West Coast Weekend

The last weekend in January was spent on the Cape West Coast of South Africa. We travelled to the Elands Bay near the Cederberg region: an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The purpose of the visit was to fish in 'Verlorenvlei', which means "lost marsh". It is in fact a huge natural lake, formed when the estuary closed to the sea. Recent rains opened it for the first time in 12 years, making the water more brackish than freshwater.

Andy caught ten like this small carp, all of which were thrown back as they were too small to eat.

Brigitte was far more hands-on than I was, I'm afraid. This fish, Oliver caught, was probably the largest of the day, but still too small to braai.

Our host, Brink, took us to see the house that his great-grandmother was born in, near to the 'vlei'. Her great-grandmother was one of the first German immigrants to settle in this area, in the late 1700's. The cottage is a traditional cape cottage, with a thatched roof, often referred to as a fisherman's cottage.

Elands Bay is popular with surfers and the high-tide mark was littered with interesting shells, just right for beachcombing. The next morning, very early the men returned to try to catch some sea fish.

This juvenile shark was found trapped on the beach and released back into the sea.

Elands Bay is on the crayfish trail, but those who dive for them must hold a license. There are very strict rules about how many can be taken at one time. Brink's brother caught these crayfish, the only seafood that was eaten that weekend!

But this glorious sunrise, more than made up for the lack of fish.