We check out the small Sandvlei Lake behind Muizenberg from Blouberg. According to local residents, you are allowed to kite there, although part of the lake is a bird sanctuary. There is a grassy park to set up in, and the best way to get in is on the windward side of the lake via a small sandy beach. The exit is steep and rocky to leeward. The wind is still offline. We drive on.
Dozens of surfers let off steam in the waves on Muizenberg’s colourful beach. The Boyes Drive from Muizenberg to Fishhoek offers endless panoramic views. As South Africa is a little too expensive in some places, we opt for the “stowaway under a load of kite luggage” method at the entrance to the Cape of Good Hope National Park. This saves eleven euros for a beautiful but rather lifeless park.
We visit a few secluded bays and then drive to the popular lighthouse at the Cape of Good Hope. It does not mark the southernmost point of Africa, which is a few hundred kilometres further east at Agulhas. But the Indian and Atlantic Oceans visibly meet right here. Despite being just a few kilometres away as the crow flies, the water on the Indian side is easily five degrees warmer than the Atlantic, which the sharks also appreciate.
On the way back, we get caught up in a routine check by the park rangers. They want to see our entrance ticket. They think the argument “The wind stole it from us” is credible, given the average annual wind speed of 30 km/h at the Cape of Good Hope, and let us continue our journey unmolested.
In Muizenberg in the late afternoon, the wind is blowing from the south-east at a nice 18 knots fully onshore across the flat, wide beach over small waves. My three-day-old lumbago from the last wave session in Blouberg is already much better, and the endlessly wide and almost empty spot off the back of Table Mountain is simply fantastic. I have to get out.
Love is when you help someone to do shit that they could never do on their own. Verena helps me into my wetsuit, pumps up my kite and puts the leash on. My back can’t handle it all yet. The waves are small and regular. I ride a few lines, then a mini wave catches me. I crash. My back goes all Ritter Sport on me. Bend, crack, no longer on the ball. So everything is ruined for a few days. But it was worth it. I’m happy to have surfed this place.
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.