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Walker Bay Whale Sanctuary
| Notice of the establishment of a whale sanctuary in Waker Bay appeared
in the Government Gazette of 29 May 2001. From 1 July 2001 no boats or
crafts of any kind will be allowed in the Walker Bay Whale Sanctuary
Marine Protected Area. The sanctuary stretches from the Westcliff beacon
near the new harbour in Hermanus to the Gansbaai harbour. About half the
area may be used by authorised whale-watching boats, as well as authorised
commercial and recreational fisherman. The regulation apply only from 1
July to 30 November
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Grootbos Nature reserve
| Grootbos Private Nature Reserve is one of South Africa's premier
ecotourism destinations. With its over 1000 hectares of fynbos nature
Grootbos provides guests with a unique opportunity to experience the
natural wonders of the marine, coastal and inland ecosystems of the Cape.
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve is situated on the hills above Walker
Bay.The Grootbos Nature Reserve derives its name from our Milkwood Forest,
the . Groot bos. , which is Afrikaans for the big thicket. It is one of
only a few forests of its type in the world. They have a unique assemblage
of species, are dominated by Milkwoods (Sideroxylon inerme), and all occur
in the Gansbaai area of the Cape. The Grootbos forest is approximately 24
hectares in extent and contains trees that are many hundreds of years old.
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The Klipgat cave and coastal area
| The Klipgat Cave and De Kelders coastal area are one of the greatest
cultural and natural assets of the Western Cape and Strandveld. Between 60
000 and 50 000 years ago, when the sea level was lower than it is today,
Middle Stone Age people first lived in the Klipgat Cave and left remains
of their food, fires and stone tools.The coast was then between 3 km and 7
km away. They lived off the land and sea, hunting animals such as eland,
steenbok, black wildebeest, hares and molerats, and collecting plants,
tortoises, shellfish, and seal and bird carcasses. Human remains found
here provide some of the earliest evidence in the world for modern people
Homo sapiens sapiens (our species). This helps support the theory that
modern people originated in Africa before dispersing around the world.
Other remains include some of the earliest sheep bones in the Western
Cape, indicating that sheep-keeping Khoekhoen (Khoikhoi) pastoralists from
the Later Stone Age were already living in the region by 2000 years ago.
They probably also owned dogs and, later, cattle. Some of the oldest
pottery found in South Africa comes from the Klipgat Cave, where pieces of
2 000-year-old pots were left by San hunter-gatherers or, possibly,
Khoekhoen herders. The potsherds were found amongst the stone and bone
artefacts, ornaments and remains of shellfish, fish and other animals they
had eaten in their cave campsite.
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Dyer Island
Walker Bay Nature Reserve
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