Middedorp, Langebaan

Middedorp at a glance

Today the town of Langebaan is a mixture of the very old and the very new, with a strong Parks Board presence, a country club and numerous holiday facilities. Much of its old-world innocence is still there, but, as a setting for the activities of water sport and fishing enthusiasts.

This lagoon town has a definite place in history, as it once was the site where the various leaders of the Khoi nation held their periodic get - togethers. Since WW II, when the giant Catalina Flying boats used Langebaan as a terminal for their long journeys from the UK, the village has had an uneventful, quiet development, gradually growing into the favourite West Coast town for pensioners.

Earlier in the century, when the biggest whaling station in the southern hemisphere was still operational here, Langebaan was not quite as peaceful as today. Since the closure of the station, however, Langebaan has changed completely, settling down into the pattern of a seasonal holiday town.

Authors such as Lawrence Green started mentioning the town in their books, although previously famous figures such as Lady Anne Barnard and Thunberg, the botanist, were struck by the quaintness of the place.

This out of ordinary characteristic was also picked up by scientists, especially palaeontologists, who succeeded in tracing Langebaan's origins to a period ten million years ago.

Latter day writers all refer to the "Langebaan Charisma", - on the eastern shores of a blue-green lagoon, that stretches seventeen kilometres to the south.

European presence started as early as the fifteenth century, with French sealers. They were followed by Scandinavian, British and Dutch sea-farers. The Portuguese somehow missed Langebaan completely, their nearest landfall being St Helena Bay.

According to some historians, Phoenicians from the sacked city of Carthage, landed on the beaches of Langebaan well before the birth of Christ.

Some of the most sought-after seafront properties are found on the Lagoon. Langebaan boasts upmarket accommodation, a choice of restaurants, two caravan parks, a golf course, tennis courts, a bowling green, a yacht club and the normal businesses, selling anything from seafood to hardware and holiday equipment.

Langebaan is well known as it is the ornithological capital of South Africa, has recorded the largest oyster shell deposits in the world and enjoys a moderate climate with cool air and long sunlit days. In winter it is never very cold and the long summer days are never unbearably hot.