All Ocean And Salt, White Washed And Sun-Bleached Beaches

Imagine a place both desolate and dynamic, ancient and yet ageless. This is the Cape West Coast

- Georgia East

The honest lethargy of warm afternoons or the anticipation of an evening meal eaten outdoors, the scent of woodsmoke on the breeze. Visiting here means a return to a life lived simply, and an appreciation for small pleasures – guavas sweet from a neighbour’s tree, fresh snoek fatty from winter seas, a toothless smile from a face as wrinkled as a walnut.

It was this lifestyle that I craved. An existence I wanted to explore and document in a series of recipes that celebrated the West Coast. Research for my cookbook West Coast Wander (R320, Loot) enabled me to call the fishing town of Velddrif home for a few months, and I was surprised at how smoothly this city girl settled into the slower pace of country life.

How did my love affair with the West Coast come to fruition?

I have been coming here for almost three decades, lured irresistibly by the stretch of coastline and the towns settled along it.

There are many aspects of the West Coast that can conjure up emotion in those who visit it, and people often say that one either loves the area or hates it. There is much to celebrate here – the first glimpse of the salt pans from the Carinus Bridge into Velddrif; pink flamingos wading, the river lapping gently against spindly wooden jetties; the smell of bokkoms drying in the sun; slow sunrises and fast sunsets; the scent of coastal fynbos after the rain; the sound of the Sishen train; a night sky full of stars and the constant roar of the cold Atlantic Ocean all bestow their gifts on the traveller.