Our much-loved cat of 16 years dies suddenly and Annette and I feel the need to get away from home quickly. Two old-fashioned family holiday resorts we recced on a recent trip to Cape Town come to mind. Silwerstroom Resort and Caravan Camping, run by the City of Cape Town, and Ganzekraal Holiday Resort, operated by the West Coast District Municipality, are former “nonwhite” legacies of the apartheid government but are thankfully now open to all South Africans.
Not wanting to camp, we call Ganzekraal as their chalet options are not only more numerous, but they also seemed better positioned and cared for than the rather shabby-looking ones we’d seen at Silwerstroom. But we’re out of luck; all accommodation at Ganzekraal is being fumigated, so we book a chalet at Silwerstroom instead. It’s an arcane process that requires patience and Fica documentation due to the breakage deposit required, a sum they undertake to return to you only after two to three weeks.
But we look past the aggravation, the flaking paint and the hard wooden bench “lounge” furniture — it’s reminiscent of an old station’s waiting room — and are just grateful to be out of the house. The accommodation is clean and functional, and the long Blue Flag Beach, adjacent tidal pool and other well-kept facilities serve as a welcome diversion during the few nights we spend here.
Bordering a small bay to the northwest lies a classic Cape Dutch homestead. Curious, I ask staffer Marjorie Ahrends about its history. It turns out the old homestead probably also housed the overseers of a VOC (Dutch East India Company) slave station (the slaves were billeted in an on-site jail) responsible for mussel collecting along this richly endowed coastline. Besides the mussel meat garnered, the shells were necessary to produce the increasing quantities of lime needed to satisfy the Cape’s burgeoning building industry of the 18th and 19th centuries.
It is now in a Cape Nature Reserve proclaimed in 2019 and has since been converted into an environmental education centre, which we visit on our subsequent trip to Ganzekraal.
Also of historic interest here is the wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman, the Reigersdaal. Only six months after its launch in May 1747, the ill-fated ship hit a reef off Springfontein point on the southern edge of Silwerstroom’s beach. A total 127 of the complement had already died of scurvy by the time the Reigersdaal reached the Cape, and 83 more were too weak to work. So when the ship’s anchor cable broke in strong winds soon afterwards, the few able-bodied crew were unable to get a line ashore and stop the merchantman from striking the reef and sinking. Of the original complement of 297, only 20 made it to Cape Town alive.
When Ahrends pays us a courtesy visit the next day she tells us that the large amount of silver coinage the Reigersdaal was carrying has attracted many would-be treasure hunters over the years. The ongoing interest in the wreck eventually forced the authorities to set up an alarm system around it, also scaring the life out of several crayfish poachers over the three decades she’s worked here.
Three weeks later, we make for one of Ganzekraal’s Amanzi chalets. The booking experience is smoother and less demanding than Silwerstroom’s. Though you need to bring your own bedding, towels and drinking glasses, the chalets are reasonably equipped for self-catering. The prize feature though, is the sea-facing stoep, just 40m from the waves.
After enduring a heatwave in Britannia Bay over the past weekend, the sea breeze offers welcome relief. But the hot weather soon follows us down the coast and it’s only by taking regular dips at the nearby beach and cold showers that we’re able to beat the 38°C heat.
We take a walk around the resort the next morning. En route we chat to two women of the Motorhome Club South Africa (Western Cape region) who’ve joined about 15 other members for a midweek campout next to the sea. As campsites go, its position is optimum, but Silwerstroom’s greater quantity of sites, several with wind protective positioning and tree shade, seems the better option for future trips in our campervan.
The resort is on part of an early 18th-century farm granted to Martin Mecklenburg in 1709. The farm was an important part of the VOC’s chain of agricultural influence in the old Groenekloof area — it stretched from north of Rietvlei to Geelbek on the Langebaan Lagoon — and connected the Cape Town Castle to Saldanha Bay. It was later awarded to Jacob van Reenen in recognition of his efforts in locating the wreck of the Grosvenor that came to grief on the northern shores of the Wild Coast in 1782. The slave bell tower contains the ship’s bell from the Grosvenor, apparently one of only two buildings (the other a dilapidated old schoolroom) still standing when Melkbosstrand historian Paul Naylor visited there in 2016.
Later in the day, we take a drive to Bokbaai, a little-known Cape Nature Reserve sandwiched between Silwerstroom and Ganzekraal resorts. The small, idyllic, aquamarine bay adjacent to the old homestead turned environment education centre, is 15km from our chalet and includes 12km of reasonable gravel. While it’s a notable viewpoint (it offers enchanting views of Table Mountain), swimming and picnic site, we found the mostly coastal drive there equally appealing. There are several bays and coves you can walk to and fish from (permits required) and if you’re lucky you’ll spot ostriches, tortoises and one of a number of small buck species, such as steenbok and duiker.
Seeking a little urban timeout, we make for nearby Yzerfontein (25km) and pick up some lunch goodies from Rosemead Artisan Bakery and Café. We park the car near Schaap Island and tuck into our decadent pastries and watch squadrons of seabirds feasting in the shallow rock pools. Replete, we daydream about becoming lighthouse keepers on Dassen Island across the water, leading the lives of modern-day castaways: reading piles of books, rubbing shoulders with penguins and thumbing our noses at the world’s problems.
But with two nights still left of our pensioner midweek special at our Ganzekraal chalet, it’s a dream we’re happy to defer — for now.
Travel Notes:
Getting there: Silwerstroom is 60km north of Cape Town while Ganzekraal is 68.3km.
Comparing the resorts
Silwerstroom: It’s the larger of the two resorts, with amenities and facilities for day trippers (free entry), and boasts a bigger and cleaner tidal pool than its northern neighbour. Silwerstroom’s much longer white sand beach (3km long with Blue Flag status) is good for exercising and its gentle sloping shoreline is safe for swimming as it’s also watched over by lifeguards. With only six basic six-sleeper chalets on offer (they’re clean and functional, have braai facilities and a small play park, but you need to bring almost everything with you: all bedding, towels, crockery and cutlery) the resort is better suited to day visits or camping. Pricing: Chalets from R408-R609 per night; campsites from R152-R246 per night.
Ganzekraal: While smaller than Silwerstroom, the resort is better kept and feels more upmarket. No day visitors are allowed (besides fisherfolk with valid permits at R48 per person per day). There are 28 six-sleeper wooden chalets (three different types — all with sea-facing verandas and braai areas) as well as numerous nonshaded seaside camping sites, plus a conference centre with a defunct restaurant and a small shop that opens intermittently. There are two main swimming beaches (one small, one medium-sized) and a tidal pool that seems to get refreshed only during spring tides. Ganzekraal’s closer proximity to the Bokbaai Nature Reserve, the Vygevallei Padstal and Yzerfontein, is another plus point. Pricing: Chalets from R465.50-R1,693 per night; campsites from R124.90-R360.40 per night.
What to do in the area: Taste wines at nearby Groote Post; picnic, swim and go fishing in the Bokbaai Nature Reserve (free entry); visit the remarkable San heritage centre at !Khwattu; go deli and bakery shopping at the Vygevallei Padstal; take a day drive to Darling and Yzerfontein; or go hiking, picnicking and swimming in the West Coast National Park.
Best time of year to go: January to March and September to November.
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