Cape Town - The weather reports are often misleading. It may be windy and a bit wet, but right now is the perfect time to visit the west coast with its Mediterranean climate and late green winter.
The hearth fires are burning all along the coast; the locals know how to keep out the cold; the port is perfect; prices are low and the welcome always warm.
From the flowers which spring from damp hillocks and the thriving birdlife to its unique fossil digs, desolate beaches and myriad peoples who understand real South African hospitality, the West Coast is a place to seek out buried treasure.
Heading out of Cape Town on the R27, the road snakes out northwards through endless rolling fynbos. It’s a long, lonely road, unless you have an adventurous spirit and follow the call of the tiny tributaries along the way signposted in brown and beckoning with names like Tittiesbaai, Yzerfontein, Stompneus Bay and Paternoster, each offering colourful stories and history… all the way to the Cederberg mountains.
And always around the next corner is a smiling face. Someone to point you toward the local pizza shack… or back on to the R27 and north.
The West Coast was infamous for its shipwrecks until 1936 when the Cape Columbine lighthouse was built on Castle Rock, just outside Paternoster.
One of SA’s last remaining “manned” lighthouses, it is situated in the Columbine nature reserve and offers accommodation, picnics, a long romantic history and inspiring 360° views – if you can stomach the spiral staircase.
The region is rich in history, which has resulted in its unique blend of cultures. Famous for its genuine and expressive people, the West Coast villages offer travellers locals bursting with tales.
About 30 000 years ago a particularly long, dry period isolated the inhabitants of the West Coast. This led to the evolution of the Khoikhoi and San peoples. The San will take you on a journey into their history, traditional knowledge, skills, languages, customs and current affairs at !Khwa ttu, where they live as descendants of the first indigenous people of southern Africa.
Or travellers can visit the ancient San cave paintings in the Cederberg mountains.
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama, who landed here in 1497, was probably the first European whose arrival was recorded. He landed somewhere near the mouth of the Berg River and named the sheltered bay Saint Helena. The Portuguese government erected a granite monument to commemorate this event and it still stands on the shores of the bay.
St Helena Bay was the first place in southern Africa where the Pater Noster was said to have docked, and the village of Paternoster, to the south of Stompneus Point, was named to commemorate this event.
St Helena Bay’s main harbour at Sandy Point is a hub of activity as shipbuilders and fishermen go about their daily chores.
Several dolphin species visit the bay in search of food, and southern right whales shelter, mate and calve there. Humpback and killer whales are also frequent visitors and can easily be seen from shore.
And there are flowers, flowers, flowers. Vast carpets of flowers. The temptation is huge, but do not pick them. The villagers are quite possessive of this natural heritage and you’re likely to be stopped with a vibrant Afrikaans expletive.
Darling is known for its Wild Flower and Orchid Show in September and the Darling Flora Reserve and Darling Tienie Versveld Flora Reserve are a botanist’s dream.
Never forgetting the twitchers. Being at the southernmost point of the migratory route from Europe and Russia makes the West Coast a must on any birder’s calendar.
The diversity of vegetation and lagoons, marshes and river estuaries support huge migrant populations of more than 250 bird species from flamingoes to terns, as well as the African Black Oystercatcher, Black Harrier and Black Eagle.
There are excellent hides in various locations along the coast from the banks of the Berg River to the West Coast National Park and Britannica Heights at St Helena Bay.
Twitchers might also want to visit the West Coast Fossil Park, an internationally known palaeontological site where many interesting bird fossils have been excavated, including parrots and penguins.
The vast collection of fossils from the dig include a short neck, long horned giraffe, the African bear, a three-toed horse, sabre-toothed cat and as much as 200 species of mammals, reptiles and invertebrates… all which have been extinct for the past five million years.
For the more adventurous traveller, there are wonderful water sports everywhere, from diving to sailing and, for landlubbers, endless hiking in picturesque plains covered in daisies.
The unique food flavours and local delicacies will delight gastronomes and the area also offers distinctive wines – it is the Cape, after all.
Best time to visit: Spring offers the most spectacular carpets of flowers and good weather.
What are you waiting for?
l To find out more about the West Coast hidden treasures, visit the Tourism Enterprise Partnership (TEP) at the Getaway Show from August 31 to September 02 in the Coca-Cola dome, Northgate at stand number MZ15. - Saturday Star