The West Coast (From Melkbos to the Orange River), Leon Nell, Penguin Random House, ISBN: 9781775847021
Leon Nell’s sixth book explores another captivating part of South Africa and reveals a bounty of treasures that give the West Coast, or Weskus, as locals call it, its particular allure.
Beginning at Melkbosstrand, just north of Cape Town, and ending where the Orange River meets the Atlantic Ocean, the book divides the coastal stretch into four discrete and easily explored regions: south, central, north, and the Diamond Coast. Coastal and inland towns are described in depth, offering glimpses into local culture and traditions, nature and wildlife, modern-day economic pursuits and early human history.
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Framed by the Atlantic in the west and the winding N7 highway in the east, the West Coast is a place of varied landscapes and vast contrasts from moody and tempestuous seas with windswept beaches to verdant vineyards and kaleidoscopic swathes of wildflowers.
Leon Nell was born in Zambia and has worked in the nature conservation, hospitality and tourism industries in Namibia and South Africa. Accounts of his travels in southern Africa, mostly off the beaten track, have been published widely. With five other travel books under his belt, this one on the West Coast came naturally to him after he settled there seven years ago. He comprehensively researched the history of the area and rubbed shoulders with locals, old timers, fisherfolk and farmers to gain further insight.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
