Western star

Langebaan is a kite-surfing mecca, birder’s nirvana, flower lover’s fantasy and all-round beautiful chill spot

- Keri Harvey

“The Siberians have arrived,” we’re told as we enter the Langebaan gate of the West Coast National Park. We drive the winding road that edges the Langebaan Lagoon with its waters extending deep into the park. The massive lagoon, always in fantastic shades of turquoise, along with the frilly fynbos on its shores, are the main reasons for the park’s existence.

There’s wildlife too – just a sprinkling, so as not to damage the fragile fynbos environment. Antelope, zebra, wildebeest, ostriches, bat-eared foxes and other species live sedately in this popular 30,000ha park. This is not Big Five territory, but Slow Five country: tortoises, dune moles, porcupines, sand sharks and whales can be seen, and visitors can walk, cycle or picnic in safety.

The park is also for the birds. Quite literally. The unusual salt-water lagoon is home to, among other species, swathes of pink flamingos, endemic kelp gulls, cormorants and thousands of international visitors that make the trip annually to spend summer in the sun. Likely most prolific and popular are the delicate Siberian terns that do trans-continental flights between frosty northern Russia and sun-kissed Langebaan.

About 45 minutes later, having driven the periphery of the lagoon, past iconic Preekstoel rock, lazy-looking houseboats at Kraalbaai, and the evocative Atlantic viewpoint located on a thin finger of land, we find ourselves on the opposite shore of the lagoon, looking at countless ‘Siberians’. Maybe there’s a language barrier, but they stick together in their flock, not mingling at all with the kelp gulls, oyster catchers and cormorants also milling around.