Little Camargue at the Cape – Rooisand Nature Reserve

A few kilometres outside Kleinmond on the road to the villages of Botrivier or Hermanus, turn right to enter a wetland area preserved as “Rooisand Nature Reserve” – little Camargue at the Cape.

xxx — Part of an old herd of feral horses at *Rooisand*.

“Kleinmond gets its name from the ‘small mouth’ of the Bot River that seeks to enter the sea at the main beach. Part of a large estuary system, the ‘small mouth’ often silts up, forming a beautiful reed-banked lagoon stretching back some 5 kilometres to the huge Bot River lagoon that forms the eastern edge of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. The lagoon is also famous for being home to the only herd of wild horses in South Africa! Ledgend has it that at the end of the Anglo Boer War (over 100 years ago), evacuating British soldiers let their cavalry horses loose in the great vlei of the Kleinmond lagoon. By the 1940’s the herd had grown to over 400! Totally wild, the horses roamed the river area, decimating precious grazing. Farmers began to round them up or shoot them. Only three horses escaped the attempt to eradicate the herd. Today their descendents can be seen splashing through the lagoon or cantering between the Kleinmond dunes. This unique herd of over 20 wild horses are cherished by the town and have become quiet a tourist attraction!” ((http://www.kogelbergbiospherereserve.co.za)

Cathedral of Sainte Maries de la Mer, capital of the Camargue, – a veritable fortress (against the Saracenes) and in front of it a bull ring. During a festival on 26 May bulls are driven through town and motorists and pedestrians are given adequate warning to get out of the way.

Wild horses of the Camargue near Sainte Maries de la Mere.