By Peter Slingsby
Back to Kleinmond this week, for a look at the network of trails that criss-cross the West Bank area near the Palmiet River mouth.
The trails are all in the Kleinmond Coastal Nature Reserve, proclaimed in the late 1970s for the protection of its wonderful flora. The reserve also forms a vital bio-link between the Kogelberg Reserve and the sea, on the southern side.
You're as likely to see klipspringer on the coastal rocks here as you are in the mountains, and there are quite a few floristic oddities, too, where plants normally only found at altitude pop up on the coastal plain.
Even though major bureaucratic bungles allowed a water-treatment plant and a dumping ground for surplus overburden to be built in the reserve in the early 1990s, the integrity of the area is mostly intact, with a wild, rocky coast and unusual views of the surrounding mountains.
You can either park at the Palmiet River bridge, or at a small parking place about 2km from the bridge on the Betty's Bay side. If you start at the bridge you need to ramble along the roadside towards Betty's Bay before you pick up the path, about 100 metres from the bridge.
The path turns immediately into unspoiled fynbos; at this time of year you'll see fields of the pretty red-and-yellow coastal pincushion bushes. You can follow this path all the way to the river mouth, with great views across the estuary towards the distant Danger Point.
Turn west when you reach the coast; there are any number of attractive little bays and inlets, with otter holts and dassies in abundance. You should see whales, too - it's interesting that Dr Best's annual whale counts show more whales off Kleinmond than the better known Hermanus.
About 2km from the mouth you'll reach Shelly Beach, one of those interesting little bays where you could spend a happy hour or so picking up a great variety of fascinating shells.
Turn inland from Shelly Beach. The path climbs steeply up the coastal shelf into cream and purple fields of the beautiful Prince of Wales heath. If you study the veld carefully here you might spot stands of the rare Vlei Mimetes, a singular protea that is severely threatened by coastal development. Happily this exceptional beauty is also conserved at Cape Point.
If you turn back towards your starting point you'll soon come across a highlight of this area - a small milkwood forest that tells an interesting tale.
In the 1790s the botanist William Paterson travelled around this coast. Oh, that we could see it as it was then! Paterson reported meeting no people at all, but wildlife included eland, hyenas, zebra and even kudu. When Paterson's party reached the Palmiet it was high tide, and they were unable to cross the river.
They retreated to a small milkwood forest - it has to be the one you're in, as there is no other nearby - where they spent the night.
In the morning they were preparing to move down to the river when a Cape lion appeared - it must have been one of the last of those magnificent, black-maned beasts. Paterson's party hastily crossed the river, tide or no, and moved on towards Bot River, where they encountered the first human settlements.
You won't meet a lion at Paterson's milkwood forest, but you will see the skeletal remains of candelabra flowers - these flowered in February and March.
On your way back to your starting point you might spot an unusual clump of Retzia plants. This plant is a relic, a sort of "floral dinosaur" that normally only grows much higher up in the hills. It's a one-of-a-kind species that no longer seems to set seed, surviving only by resprouting after veld fires from its roots.
There are any number of spots on this walk where you can eat your sandwiches, or you could repair to the harbour area at Kleinmond to one of the many small restaurants.
Fact file
- Route: N2 to Strand; turn right on to the R44 through the Strand, Gordon's Bay and Betty's Bay; about 9km from Betty's Bay you'll reach the Palmiet River bridge, just before the town of Kleinmond.
- Route maps: Overberg Whale Coast or Day Drives from Cape Town
- Distance from central Cape Town: 100 km, 1 hour 15 minutes
- Information Bureau: Yes, open Sundays phone 028 271 5657; there are good descriptions of walks in Where to Walk in Kleinmond, Kleinmond Nature Conservation Society, PO Box 2, Kleinmond 7195
- Best website:
- Picnic site: At Fairy Glen or anywhere on your walk
- Places to eat: Coffee shops, restaurants - especially in the old harbour area
- Places to stay: Lots, contact Hangklip-Kleinmond Tourism, 028 271 5657
- Permits for walk: Not required
- Dogs allowed on walk: Not really, though no one seems to mind.
- Other attractions: Iron Museum, Toy Museum, birding, feral horses, etc. Wonderful bathing at the Palmiet bridge, if it's warm enough!
- This article was originally published on page 8 of The Cape Argus on August 11, 2005