Sitting at my laptop on this miserable weekend in Jozie I am reminded of one such weekend when living in Langebaan on the West Coast of South Africa a good few years ago.
My sister Veronica and I set out on a blustery miserable spring weekend to see the flowers of the West Coast. The West Coast is renowned for its floral splendour in the spring when the winter rain has been good. Oh we hummed and ha-heed but in the end the picnic basket was packed and we were off, taking the coastal road to Elandsbaai or Elands Bay. (The Eland is the largest antelope in Africa and Baai is the Afrikaans name for Bay.)
Grey clouds accompanied us along wet roads with every flower hiding its light under a bushel. However we were intrepid in our search for a pleasant spot to drink a glass or two and eat our picnic and parked near the harbour at Elandsbaai awed by the fury of the waves crashing against the rocks.
Imagine our delight when a seal caught a wave, and, landing safely, promptly fell into his afternoon slumber. Just then a Kombi pulled up next to us and we became acquainted with our neighbour who owned Muisbosskerm, the outdoor eating restaurant on the beach near Lamberts Bay. We pointed the seal out to him and in no time we were into a heated discussion on the pros and cons of shooting seals for their supposed decimation of fish stocks.
Veronica and I took the stance that they had their place in the eco-system and nobody could say without any doubt that they were responsible for the demise of the fish stocks as there were a lot of factors involved. Our neighbour disagreed and a lively discussion ensued washed down with another glass of wine and friendly farewells.
We then made our way to the Elandsbaai Hotel where we were expected and made ourselves comfortable on the table and chairs outside braving the weak sunshine. These South African country hotels are few and far between but such good value where you can always find co-travelers to swap a tale or two with.
Later a walk on the beach found us chatting to some surfers in wet suits in pursuit of the right hand break that Elandsbaai is famous for. The cold Benguela current that hugs the West Coast does not deter these keen surfers.
Wandering back to the hotel we were told that there was just 10 minutes before their famous seafood platter was put before us. It was a feast to be remembered with the crumbed crayfish the star! We stayed the night listening to the sound of the crashing waves beneath cozy duvets.
Next morning we wandered out to the Sonskyn Kafee (Sunshine café) waiting for the sun to come out and tempt the flowers to open. Here we found a magnificent military type jacket bedecked with medals swinging from one of the beams. Mevrou, the owner, told us that it was her husband’s uniform when he was in the Eastonian Air Force. She had a book exchange and we picked up some reading matter.
Rounding the corner we came upon an old gentleman and his Jack Russel dog. He leant on his spade and regaled us with his grievances against the government taking his taxes whilst he had to clear the pavement of weeds himself!
Onwards on the coast road the flowers began to peep out. A woolly sheep gave us a thoughtful stare as her hoofs stood deep in the magical purple carpet of blooms.
Through Lamberts Bay where we could see the Cape Gannets in their white plumage with yellow heads and black marked beaks taking off and landing from the island. We drove past Graafwater (meaning water from a spade) with the sky clearing affording a magnificent view of the dam at Clanwilliam as we crested the last hill into the bustling town where stalls were everywhere and the info desk busy pointing out the vest viewing sites on the map.
After tea and lemon meringue pie in the gardens that were now at their magnificent best in orange, crimson, magenta and white we meandered off along the dam’s western shore stopping every now and then to gasp again at the pallet of colours nature had in her paint box.
We stopped at Citrusdal with the scent of orange blossoms in the hot still air where we bought fresh dates especially for Jamie Oliver’s sticky toffee pudding and a new cultivar of orange/naartjie (mandarin) that we were persuaded to try as it peeled easily, finding it delicious enough to buy a bagful.
As we rounded the corner on the Piketberg/Veldrif road the rain swept down again but we had enjoyed a marvelous two days that had paid off our eternal optimism, the unexpected highlight being the friendliness of the West Coast locals and the characters that we had met.
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Molly's Musings On Life And Travel 