Beach Baby

 I think I was about 12 years old when I became aware of a place called South Africa. The geography of the African continent is not usually taught to elementary aged children in America. And it is certainly not a place most people thought of the the 1960’s and 70’s when planning a vacation overseas. I remember being at a Jr. High overnight trip with our church. The youth group went to Mission Viejo, California near the beach; about an hour away  from very inland Pomona. Although the interaction and activities with the host youth group were completely forgettable (I don't make friends easily) there was one thing we did that made a huge impression. As we spread out our sleeping bags on the gym floor for the night the lights dimmed and a movie began. It was the docudrama Endless Summer.

 You can't grow up in Southern California without knowing about surfing. We are the home of the Beach Boys after all. On the occasions when my family did go to the beach it was almost always to Huntington, the self-proclaimed Surf City.   But for some reason, I had never considered that people had beaches in places other than California and Hawaii.

So there I was alone in the dark, surrounded by people I did not know, finding out about beautiful beaches around the world. Beaches in exotic sounding places like Polynesia, Australia and Africa. I was intrigued and curious about those places that literally were a world away.

  Fast forward 47 years. Here we are in South Africa with beaches not only on the Atlantic Ocean but also on the Indian Ocean. It was time for a beach day.

  Although we were too far away from Endless Summers St Francis and Jeffreys Bays  we did try to spend a few days at the beach while we had our rental car .For three days we put on our bathing suits and drove around the Cape but it was not to be.  Windy conditions made sitting in the sand or going in the water an impossibility.

   Finally we awoke one morning to warm calm weather and declared it Beach Day.  In Cape Town all of the beaches are public and free although access can be blocked in places by private residences and hotels. Our Uber driver to us to a trailhead and we hiked down the paved walkway to the Clifton Beaches. Clifton #1-4 flow together, it is impossible for a visitor to tell one from another unless you see the signs. We walked the sugar soft sand to #4 where chairs and an umbrella could be rented.

John had hoped to be able to get a board  but rentals were not available at Clifton. In any case the waves were not very good which did not stop some locals or perhaps visitors with surfboards from trying.

  Although vendors walk the area selling water, soda and ice cream, no real food is available for purchase. so we went back up to the road for lunch at the Cottage, a restaurant on a cliff belonging to the local yacht club. We returned to our chairs and stayed until the sun was beginning to set into the water.

Since radios  or speakers are not allowed on the beach it was quite and peaceful; only the sounds of people enjoying their day and the calming crash of the waves on the shore.

Like the guys in Endless Summer,  it was a perfect beach day.