Has anybody experienced the Hermanus Whale Festival that's held at the end of September? If so, do you think it would enhance or deter from the visit of two seniors? We will be in the area the weekend of the festival (September 27-28, 2008). Thanks for your input.

I hope that you will get to your accommodation in Hermanus before the festival starts because trying to drive into Hermanus on the Saturday or Sunday is not a good idea - the roads leading into town are one big traffic jam. It is VERY busy over the festival weekend.

I hope we're not making a mistake. The Festival actually starts on Wednesday. We arrive on Friday from Knysna and are staying at The Auberge Burgundy Guest House. On Saturday, after seeing all we want to see, we drive into Cape Town for a four night stay. Is the festival aimed at all ages or just youth oriented?

SteveGC,

The festival is nothing other than a marketing gimmick to attract visitors to the town of Hermanus. Province is spot on when he says avoid the roads in and out of Hermanus the Saturday and Sunday.

In my opinion your planning is good. Firstly the Auberge Burgundy is very central and you can walk wherever you want to. This avoids the issue of parking which this year is going to be a very serious problem because much of the open parking at Hermanus has now been taken down and made into fewer paid parking zones. The main attraction still remains the spotting of whales and with that said you can simply walk out of the door of your guesthouse and within 50 yards be on the promenade above Walker Bay where you should see all the action. The rest of the festival is simply a case of shopowners and open market sales people trying to coerce visitors, such as yourself, into buying whatever the town can sell. Age does not come into this formula at all.

What I would suggest is that when you arrive at your guesthouse on the Friday you should speak to the management at the Auberge and use their suggestions to make dinner reservations for the Friday night as restaurant bookings will become tricky as the weekend approaches. If you could do this reservation earlier via email or phone this would be even more advisable

Hermanus is a smallish, quaint village and seeing that you have 1.5 days at your disposal you should be able to cover quite a lot of the terrain by foot while enjoying whale watching at the same time.

Overall I think your planning is good and there is nothing that you have to worry about if you are going to arrive on a Friday morning and leave by lets say midday on the Saturday no matter what your age.

Enjoy your stay in our region when you visit our great country.

Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa

Whale Festival?

Sniktawk, if you are reading this .... aren't you near here? Going to this festival?

Hari,


No much too crowded for me!!!
We only go midweek but then being within an hour makes it easy to be picky! The whales are there grom now until mid October!!

No, I can't picture you with the crowds at the festival