Venus pools, paradise found

A light sprinkling of rain overnight left the ground damp and the plants bedecked with jewelled raindrops. An early start for our hike from Buffels Bay to Venus Pools saw us all gathered in the car park at the bottom of that long hill down from the plateau, relieved to have a flat walk after Tuesday's strenuous climb. False Bay was smooth as an oil slick, and a fleet of large fishing boats nestled beneath the rough cliffs of Rooikrantz. The smart red-hulled vessel we saw on the Atlantic side last week was nearby and treated us to a water cannon display, but otherwise there was no indication of what these boats were doing. They looked too big to be for handline fishing.
We set off along the beach towards Venus Pools, accompanied by a young female baboon who was on her way to join the rest of the troop on the rocks at the water's edge - no alpha males in sight but plenty of babies playing in the sunshine. Close by, a fine male ostrich grazed with his harem and one youngster. Tortoises were trundling down the grassy slopes, sipping at the dew still clinging to the blades and generally looking very purposeful, while a jackal buzzard soared overhead with a beady eye out for breakfast. A clear trail of otter spoor led up the hill to the thick, low bushes that cover the area - an ideal home for these delightful animals that seem to be thriving on the Peninsula. An otter's midden on the rocks was given away by the pungent aroma of their scat, a further sign of a healthy population.
As the clouds disappeared, it became warmer but not unbearable thanks to the cooling influence of the sea, but it was with relief that we arrived at the pools and settled down on the comfortable rocky ledges above for a much-needed refreshment break. Fishermen were casting further down but with no results in the time we were there. I have yet to see any fisherman actually reel something in.
The steep mountains to the north cast dark reflections in the mirror of the sea and across the bay, the rain had chased away the smoke and smog of summer and left a view that, on a clear day, indeed was forever. It was another day in paradise.

 

, far from the madding crowd.