Country Article / Postcards
Private Paradise in Paternoster
Date: 01/22/2004
International Living Postcards--your daily escape
http://www.internationalliving.com
Friday, January 23, 2004
Paternoster, South Africa
Dear International Living Reader,
The clean white sand of the beach is empty, as far as the eye can see--all 15 miles of it around the bay. Our 4-year-old grandchild from London clearly thinks this is heaven. His mother doesn’t have to keep a close eye on him as she does on the more crowded beaches of the Mediterranean coast. The rock pools are alive with colorful sea creatures, and at low tide there are mussels to be picked.
We’ve hired a self-catering cottage for a week. It has two en-suite bedrooms, a living room/dining room/kitchen, and a terrace overlooking the beach with a big built-in BBQ. It carries a three-star rating and is the best-appointed cottage we’ve ever seen. Top-quality stuff. All this at a total cost for four adults and two children of $375 per day.
Paternoster is on the southwestern corner of Africa. There’s nothing much between it and Brazil, except sea and more sea. Plankton-rich cold currents wash its shore, so whales, as well as dolphins, seals, penguins, and endangered oyster catchers, are often seen here. The small harbors around this coast are full of working fishing boats of all sizes. Just outside Paternoster, at Cape Columbine, there is a Nature Reserve with a small, compact camping site much favored by those who enjoy rod fishing and the opportunity to have the little rocky bays almost to themselves.
The post office sells licenses that cover fishing, spear-fishing, gathering mussels, and taking crayfish in limited numbers. On the other hand, if you prefer someone else do the gathering for you, there are several tiny restaurants and a hotel, all of which sell superbly prepared meals--everything from “fish ‘n chips” to a spectacular sea-food platter--at prices from $4 to $16.
At Paternoster, until recently, the only beachside properties were the small, whitewashed cottages of the fishermen themselves. Today, there is such great demand for property here that it is hard to find an affordable site--only the wealthy or those with dollars at their disposal can buy. Only a few years back a site could be bought for $800. That same site today would sell for $10,000. These prices are still rising, and rapidly. Building and aesthetic controls have been developed to try to protect against the unsightly suburban sprawl that so often affects prime coastal property.
This place is stunning in its simple beauty, with an almost Mediterranean character, rivaling many a Greek island. As an architect, I predict that this little piece of paradise will become one of the most sought after on the entire Cape.
Shelagh Nation
For International Living
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