WEST by SOUTHWEST
32.0978° S | 18.3267° E
68.4711° N | 13.8636° E
32.0978° S | 18.3267° E32.0978° E
“Toemis. That’s what my dad and his friends call this,” Eli says over his shoulder. “It kinda means ‘closed mist’, but it doesn’t sound nearly as good in English. Some things are just better in Afrikaans.”
We’re enveloped in a dull grey fog that’s blocking out the weak morning sun. Heavy drops of moisture cling to the rusted barbed-wire fence we have just gingerly squeezed through. There’s supposed to be a good reef break in front of us, but I can’t see it. I can scarcely make out Eli a few steps ahead of me, but I can hear the crackle of dry kelp underfoot with every step he takes. Thick piles of it lie strewn around the beach like mutant strips of biltong.
We make our way up to the top of a low sand dune to try get a better view of the surf. The steady percussion of waves breaking floats in off the ocean, but all we can see are vague shadows rising and falling towards shore.
“Ja, we’re going to have to wait ‘til this burns off,” Eli says after a few minutes, then turns to walk back to the car.
It’s been a while since Eli Beukes has been back home, to this semi-arid stretch of coastline that lies three hours north of Cape Town. An ever-growing schedule of contests and travel have made these
