Paternoster, Heart of the West Coast
Scarcely and hour’s drive from Cape Town on the rough West Coast, in a peaceful narrows weaved with dispersed rocks, is the wonderful fishing town of Paternoster.
With it’s pleasant white washed houses, green-dark veld and turquoise water, you’d be pardoned for thinking you’ve wound up in a distant village some place on the Mediterranean coast. Of course, you will not get much else truly South paternoster rentals African than the nearby delicacy of bokkoms (salted, dried fish) – the fish form of that other extremely South African treat, biltong.
Being near Cape Town, this dominatingly Afrikaans-talking town is a well known end of the week escape objective for prosperous Capetonians who lean toward the pristine West Coast to the vacationer more amicable South Coast. In summer the close by camping area at Tietiesbaai in the Cape Columbine nature save, is regularly visited by tough angler and snorkel jumpers.
Albeit the water is by and large excessively cold for washing, vivid boats baking in the sun is a regular sight on the town’s untainted stretch of ocean side. At best up to thirty boats should be visible across the inlet – practically each of Paternoster’s modest super durable occupants are still exclusively at benevolence of the ocean to give them food and a method for money.
Rumors from far and wide suggest that the town’s name, which is Latin for “Our Father’s supplication”, was given by Portuguese sailors who had inconvenience in difficult situations. Appreciative for having securely arrived at shore, they pledged to assemble a congregation and dedicated the town Paternoster.
A visit to the Paternoster inn will provide you with a touch of understanding into the town’s brilliant culture. The inn’s notorious “undies bar” – with it’s dividers and roof shrouded in ladies’ clothing and grimy jokes – is the place where you’ll observe durable anglers watching sport on TV while burning-through bountiful measures of Brandy and coke. Across the street from the lodging’s patio, local people sell their catch of the day – regardless of whether Snoek lawfully or Crayfish wickedly (it is illicit to trade Crayfish or West Coast Rock Lobster with a sporting Crayfish license).
Not too far off is the Paternoster ranch slow down, where product incorporates a scrumptious assortment of custom made fish pickles like mussels with coriander and bean stew or curried calamari. Corner to corner inverse is the beguiling Oep ve Koep (the name straightforwardly interprets from an Afrikaans articulation in common West Coast shoptalk as “open for purchasing”) where regular kitschy vacationer memorabilia sit between a huge assortment of old fashioned enamelware, glass holders and vintage signage.