South Africa

From the Grail Center, turn right and walk to the stop sign. Turn right and walk to the main road, R44.

Turn left for a very short jog and then cross the street where you see a park and road leading to the beach. There are very clean, public toilets and showers at this beautiful beach and a lovely Beach House Hotel overlooking it.

Walk toward the water where you can sometimes see whales and look right for the coastal path that is well-marked but a little rocky at times. Sandals not advised. This path has benches and information posted on herbs, birds, orchids, shrubs, proteas, etc. which are unique to the fynbos ecosystem. After about 45 minutes you will come to some stone steps going down to a boardwalk. Turn left to the harbor. If you go up to Harbor Road, there are 8-10 places to eat, from Fisherman's Takeaway to more upscale restaurants, from coffee at the Harbour Bakery to a wine shop and a Pub with Pizza overlooking the harbor. Poke around the little shops and attractive, new pottery gallery.

To continue along the coast, walk back to the harbor and continue past some public toilets on your left which have, sadly, been vandalized, although the first one is still working as of Nov. 2005. After a short distance, the path continues along a street with houses to your right. The ocean is to your left, but the path continues to the left of the new houses and eventually becomes a beautiful boardwalk leading to the estuary of the Palmiet River. It forms a lovely lagoon without waves for safer swimming. Behind the fence with barbed wire at the top is a hidden, wonderful camping site with hot baths and showers and clean toilets but no toilet paper. The gates from the camp sites to the beach and the lagoon are not always open. Do stay on the path as this site is a sand dune. If you walk right, up the river, there are public toilets and picnic sites on this bank. This park is about another 45 minutes from Harbour Road. If you return the same way, the stunning views are slightly different, especially if the light has changed. There are never many people on the paths or the beach on spring weekends.

To return more directly to the Grail Centre, look left for wooden steps, just before a boardwalk which go steeply up to a white house with a bright blue roof at the corner of 4th street. Walk straight to the end of 4th street and turn right to the entrance of the Grail.

For a longer loop walk, look for two wooden crosses marking the site where the Gustav Adolf sank in 1902—just before you reach the long, sandy Palmiet Beach. Just behind the crosses, look for a path to your right. This will take you behind the campsite, across a small parking lot and two dirt roads to the bank of the lagoon. Follow this path under the bridge and up to a dirt road with a clean toilet near Fairy Glen. There is a small circular walk which begins where you see hand rails by a path to your right. Continue climbing until you come to a fork. The path continuing to the left is the circular path. The path marked Kastel will take you to a crest with benches, a small parking lot and a good view of Kleinmond. Follow the dirt road from here down to 13^th Avenue. Turn left at 4^th Street and right at 15^th Avenue to return to the entrance to the Grail Centre.

For more information on the Grail Centre, go to http://home.mweb.co.za/gr/grailoff/.
 

Walks from the Grail Centre requiring a vehicle

Number 1: Turn left from the Grail entrance and left again at the corner. Go straight on 4th Street to the Main street, R 44. Turn right.

Just before the bridge across the Palmiet River is a turn off to the right and a park and parking area (and toilets) called Fairy Glenn. The lovely circular walk is 3 km and takes about an hour. The path is a mostly moderate gradient, fair to good and passes a waterfall, depending on season, a good view of Kleinmond, and comes around through a lovely fern glen.

Continuing in the same direction for about 10 minutes takes you to the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden that grows and protects plants of the coastal fynbos that is 5 million years old. (Our vegetation took root 50,000 years ago after the Ice Age.) The flowers are unique and beautiful and varied even though the soil is poor. Fynbos means "delicate shrubs". There are very few trees and fruit. Fire wipes it out every 15 years or so and the ash provides fertilizer for the next growth. It is worth a wander and there is a small coffee shop and gift shop behind it. Call (028) 272-9311 to confirm opening hours. There is a small admission price.

For a lovely, cool walk on a hot day, ask at reception for the key to the gate to Leopard’s Kloof. It is beautiful, following a stream with ladders to climb to a sheltered pool and waterfall. Your deposit will be returned with the return of the key.

Leaving the Botanical Gardens, turn right and drive about 5 minutes to Stony Point, a turn to the left. Follow the road to the beach and signs that say penguins. From the parking place, you can walk very close to the jackass penguins that may sound like a jackass but look cute and cuddly. It is the first land-based penguin colony and is protected by a board walk only.

As you drive back to the main road, look left just before reaching it for the Whalers’ Station Restaurant. A special treat.

There are many wonderful, wilderness walks that require a permit. I have left a pamphlet with a map and instructions at the Grail Centre.