MZANZITRAVEL ISSUE 12

around a cliff to the site of a giant steel ship wrecked on the rocks for more picturetaking,
before making the journey back to Hout Bay. There are also cocktail and
sunset cruises to the island.
Another favourite with adrenaline-seeking adventure tourists is Dyer Island some
8.5km offshore from Kapteinsbaai near Gansbaai on the southwestern Cape
coast. On the adjacent Geyser Rock island lives a colony of 60,000 Cape fur seals,
attracting one of the densest great white shark populations in the world. Hence it is
popular with tourists for shark cage-diving. Dyer Island is a 20ha nature reserve, and
the easternmost of the chain of seabird islands of the Western Cape.
Island on Vaal River, Parys - Grant Hayward, iStock
It has been recognised as one of the global Important Bird Areas (IBA), and as such
is one of the hundred most important bird sites in the country. African penguins,
Cape cormorant, the endangered bank cormorant and roseate tern are some of the
birds that breed there. The area around the islands is also an important calving area
for southern right whales. The island is managed by CapeNature. While visitors are
not allowed onto the island, boat trips around the island bring visitors to see the
seals and birds.
Up along the West Coast north of Cape Town and 10km offshore from the seaside
village of Yzerfontein, lies Dassen Island, named after the colonies of hyraxes –
dassies in Dutch/Afrikaans - early mariners found there. After numerous shipwrecks
a lighthouse was built on the island and at one time the island was also regularly
visited by guano collectors. Penguins and a variety of birds also populate the island
and it is a protected area closed to the general public, but visits by special permit are
allowed. However, like many of the other islands, it makes for a scenic cruise and the
area is also popular with fishermen and divers.
Eastern Cape islands
Geyser Rock, Gansbaai - Anna Phillips, iStock
Going east along the coast to the Eastern Cape, two more ‘islands’ are well worth
a visit. The first, Robberg, is not really an island, but an island-like peninsula that
juts out to sea and is still joined to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. Robberg,
situated 8km south of Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route, is a nature reserve, a
national monument and a World Heritage Site. It is managed by Cape Nature and is
popular with hikers.
Rocks around here date back 120 million years to the break-up of Gondwanaland,
while much evidence has been found here of human settlements from the middle and
later Stone Age in caves along the peninsula. Visitors can learn more at the Nelson
Bay Cave interpretive centre. The peninsula and adjacent part of the nature reserve
are home to the rare blue duiker, the Western Cape’s smallest antelope, vulnerable
fish species, dolphins, whales and a variety of bird species.
The other Eastern Cape ‘island’ is one of the best-known landmarks along the
dramatically beautiful Wild Coast, known as Hole in the Wall. It is a tall, vegetated
landmass that has become separated from the mainland, but can be reached on foot
by wading through the water at low tide.
The most intriguing feature of this massive tidal island is a giant hole, forming an
arch, that runs through the base at its centre, causing the sea to heave and burst
through it in a thundering rush of white water. It is located at the mouth of the Mpako
River, about 8km south of Coffee Bay on the Wild Coast. The local Xhosa inhabitants
Leisure Island, Knysna Lagoon - Daniele Codegoni, iStock