Where was I?

From Hermanus we had a drive of no more than 20 minutes to get us to Stanford and a couple of nights in a self- catering suite at the Stanford River Lodge. We faced onto the river and as we sat on the deck for breakfast we could watch Giant and Pied Kingfishers looking for their next meal - amazing to see them hover kestrel-like before diving for their prey.

Stanford was a great location with a few wineries and a brewery and a number of places to eat along with river walks and a bird hide overlooking the lake.

We also managed a trip down to De Kelders and a wonderful beach in the Nature Reserve where we saw Black Oystercatchers and a large pod of Bottlenose Dolphin feeding off the beach and surfing through the waves. I think we also disturbed a couple who were taking advantage of the secluded location to work on their all-over tans but from far away to avoid any embarrassment!

It was a bit windy for the first day or so, but on our last morning we managed an hour or so in a canoe on the river before we were packing up for our drive to the Nature Reserve at De Hoop.