3 Best Sights in Kleinmond, The Western Cape and Winelands

Midway between Betty's Bay and Kleinmond is Kogelberg Nature Reserve, a 66,000-acre area of fynbos that extends from the mountains almost to the sea and includes most of the course of the Palmiet River. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1990s, it has fauna and flora found nowhere else in the world. Take one of the well-marked nature walks through the reserve and you are sure to see some of the area's magnificent birds, including the Hottentot buttonquail, the orange-breasted sunbird, and the African purple swamphen. One of the reserve's best-kept secrets is its eco-friendly cabins that can sleep up to four people.

Head back toward Kleinmond, continuing on the R43 toward Hermanus and across the Bot River. The R43 swings eastward around the mountains, past the not particularly attractive fishing village of Hawston, one of the Overstrand communities hardest hit by abalone poaching and drug peddling, and the small artists' colony of Onrus. The Onrus lagoon is a great swimming spot for children; the water is always a couple of degrees warmer than the sea and is safe for the newly waterborne.

Stroll along the boardwalk at Rooisand Nature Reserve and you might catch a glimpse of the famous Bot River horses that live in vlei, or wetlands along the shores of the Botrivier Lagoon. There are lots of theories about just how the horses got here. One has it that they were turned loose by soldiers during the Boer War. More likely they are descendants of the sturdy horses used to help settle the wild regions of the Overberg. This area is also a birder’s paradise, and you might see white cattle egrets riding piggyback on the horses.