Shells along the Garden Route! Everybody has heard about the beautiful pansy shell which is iconic to Plett but what about other special shells found in our area?! Alikreukels and periwinkles are snails with a low spiraled shell and a round shell opening. Periwinkels are abundant in the intertidal zone. The Alikreukel or giant periwinkle has a characteristic knobbed calcified door, called a operculum that block the opening when it withdraws in to the shell.
Guests love the table napkin/serviette holders we use in our breakfast room and because of their popularity we provide sets and individual shells for guests to purchase as mementos. Our supplier collects the empty shells washed up on the beaches around Plettenberg Bay and finely sands the surface to provide the most beautiful shiny “mother of pearl” look.
Periwinkle, in zoology, any small marine snail belonging to the family Littorinidae (class Gastropoda, phylum Mollusca). Periwinkles are widely distributed shore (littoral) snails, chiefly herbivorous, usually found on rocks, stones, or pilings between high- and low-tide marks; a few are found on mud flats, and some tropical forms are found on the prop roots or mangrove trees. Of the approximately 80 species in the world, 10 are known from the western Atlantic. The common periwinkle, Littorina littorea, is the largest, most common and widespread of the northern species. It may reach a length of 4 centimetres (1 1/2 inches), is usually dark gray, and has a solid spiral (turbinate) shell that readily withstands the buffeting of waves.
If you are interested in tasting the snail inside you are allowed to collect 5 per day. Here is a video clip about these shells – what they look like in the sea and how to cook and eat them!
