Gansbaai
not just a visit ... but an adventure
GANSBAAI TOURISM :: WESTERN CAPE :: SOUTH AFRICA
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BUFFELSJAGSBAAI DESTINATIONS TO VISIT
The R 43 from Gansbaai to the east mysteriously ends in the middle of nowhere. It does not even continue with a dirt-track. This road to nowhere ends exactly at the eastern extreme of the Gansbaai area. However, if you turn right towards the sea a few km before the end of the road to nowhere, you end up at a secluded place immediately at the beach: "Buffeljagsbaai" (Buffalo-hunt bay). It is a small settlement of one street and a bit. The residents live from the sea as they always have. Trucks loaded with kelp can be seen leaving Buffeljagsbaai on a regular basis. Buffeljagsbaai is neither a place of luxury nor of facilities for the day-visitor, yet its raw beauty and seclusion makes it an attraction in itself. Continuing out of Buffeljagsbaai to the west, you'll find a small caravan- and bungalow-park nestled in between the dunes with access to what practically is its own private beach and bay.  On the other side of Buffeljagsbaai is Jessie se Baai (Jessie's Bay), named after the ship with the same name that was wrecked here. The impressive solidified sand dunes towering over the beach are the reason that the locals know this place by another name: Die hohe walle (The high walls). At the end of Jessie se Baai is where the land-mass of Quoin Point begins. Quoin Point is the second most southern point of the African continent and one of the most densely packed shipwreck graves of the South African coast. Quoin Point is empty from man-made things, apart from a small light-tower and few fishing cottages here owned by the Schipper and October families of Elim. These families were granted the right of use of this small peninsula by Queen Victoria. After the wreckage of yet another English ship, the English government thought it was a good idea to have people living here permanently. The document granting this right to the respective Elim-people was signed by Queen Victoria herself.    If you would round Quoin Point (which you cannot do since this Cape Nature Reserve is closed to the public) you would bump into another small group of bungalows at the coast : "Die Dam". Die Dam -admittedly- is connected to the absolute end of the R 43. |
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