Gansbaai: best destination for responsible travel

By Roxanne Reid
​Gansbaai won Gold for being the best destination for responsible travel in the World Responsible Tourism Awards in London in early November, competing against destinations from across the world. So what is ‘responsible travel’ and why is Gansbaai so good at it?

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​On the one hand, responsible travel is when tourism companies and travellers take responsibility to protect and conserve animals and the natural environment, respect local cultures, and contribute to a better quality of life for local communities. On the other hand, it’s also about giving travellers better, more authentic experiences.

Gansbaai, just a two-hour drive from Cape Town in the beautiful Overberg, is Adventure Central, offering some of the best boat- and shore-based whale watching and white-shark diving in the country. (See 1 below for what makes these activities 'responsible'.)

In the area too, the Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative promotes sustainable use of natural resources and new standards of picking indigenous flowers through its Flower Valley Conservation Trust. The locals get involved in clearing invasive aliens and there’s an early childhood development programme to benefit the local community.

Many of the local accommodation options in and around Gansbaai, from top-end luxury lodges to simple self-catering cottages, have committed to an eco-friendly, sustainable approach. For instance, they minimise their use of non-renewable power, grow their own produce and recycle water. They also contribute to poverty relief and upliftment projects that benefit the local community. Among these places to stay are Whalesong Lodge, Farm 215 and the luxury but expensive Grootbos Private Nature Reserve.

10 things to do in and around Gansbaai

1. Go whale watching or shark cage diving. Fair Trade Tourism-certified companies like Marine Dynamics, White Shark Projects and Dyer Island Cruises offer responsible whale and shark experiences. Among other things, this means obeying the rule of keeping 300-metres away from any whales (unless they decide to come closer of their own accord) and actively contributing to research and conservation of whales and great white sharks, not to mention African penguins and other seabirds. You’ll find a marine biologist on board your whale-watching or shark-diving boat, sharing stories of the threats to marine life in the area and efforts that are being made to protect it. June to November are the best months for seeing southern right whales, though you can also see Bryde’s and humpback whales in other months.

2. Go horse-riding. Choose between half- or full-day outride along the beach or in the mountain fynbos, or sign up for an overnight trail across private nature reserves, farms and vineyards.
3. Grab your binos and try to spot some of the area’s 250 bird species.
4. Hike along the coast from Gansbaai to Klipgat Cave in De Kelders (see photo in the intro).
5. Visit the Danger Point lighthouse where the Birkenhead was wrecked in 1852.

Danger Point lighthouse

6. Join a township tour at Masakhane Township and help spread the economic benefits of tourism into the hands of its less advantaged people.
7. Find peace along a forest trail or have a picnic at Platbos, South Africa’s southernmost indigenous forest, where more than 22,000 new trees have been planted in the past decade.

Platbos forest trail

8. Do the overnight Fynbos Trail. Hike through coastal and mountain fynbos of the Cape Floral Kingdom, which is the smallest and richest floral kingdom in the world. Some 75% of the plant species are endemic (that is, they occur nowhere else on earth). Choose two or three nights, fully catered, guided slackpacking or self-guided/self-catering.

9. Visit the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary which treats and rehabilitates injured or diseased birds.

Honey Bee Suite, Platbos

10. Stay a night or two in the area. Something a little different is the eco-friendly, off-grid Honey Bee Suite at Platbos. It’s under a tree canopy in a forest clearing, with romantic candlelight at night, separate kitchen deck and open-air shower. Walk a forest trail, enjoy the simplicity, relax in a hammock, listen to the birds; you may even meet a bushbuck or tree frog. (If you can't get into Honey Bee, try Platbos’ new Bushbuck Suite.)

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