Hermanus Cliff Path: what’s in a name?
The Cliff Path in Hermanus is currently the most frequented tourist attraction in the town. It offers a safe and enjoyable walk of 12 kilometres from the New Harbour in the west to the Klein River Estuary (the lagoon) in the east.
The forerunners of the Cliff Path were dozens of informal paths made and used by fishermen going to specific fishing points. It follows that a significant number of the place names along the Cliff Path have links with fishing.
One of the advantages of the Path is that it can be accessed by car and on foot at many points of interest, so you do not have to commit to the entire 12 km at once. You can walk portions of it on different occasions. Also, some sections are wheelchair friendly, especially those nearer the Old Harbour and on Hoy’s Koppie.
The process leading to the creation of the Cliff Path was started in 1960 by Eric Jones, an RAF airman who had been stationed in Hermanus in WWII and settled here after the War. He proposed the idea at a Hermanus Botanical Society meeting, where it was immediately supported. The First Cliff Path, shorter and more informal than the present Path, was physically constructed by Jones. Or Ion Williams and members of the Hermanus Botanical Society.
Early in the present century, David Beattie who has family connections with Hermanus retired here and set up the Cliff Path Management Group to make a private sector contribution to the preservation of the Path, some parts of which had fallen into disrepair. Over the past 17 years, the Group has raised and spent more than R3 million on improving and extending the Path. They work closely with the Municipality, which funds some aspects of the work.
Now the Hermanus History Society and the Cliff Path Management Group are cooperating to research the origin and meaning of all the place names along the Path. Part-funding of the project has been made available by Sumaridge Wine Estate.
Please contact Robin Lee if you have more or different information about these names on 028 312 4072 or robinlee@hermanus.co.a
What to see along the Cliff Path
To ensure the protection of its fragile ecosystem, the Cliff Path and the fynbos vegetation through which it passes was incorporated into the proclaimed Fernkloof Nature Reserve in 2000.
The Cliff Path not only affords some of the best land-based whale watching in the world from June to December, but is also a nature lover’s paradise. Along with a diversity of vegetation types, several coastal mammals and birds can be spotted on the Cliff Path:
Mammals – Cape Clawless Otter (early morning, late afternoon), Caracal (very rare), Chacma Baboon, Grysbok (primarily nocturnal), Large and Small Spotted Genet (nocturnal), Porcupine (nocturnal), Rock Dassie, Small Grey Mongoose, and Striped Mouse.
Birds – African Black Oystercatcher.
Amethyst Sunbird, Barthroated Apalis, Cape Batis, Cape Bulbul, Cape Spurfowl, Cape Sugarbird, European Swallow, Fork-tailed Drongo, Grassbird, Hadeda Ibis, Gulls (Kelp, Hartlaub’s & Grey-headed), Karoo Prinia, Lesser Double-collared Sunbird, Malachite Sunbird, Olive Thrush, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Robin-Chat, Sandwich Tern, Sombre Greenbul, White-breasted Cormorant and Spotted Eagle Owl.
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