Directory and map
Shipwreck Museum A wonderful museum in an old church. Exhibits include rare Swedish plate money and 100-year-old Champagne, and more discoveries in the garden, barn and house next door. Entry R25. 6 Independent Street. 028-424-1240 Pelican Harbour Café You can’t beat it for views and vibe, right at Struisbaai harbour. Lots of seafood but also ribs, steak, burgers and salads (like all the restaurants in these parts). From R45 for mussel soup to R150 for paella. 028-435-6526 Cape Agulhas Lighthouse The second-oldest still operating in SA, built in 1848, it has a small museum and four levels of wooden ladders, 71 steps in total, to reach the top – not for claustrophics or those afraid of heights! Entry R28. 028-435-7185 Rus ’n Bietjie One of the few remaining original holiday cottages on the L’Agulhas seafront. It’s cosy and quirky – and 50 metres from Soldaat’s tidal pool. From R600 for two selfcatering (sleeps six). 084-587-4228. (Or Agulhas National Park has seaside log cabins and very remote old farm cottages to stay in. sanparks.org.za)
Black Oystercatcher, the start of the Elim wine route, is also home to Fraser’s Folly craft brewery and a top-notch restaurant. 028-482-1618. There’s also Strandveld Vineyards, which has the largest selection of wines but does not serve food (028-482-1902), and then Zoetendal, which makes just two wines and Becker’s craft beer. Pre-book a picnic (R140 for two) or try the deli’s light meals (ciabatta R50). 028-482-1717 Wolvengat There’s an old-fashioned trading store (closed on Saturdays), a few art galleries (you can get tea/coffee at Annette Barnard’s, the second house after the pink cottage) and a garden full of sculptures, including the mysterious ‘Stargazers’. Call ahead to stop in at Sanity Farm – turn off just before the patch of tar going into the village – for pork pies, sausages and bacon, or meals on Sundays to Thursdays. 028-482-1635 Elim The only guesthouse in town is run by Christina Afrika: an historic inn that is neat and clean, with modern bathroom facilities. A real bargain at R230 pp B&B. 028-482-1715. Chrissie Viegeland runs the Waterfront Café from her home. She is known for her cakes but does coffee, milkshakes, burgers, you name it. If you
don’t book dinner with the guesthouse, you can ask her to make something. 028-482-1739. To visit the old waterwheel, call Elim Heritage Centre. 028-482-1738 Baardskeerdersbos Marietjie’s Pub & Grill is on your left on the main road through town – open from breakfast to late night (cash payment only, 072-452-5210). There is also an art gallery, wine shop, bakery and an old church, or pre-book a horse ride if you have more time (076-489-9853). Lomond wine estate is 9km out of town en route to Gansbaai (closed Sundays). Call ahead. 082-908-0099 Strandveld Museum Three rooms in an old house filled with flotsam and jetsam, relics from the Birkenhead wreck – and an owner full of stories. Entry R5. 082-255-8509 African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary Look for the statue of the penguin on the roof. This bird hospital is well designed and informative – you can see what’s going on behind the scenes on a big screen and from behind one-way glass. Feeding times 8.30am and 3pm. Free entry (donations welcome). 072-598-7117 *Prices correct at time of going to print