Just outside the popular fishing village of Struisbaai, the entrance to the little town of L’Agulhas is guarded by Spookdraai, or Ghost Corner. This is the starting point of a hiking trail that explores fynbos, birdlife and historical points of interest along this stunning section of the southern Cape coast.
This coastline just begs to be explored
I’m more intrigued by the legends and ghost stories of the area. For instance, legend has it that a ship floundered in the bay many years ago. (Duh! There have been so many shipwrecks along this coastline over the past few centuries that it’s pretty hard not to start a story in this way.) The sole survivor was a beautiful young woman who later died in a cave nearby. But – and this is the essential part of any good ghost story – her spirit isn’t at rest and she’s still seen from time to time visiting guesthouses nearby.
Another ghost story from the area, Agulhas National Park manager Etienne le Roux tells me, is one in which a member of the Van Breda family – an important founder-family of the area – thought his wife was getting too flirty with a Scots sea captain, so he shot and killed her. It’s said that her bloody hand print kept reappearing on the wall of their house, no matter how often it was painted over. Eventually someone had the bright idea of removing that part of the wall entirely and turning it into a door. Problem solved.
With stories like these, I can’t help thinking that a ‘ghost trail’ much like the one at Prince Albert in the Karoo would be very marketable in the area. I know I’d sign up for a bit of ghostly history by the light of the moon.
More macabre is the tale of a man who was decapitated in an accident and whose headless corpse haunts the Spookdraai area. So if you’re not a lover of stories about the Headless Horseman or Headless Nick, who haunts the halls of Hogwarts, perhaps this hike isn’t for you.
If, on the other hand, you don’t believe in this kind of hoo-ha, walk the trail, enjoy the sea air and spectacular views and return to your B&B invigorated and ready for a good nap. You probably won’t notice that wraith-like figure wafting through the wall anyway…
More about the area
Agulhas National Park: everything you need to know
Agulhas walking trail
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
Another ghost story from the area, Agulhas National Park manager Etienne le Roux tells me, is one in which a member of the Van Breda family – an important founder-family of the area – thought his wife was getting too flirty with a Scots sea captain, so he shot and killed her. It’s said that her bloody hand print kept reappearing on the wall of their house, no matter how often it was painted over. Eventually someone had the bright idea of removing that part of the wall entirely and turning it into a door. Problem solved.
With stories like these, I can’t help thinking that a ‘ghost trail’ much like the one at Prince Albert in the Karoo would be very marketable in the area. I know I’d sign up for a bit of ghostly history by the light of the moon.
More macabre is the tale of a man who was decapitated in an accident and whose headless corpse haunts the Spookdraai area. So if you’re not a lover of stories about the Headless Horseman or Headless Nick, who haunts the halls of Hogwarts, perhaps this hike isn’t for you.
If, on the other hand, you don’t believe in this kind of hoo-ha, walk the trail, enjoy the sea air and spectacular views and return to your B&B invigorated and ready for a good nap. You probably won’t notice that wraith-like figure wafting through the wall anyway…
More about the area
Agulhas National Park: everything you need to know
Agulhas walking trail
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
