Attie Lotz contacted me about a month ago saying that he wanted to go and spend a few days on the West Coast. We would take his bakkie and go camping at different spots all along the beach. Eventually we decided to go this past week after the Easter Weekend. It did not take long to recruit two more friends for the trip. Phil joined us and 2 hours before we left Cape Town Gerick decided to join in the fun. The four of us left Cape Town
Driving next to the coast we found an amazing surf spot and it did not take long for Phil and Gerick to jump into the cold water for a surf. I joined them on my bodyboard and caught a few waves before sunset.
After an enjoyable surf Attie informed us that he had to go back home for work and fly to Johannesburg
We had to decide if we wanted to drive back or just camp out next to the beach and try and organize for someone to come pick us up in 2 days time. We decided to stay for two nights, but had only enough food for a day and a half. This did not stop us and the following morning we walked along the rocks and collected mussels which we added to some rice that I packed for an emergency and made amazing Seafood Paella.
We were all very optimistic about our stay on the beach and the fact that this month is survivor month on Discovery Channel made a positive contribution. Gerick took it as far as to go ‘hunting’ and found a mouse. We did most definitely not eat it, but had a great laugh at Gerick’s initiative and therefore appropriately named him Bear Grylls of Ultimate Survival. This day the wind picked up and the waves died down. We went into the ocean and attempted to surf but soon decided to rather drink beer.
Through out our stay the weather was good and the wind tolerable, but on the morning of day 3 we were woken up by gale force wind and thunder. We decided to go find shelter (Bear Grylls survival tip: 1) next to some rocks and moved all our belongings. The rain stopped and the sun came out, but we were ready to leave. We phoned Gerick’s mom and she made the effort to come pick us up. Finding us would be a different story and I said that I’ll walk to a meeting point 3km back. At the meeting point I met some fishermen complaining about the bad weather and hitched a lift with them to the main road were I thought it to be a better place to meet our lift. Our first camp spot was the only place to find cellphone signal along the coast and by the time I reached the main road our lift had luckily just arrived.
Camping next to the sea with no one around was great. We only received company once when a Vredenburg local came to top up on his Perlemoen “desire”. The rest of our time was peaceful. We stayed for free, surfed amazing waves, drank lots of beers and embraced the serenity.
I am going back soon!
