Muizenberg, South Africa. 2020
We spent a day driving around the Cape. These oft-photographed changing rooms — long defunct — are as startling in person as they are in pictures. Muizenberg is a sleepy little town, at least in June, with a handful of antique shops and at least one really good coffee shop, where every patron except us knew the others by name.
Muizenberg seemed very much like the kind of town where you get stuck, if that’s a thing you’re generally inclined toward. Many years ago I got stuck in Tarifa, a beach town in Andalusia, in the off-season. I’d meant to pass through, but one night became more like four or five: the cheap hotel rooms and good wine and long, empty beaches exerted an irresistible gravitational pull. Muizenberg seemed much the same, and ten years ago I’d have spent a week here.
Instead: a cup of coffee, a really nice pastry, a walk past the colorful buildings on the beach, and then onward.