It’s not yet 7am and I’m standing on a beach in a biting wind. Normally I’m not standing anywhere this early, just lying in bed under a duvet. Now I’m wishing I’d brought the duvet with me, since even a delightful grin from marine guide Delfrenzo Laing isn’t quite enough to thaw me out.

The wind certainly whips across De Hoop Nature Reserve, a flat tract of land that stares straight out over the Atlantic. Still, the whales adore this climate, and a steady parade of them chugs past, occasionally stopping to fool around and make sure De Hoop merits its claim as the world’s best place to view whales.