December 2022

Our December holiday is long forgotten – so much has happened in the meantime – but it’s always nice to look back and remember the wonderful time we had on the West Coast of South Africa.

Most of our regular readers will know – there’s just no way we can go through a holiday without camping! After a few days in Langebaan, we packed our camping gear (and my mom) and drove to our favourite campsite on the West Coast, Elands Bay.

We drove through a torrential rainstorm – what a way to start a camping week. When we arrived in Elands Bay, most of the rain had subsided and only thick clouds remained.

Clouds hanging over Elands Bay, our camping spot for the next week

Our camp week kicked off at the beginning of a long weekend and friends of ours and their children joined us for the weekend.

Our campsite. My mom had her own tent and gazebo for shade (photo on the right)

Sunset on our first evening

During the time that our friends camped with us, we had lovely walks on the beach and sat and talked by the fire until late at night.

We also took them to the famous cave of Elands Bay, about 5km from the center of the village, where you can find breathtaking San and Khoe rock art. According to archaeologists, this site was first occupied during the Middle Stone Age, which dates back more than 80,000 years.

On our way to the cave

Images of small animals, but also handprints which are believed to be those of children

Views from the cave towards the Atlantic Ocean

View from the cave

After our friends went back home, we spent most of our days just hanging out. It’s been an intense last six months with us temporarily moving to the other side of the country for Berto’s job and we just wanted to relax and enjoy the peacefulness of the West Coast.

Our campsite after our friends left

We had sunny weather most of the time while camping. One morning, while Berto had to attend a zoom meeting for his work, my mother and I took our water bottles and went for an 8km walk on the pristine beach. It was not sunny as other mornings, but rather misty and as the sea gulls swooped over our heads, we could only hear the waves breaking – a magical morning.

Walking down to the beach

Misty morning on the beach

A couple of beach houses

Although the campsites have electricity, this did not mean that we always had power. South Africa has been experiencing power outages for the last few years (called load shedding) – a concept created to save electricity. For this reason, we brought our solar panel and inverter to ensure we always have power.

Our solar panel next to the tent ensured we always had electricity

The other great thing about camping while experiencing load shedding is that you can prepare your food either on the fire or with gas. We had no problem making omelettes for breakfast every morning!

Our camp gas stove – no problem when you don’t have electricity

Breakfast (without electricity)

Some of you may remember the beaded reindeer I bought on our road trip a year ago – at that beautiful waterfall in Howick (read about that day here). Well, we brought this little fella with us on our camping trip. The colour red is synonymous with Christmas … and we only had two red items while camping: Howie the Reindeer and a bottle of red wine.

Howie the Reindeer and a bottle of red wine

As mentioned before, Berto had to attend some zoom meetings while we were camping. The only WiFi reception we had while camping was at the Elands Bay Hotel (next to our campsite). While Berto sat with his headphones on to attend the meeting, my mother and I joined him … not for the meeting, but to enjoy the view and a bottle of wine.

View of the ocean from Elands Bay Hotel

Local wine and Garlic mussels in a cheese sauce

With our camping week coming to an end, we took one last stroll on the beach. We had one of those typical West Coast summer days – sunny with a light south wind. On days like this I know I really don’t want to be anywhere else.

Perfect sunny day

Fluffy clouds in the sky

When we returned from our walk on the beach, one of our camp neighbours brought a container of cooked crayfish (lobster). It’s great to have good neighbours while camping, isn’t it? For our last meal, Berto made cream cheese stuffed jalapeño peppers that he wrapped in bacon (one of our favourite snacks these days). Our main course was Berto’s specialty dish – lamb rib on the fire.

Crayfish and jalapeño

Lamb rib on the fire

As we enjoyed our food by the fire, we watched the last sunset on our week of camp. We had a great time at Elands Bay – as always – and hope to return again sometime this year.

Last sunset at Elands Bay