Table of contents for West Coast, Namaqualand Travel Guide 2025 in go!

I just adopted a penguin. My R600 donation will go towards feeding African penguin AP145 for a year. AP145 was found at St Helena Bay on the West Coast in February 2025 and is currently recovering from an injury to her (his?) left foot at SANCCOB in Table View, Cape Town. It’s good that she’s there. I can’t keep her at home – she’d be eating popcorn and rusks within a week! SANCCOB – the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds – is on the frontline of African penguin conservation efforts. This species is suffering catastrophic population decline. Read my interview with Martine Viljoen from the Two Oceans Aquarium on page 50, where we discuss the fate of the penguins. Martine is one of the most inspirational…

In the park or outside the park? When someone tells you they’ve been to the Richtersveld, you should always ask them where? That’s because “the Richtersveld” can mean anywhere between Pella in the east to the often misty coast at Alexander Bay in the west. Normally, people mean they’ve been to the |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. Or more specifically, the South African side of the park because not many people think of the Namibian side – which stretches all the way to the Fish River Canyon – as the Richtersveld. The office and reception for the South African side is at Sendelingsdrift on the Orange River. From here, most visitors drive a clockwise loop. You might encounter a shepherd or two in the park, grazing his tough-as-nails sheep and goats in…

Blikemmer, it feels good to get out of the city! Gravel roads unfold into views for days, with fresh headspace loading. I can smell the dust and geranium in the air when I wind down the window. Add fresh-caught fish, free-range meat and honest wines to the deal, and it’s clear why the West Coast should be on your road trip radar. At the back end of summer, the West Coast called. I had to go research a story about abalone, plus shoot a few promotional photos for Namaqua West Coast Tourism. Being a surfer, I’d keep my eyes open for a good wave or two. Along the way I would stay at some of my favourite places, which I share in this article. Buckle up, we’re about to give…

I was a city boy from Cape Town, 13 years old, when we moved to the West Coast. I thought I’d like it, until I woke up one morning before sunrise and looked outside. There wasn’t a single light shining, except in the home of our neighbours, the Hibberts, about a kilometre away. Mom had gotten married, you see, and we’d moved to St Helena Bay where her husband lived. My new dad was the manager at one of the fish factories dotted along the empty coast, and we didn’t get on. It was the mid 1990s and St Helena Bay was not the holiday destination it is now. Shelley Point didn’t exist. It was a place where working men and women lived, in the heat and wind. There were…

IN OTHER WORDS Karin Bester, manager I’ve done many things in my life, but I’m very happy here. I love people and laughter; it’s fun to welcome all the new faces that arrive here every day. DESERT ROSE About 100km north of Cape Town, the Desert Rose farm stall rises from the dusty wheatfields. In high summer, the glare of the sun will make you squint, but it’s a different story in winter when the landscape is lush and green. This laid-back oasis has been in business since 2011 and is managed by Karin Bester. She makes sure the shelves are stocked with homemade jams, rusks, biscuits and knitted toys. The biltong and droëwors are made right here at Desert Rose and you can buy herbs, beer, wine and vegetables from…

On the other side of Bothmanskloof Pass, the valley unfolds into a patchwork of vineyards, olive groves and wheatfields. Wind turbines turn at the foot of the Winterhoek Mountains in the distance. If you squint, you can just make out the green course of the Berg River meandering through the landscape. Below lie the sister towns of Riebeek-Kasteel and Riebeek West. The Khoi were the first residents of this valley, long before Europeans showed up. When they did, it was at the order of Jan van Riebeeck, in 1661. A settler called Pieter Cruythoff led the expedition, and notes kept by the expedition doctor, a certain Pieter van Meerhoff, state that the group travelled east over the mountains into a valley where they counted 13 “horses” (probably quagga), five rhinos…

Surf's up! In his new book, Freestyle Cooking with Chef Ollie (Penguin Random House, R450), Durban-born chef Oliver Swart shows off his passion for flavour and adventure. His secret to exceptional dishes lies in the layering of flavour and in understanding the basic rules of cooking – so that you can break them, deliciously! Put on some music, pour a glass of wine and enjoy cooking again. See penguinrandomhouse.co.za for more information, and follow Oliver on Instagram: @chefollie RECIPES BY OLIVER SWART Weskus Mussel Pot with Swartland Chenin Blanc and Leeks Next time you visit the West Coast, drive through the Swartland and pick up a few bottles of chenin blanc to make this mussel pot. Serve with warm buttered ciabatta for dunking. Serves 6 • 1 cup good Swartland chenin blanc…

My open-cockpit Autogyro MTOsport gyrocopter is the perfect aerial photography platform. It’s easy to fly, and because it has no windows, wings or wires to spoil a shot, it allows me to be pilot and photographer at the same time. (It can also carry two people.) It was a warm, windless morning on 23 October 2024 when I took off from Morningstar Flying Club next to the N7 just north of Cape Town. The plan was to fly along the West Coast and do a survey of humpback whale super-groups. Pods are called “super-groups” when 20 or more whales feed together. After heading offshore to Dassen Island to look for the whales, I returned to the mainland and flew north along Sixteen Mile Beach, approaching the boundary of the West…

On 7 November 1497, in his cabin aboard the São Gabriel, a disheartened Vasco da Gama stood hunched over a map of Africa. He and his men had been at sea for almost a hundred days and there was still no sign of the southern tip of the continent, which his fellow countryman Bartolomeu Dias had rounded a few years previously. A racket broke out on deck. There it was: the mutiny Da Gama had feared. From the bowels of the ship, he climbed the ladder and held his forearm up to ward off the sharp sunlight and any possible fist blows. But to his surprise, the sailors were joyous, crowded against the gunwale and pointing at something. Then he heard a shout from the crow’s nest: “Land ahoy!” I’m…

It was early morning and fog had settled over the Cape Town harbour as I made my way to the Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, inside the V&A Waterfront. Those lined up at the gates were buzzing with excitement. A brief ticket and identification check later, I boarded the Sea Princess, one of two ferries used to transport visitors to the island. Sitting on a long bench on the top deck, I watched as Cape Town woke up. I breathed in the salty smells of the ocean. Crew member Yazeed Simons gave the passengers a safety briefing. (We were close to 140 people on board, which is the full capacity of the Sea Princess.) The engines rumbled. It had just gone 9 am and this was the first of…

If you take the R27 north from Cape Town, it can feel as if the city and its suburbs just don’t want to let you go. Robot after robot… but then, suddenly, somewhere past Melkbosstrand, the malls and other buildings fall away and the landscape opens up. Ah, yes, this is the West Coast you signed up for! The same thing happens if you’re on the N7 out of Cape Town – it’s busy and congested until you round the bend past Morning Star. (Where that ostrich farm is – and the traffic cops!) Now you’re in the Swartland, and the first ranges of the Cederberg begin to show up in distant blues. The further north you go, the more sparsely populated it gets. By the time you’re in Lambert’s…

Because I travel a lot, people are always asking me about my favourite destination. The answer is always the same: the Cederberg! Parts of the Cederberg are accessible in a sedan, but others can only be reached with hiking boots and a backpack. Then there are the multitude of treasures known only to locals, and the cliffs where no human has ever set foot. People have lived in the Cederberg for centuries, as the thousands of rock art panels can attest. And it remains a magnificent place to recharge your batteries and recalibrate your inner compass. “Okay, fine, your favourite destination is the Cederberg – so where should I stay?” That’s the next question I get asked, and in a bid to give the most up-to-date advice possible, I set…