Robberg Peninsula Plettenberg Bay
Robberg Peninsula
As I have mentioned in my previous articles on Plettenberg bay ,
Robberg Peninsula is an outcrop of land that forms the western
boundary of the bay at Plettenberg Bay.
This outcrop is about eight kilometres from Plettenberg Bay
via road and about five kilometres if you walk along the beach.
The Robberg Peninsula has been proclaimed a
Nature Reserve and Marine protected area.
At the entrance is a gate where permits can be
purchased to enter the reserve.
From the parking area to the southern most point of the
reserve is about three kilometres. A hike to the point
and back takes about four hours.
Robberg dates back to the middle and later stone age.
It was first occupied about a 120000 years ago when the
sea level dropped. On the peninsula there are several
caves where evidence of Stone age occupation has been found.
The first modern history was recorded in 1630 when Portuguese
sailors were shipwrecked on the beach and lived there for
nine months while they built two small boats which they
used to get back to Portugal. They were shipwrecked a
gain before they reached Portugal.
The rock formations on the peninsula date back a 130 million years
to when Gondwanaland broke up to form the continents of South America,
Antartica, Africa, India and Australia.
There is no human presence on the peninsula save for visitors
and nature conservation officials who work there during the day.
Robberg is home to the rare blue duiker, a small antelope.
It lives in the thickets on the peninsula and it feeds on
leaves and vegetation it can find in the area.
An adult male measures about 30 centimetres at the shoulder.
The Cape fur seal comes ashore on the peninsula at a place
called Kanonkoeelgat.(translated it means cannon shellhole).
Some of the adult males weigh in excess of 350 kilograms and
grow to about 2.1 metres in length.
The “Point” is the place to to see some of the many resident
seabirds. The terns, gannets, and cormorants roost on the peninsula
and feed off the rich pickings found on the Agulhas Bank.
At the highest point which is about a 146 metres above the
sea is the Cape Seal Lighthouse. It is the highest navigational
light found on the SA coastline.
The light has a range of 27 kilometres and was built in 1950.
To reach all the places I have highlighted above one has to
walk along pathways which have been built along some steep cliff faces.
In some areas there are sheer drops into the sea. One or two places
along the walk are dangerous at high tide as the sea reaches
the pathways when the tide is up.
There are some interesting sea animals found in the
waters surrounding the Peninsula.
The Roman which is a bank fish starts life as a female and
changes its gender to male when it gets large enough to start its own harem.
Unfortunately this type of fish is vulnerable in heavily fished areas.
If the male gets caught the females lose out on a breeding opportunity
as they have to wait for one of their number to change its gender.
This can have dire effects on the numbers.
Kelp gulls also live and breed on the peninsula but as they were being
disturbed by humans their breeding success started to fall away.
To solve this problem wooden walkways were built to keep people
out of their breeding areas and breeding has picked up again.
Robberg is a very interesting place to visit for those who love
hiking and nature. It is also relatively lonely so one can get
away by yourself to revitalise your flagging spirits.
© 2023 Turtle SA - All Rights Reserved Robberg Peninsula Plettenberg bay
30.6.2023
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