was fresh fish, followed by chef Philip’s pannacota. We were all tired, it was a great day of walking, swimming and sightseeing, and we dropped off to bed early.

Day Three – a morning of beach walking - started with a drive of about 8 km down from De Mond to Koppie Alleen, a stunning 56 km stretch of marine protected coastline. We had a quick look at the Bites Beach Café, which opened at Koppie Alleen in February 2023, in a renovated fisherman’s cottage, set among the fynbos- covered dunes, overlooking the beach. After checking out the menu and chatting to the friendly staff, I vowed I’d be back sometime soon for fresh fish and chips or a woodfired pizza, preferably whilst watching whales.

Today we’d be walking, in reverse, the last seven kms of the popular Whale Trail and it did not disappoint.

Rockpools abound in this area which is also rich in dune fynbos. We stopped often to look at starfish or a shoal of tiny fish, and, about an hour into our walk, we arrived at the gorgeous Hippo Pools where we had a break and a swim. Interestingly, Eddie handed each of us a bag before we embarked on our whale trail last day walk. “This is for collecting rubbish on the beach,” he said.

This highly protected area has not escaped the litter scourge: Rubbish and waste from the nearby fishing towns, and off the ships that pass by the area washes up on these pristine beaches, and Cape Nature staff do a litter cleanup at least once a week. I was heartened to hear that Whale Trail walkers are also given bags with which to collect litter – “and they do,” Eddie said.

Sure enough, an hour and a half into our walk we started seeing this rubbish – including a worse-for-wear Louis Vuitton bag - which comes off the ships despite the 5-km limit – and filled our bags with litter to be thrown away appropriately.

Our morning walk ended with lunch at a spot called Wyoming, where the hut for the last night of the Whale Trail is located, and we enjoyed a picnic of quiche, bread rolls and wonderful local cheeses and preserves.

Suitably nourished, we were back in the vehicle to be driven to the Potberg Mountain, home to a colony of about 300 endangered Cape Vultures, and the Western Cape’s last surviving colony of vultures.

We hiked about 2kms up to a viewing deck, to wait for the birds, who, Eddie told us, return to their nests in the cliffs between 3 and 4 pm every day. The colony we visited is the last surviving colony in the Western Cape. Eddie told us that, before they knew the value of vultures, the farmers in the area were set on poisoning them. This started to change when Cape Nature worked with the farmers and educated them that vultures “are not predators, but scavengers” and an important part of the ecosystem. Today, vultures are considered an asset in the region, and they scavenge more on livestock carcasses from the the “vulture restaurants” from sheep and dairy farms area than on natural prey such as eland and bontebok.

Watching the arrival of the vultures – which have a wingspan of about two-and-a- half metres - to the gorge where they nest was a fascinating experience. The chicks are often in danger of predators like jackal and eagles, Eddie said, but in spite of this, the colony has grown healthily in recent years.

Following the vulture experience – a real highlight for me, we were to spend the night across the vlei in the Melkkamer Manor House.

After a tour of the grand house - the art collection is a treat in itself – we checked into our rooms. Some of us stayed in the manor and others in the Melkkamer Foreman’s Cottage. Dinner was a good old South African braai, with all the accoutrements such as potato salad chakalaka in the sumptuous dining room. After dessert – chef Philip’s lemon cheesecake - those of us staying in the Foreman’s Cottage, just up from the Manor House, walked home under the stars to enjoy a good night’s rest.

On Day Four, our last day of this varied hike, we walked about seven kms back to gorgeous Tierhoek – via another route and were then driven back to Opstal, the main base of De Hoop where I was determined to swim at the pool at De Hoop’s base. I’d watched the German tourists lolling there on day one and was determined to jump in myself.

I made it out of the pool in time for a tour of the museum, located at De Hoop, which runs an exhibition called “Origins of Early Southern Sapiens Behaviour Exhibition”. This outstanding exhibition showcases the rich archaeological heritage of the Southern Cape coastline, and features some of the findings made by scientists like Professor Christopher Henshilwood and others at sites such as Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River.

The museum’s message, that “we are all one” – and that there’s overwhelming evidence that mankind’s origins lie in Africa, left us all a little tearful – and more than a little proud to be Africans. After a quick tour of William Stephen’s wine cellar, located in a converted silo, we wound up our hike with lunch under the trees at the Fig Restaurant, before driving back to Cape Town feeling fit, healthy, fabulous and excited. We had all discovered a new area.

The other day, a friend from our hike told me about a news report she’d seen: the Two Ocean Aquarium Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre had just released four turtles, of three different species, into the wild in the De Hoop Marine Protected Area.

The turtles – each with their own story of rehabilitation – had all recovered sufficiently to return to the sea. Most injured turtles arriving at the centre are “a result of human activities, such as boat strikes, plastic pollution and incorrectly discarded fishing gear, causing entanglement,” the Foundation said.

One turtle had a particularly poignant backstory: Solé was found by staff at the Koeberg Power station. They rescued the small turtle, who took a whole month to show normal digestive movement again.

Staff from the centre were delighted to return their “turtle of the sun” back to the wild.

“After tireless work in rehabilitating the sub-adult turtles, Solé and Plum (green turtles), iKhwezi (loggerhead turtle), and Harley (hawksbill turtle) are now enjoying the thrill of the ocean …” the Foundation said in a press release. “This is a testament to the value of the De Hoop MPA for turtle conservation in the country and the continent …”

Against all the odds, people and institutions are working tirelessly to save nature. De Hoop is one of them. It’s a place that stays in your heart. How dare we not join forces to help save nature and to preserve this inimitable beauty for future generations?