The Right Whale

To Mossel Bay, South Africa 

Hi, it’s Dex.  Today we went from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and this is how it went.

After breakfast, we rushed out to find the dock for our whale watching trip.  It started at 8:30, so we all were a bit tired (Dad's note: especially Dex).  But, when we met our high-spirited, funny tour guide, Phillip, being tired was in the past.  He told us that we’d be looking for Southern Right Whales.  He also said that it was after breeding time, so most of the mothers had calves.

Breakfast at "78 on 5th" B&B

Tour guide, Phillip

As soon as we got to the boat, we decided to go to the top deck where we would have a better view.  We didn’t have any luck for about half an hour, and I was starting to think we wouldn’t see any when Dad spotted one.  We started to move a little closer, but even though we were going slow, we spooked it and it swam off. 

Then, we got a call from another boat that said they were really close to a whale and our boat should come join them.  On the way there, we saw a seal, and it waved at us.  When we got to the other boat, we saw that it was a mother an a calf.  We watched them for about ten minutes when I spotted another whale.  I showed Mom, and Mom showed Phillip, and Phillip showed the captain.  Pretty soon, we were on our way to "my" whale.

When we got there, we saw that it was again a mother and calf but more active than before.  The only thing that I could hear for the next 15 minutes was the beeping and clicking of  cameras and the oohs and aahs of everybody on the boat.  Soon, the captain announced that we were late and would have to go back at full throttle.

When we got back to the dock, we thanked Phillip for teaching us about the whales.   We learned that the Right Whales are the fourth largest whales and are baleen whales (no teeth).  They come here to South Africa to breed and give birth, and surprisingly, they only eat when they are away in Antarctica.  Before we left, Kylie and I each got a whale tail keychain as a souvenir.

After shopping and eating lunch outside the Checkers grocery store, we got in the car to continue on the Garden Route.  Fifteen minutes later, Dad suddenly exclaimed that he’d seen a monkey.  We turned around and sure enough, there they were, five of them just sitting on the side of the road.  (Dad is awesome).  It was really cool to see them jumping in the trees.  It was the first time I’d ever seen wild monkeys – actually, baboons.

Not long after seeing the monkeys, we truly entered the Garden Route.  It was really fun spotting Guinea Fowl, a grey bird with white spots, native to Africa.  It was also awesome to see farms, not with cows, but with ostriches.  The drive was really pretty with a jagged mountain range and beautiful fields of yellow flowers.

It was starting to get late, so when we got to Mossel Bay, we stopped at the beach to play.  Kylie and I jumped around on the rocks.  We then found a hotel right near the water.  The room had high ceilings and visible wood beams.  For dinner, we had seafood at the King Fisher restaurant.  The Garden Route had been great so far.