Chockful of surprises

His son Nevil recalls: “My father read an advertisement in a 1954 Farmer’s Weekly that described a fisherman’s paradise, ‘lonely and isolated, well wooded and watered. Two miles of private beach, 273 morgen, £1750.’ My parents sold their KZN property, and a few months later their belongings were transported in an old ox wagon across the enormous sand dunes.”

 

Nevil, a property developer and keen sportsman who broke two world paragliding distance records in 2008, owns Quaysyde restaurant on the canals. Local sports clubs use the premises as a base throughout the year for activities, such as running time trails on Tuesday nights, paddling time trails on Wednesdays,  Thursdays mountain biking and Fridays open water swimming.

Cape St Francis was developed when the farmland adjacent to the Seal Point lighthouse was acquired by Karoo farmer John Booysen in exchange for his Chevrolet. A further 160 plots were added and Cape St Francis, which has a more laid-back, rustic feel, was proclaimed a town in 1965.

Port St Francis ‒ the only privately owned working harbour in the country ‒ was created after the townspeople realised they had an incredible source of “white gold.”

“Squid, which local fishermen call chokka, used to be caught for bait only,” explains Eric Stewart, who owns a chokka fishing vessel. “It was only when a visitor pointed out that this chokka was very similar to the calamari served in the best Mediterranean restaurants that people realised that catching and exporting squid could be very lucrative. Now sea-frozen squid (caught on a hand line) is exported to Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Croatia.”

There’s space for over 30 commercial chokka, hake and pilchard fishing boats, a recreational harbour and a small harbour resort village. At the Balobi Seafood Market and Deli, Eric demonstrated how to clean squid.

“Here are the three hearts, the ‘beak’, liver and ink bag,” said Eric, expertly dissecting the mollusc. We compared local and imported calamari and agreed that local was lekker.

Port St Francis is also where I viewed two magnificent catamarans, in the final stages of fitting-out. Who would have guessed that the ‘St Francis 50’ catamaran, assembled locally, is sought out by sailors from all over the world?

Retired American investment executive and author Chris McNickle and retired attorney Frederick Walters showed off their bespoke vessel with an all-weather enclosed cockpit.  Retired American business executive Paul Allinson and his wife Maureen (who’d lived in Cape Town for a few years) were equally proud of their vessel, which included a state of the art wine fridge and a sleeping area for grandchildren.

As housing development has expanded, many residents and holidaymakers have worked to conserve precious resources. The Kromme Enviro-Trust was founded in 1981 to promote environmental awareness and preserve flora, fauna, shell-fish, sea and bird life.

Enviro-Trust vice-chairman Maggie Langlands told me about some of the projects: “We work within the Greater Kromme Stewardship project to preserve valuable biodiversity in the area, scrutinise environmental impact assessments for developments proposed in the district, and run environmental education projects for kids and adults.

“We also organise community clean-ups of the coastline and maintain coastal walkways and the community garden. The garden is a real community project, mind you, as St Francis Links and surrounding home-owners and the municipality are all involved in looking after it.”

Several wind farms operate in the area, making the most of the onshore breezes. For five years the local bird club has undertaken bird counts every six weeks on 14 wind farm sites (operating or proposed sites), supplying the data to UCT and to non-profit organisation Birdlife SA. About 15 frog species occur in the Greater St Francis area, ranging from the large raucous toad, to the little arum lily frog.

The Dune Ridge Country House, nestling between coastal fynbos and dune fields, offers novel frog safaris.

“The removal of alien vegetation from our immediate vicinity and the surrounding uplands has revitalised a natural wetland which is a frog hot spot,” says owner Sarah Swanepoel. “Guests gear up with gumboots, headlights and nets, and head off with guide Henry Maarman to catch, identify and release.”

About five years ago, conservationist Maggie proposed developing a hiking trail. She approached Esti Stewart, then managing the tourism centre.

“The two of us just started to walk and explore. We always wanted to know and find out and discover ‒ then we put it together and we had a route,” says Esti, who now conducts the popular four-day, three-night, 62 km Chokka Trail.

I tackled the hike with my daughter, discovering a stunning mix of coastal, dune, wetland and forest vegetation within 40 000 hectares of privately-owned land.  Esti’s husband Eric handles the logistics, while local lodges ensure warm hospitality and delicious food overnight.

On the final hiking day we arrived at the Seal Point lighthouse, the tallest stonework lighthouse in the country. Sanccob has a sea bird rehabilitation centre here and marine biologist Christina Marques introduced us to permanent penguin residents and long-term rehabilitation patients.

They included Batman, who’s blind, and Penelope, who may become a penguin ambassador. “Some have fused shoulders so their flippers don’t move, three or four have badly scarred fins due to seal or shark bites, so their fur can’t grow and they would die of hypothermia,” she explained.

Next stop was Cape St Francis Resort, where we enjoyed a three dish calamari experience at Joe Fish restaurant. Shaun Tessendorf, activities manager, described it:  “Calamari with wasabi and sesame seeds, with a dipping sauce; deep-fried rings with rice and tartare sauce; and tubes stuffed with peppadews, mushroom and feta – plus chips!”

Quite delicious – and more proof that the Greater St Francis area is chockful of surprises.

References: www.stfrancistourism.co.za and ‘Our Coastal Treasure’, St Francis Kromme Trust, 2011.

First published in South African Country Life, January 2018

https://www.countrylife.co.za/

Images Judy Bryant