The sea, wild flowers, diamonds, a national park, a Nazi sympathiser, a singer’s holiday shack, and the first sheep farmers in Southern Africa … Barnie Louw takes a hard look at the state of affairs in one of the last undeveloped parts of the West Coast.

Paradise Beach. Sunset Estate. Tranquillity Place. Benguela Vista. That’s what I’ll call my property development here on the West Coast between Lutzville and Hondeklip Bay.

After marking out the prime seafront stands, putting up the advertisement boards next to the N7 and parking a Jurgens as a sales office, I’ll start writing marketing material.

Something along the line of, “The perfect setting on a stunning part of the West Coast! Amazing 180° views over the cobalt blue Atlantic Ocean. A tranquil coastline. Natural beauty with pristine sandy beaches. Magnificent flowers in spring. Beautiful and optimal walk to the beach setting.”

However cheesy this might sound, it’s all 100% true. This part of the West Coast is indeed a place of clichés: a pristine coastline, picturesque little bays, white beaches, breathtaking sunsets, special fauna and flora …

But I’ll keep mum about the nearest town being about 70 km away, the little water here being so brackish you can keep crayfish in it, about the infrastructure comprising a few corrugated iron and wood shacks and a network of varicose vein-like jeep tracks, prospecting pits marring the coastal area like acne scars, and moreover, about the fact that you need a 4x4 to get here.

I will also conceal the fact that anyone can drive around here (on the beaches too), trash the place and leave tracks through the veld as they please.
O yes, and that a part of this coastal area will soon be proclaimed a national park.