The Friendly People Of Kalk Bay

Playful and friendly are the people of Kalk Bay, from the seller of the rosy apples calling “special for you medem – very cheap – sweet medem- sweeter then mother’s milk” – to the cheerful fisher folk, their cigarettes dangling from the corners of their mouths, smoke gently spiralling into the salty air as they throw their slippery fish onto the harbour wall.  Street urchins playfully dog your steps, singing and dancing until you cannot resist their pleas for a small coin.  Even the restaurateurs smile the friendly Kalk Bay smile as they usher you in with a tempting introduction of the day’s specials.

As you stroll down the street your step becomes springier as your attention is constantly drawn to the next comic character.

Look out at the ocean and watch the dolphins frolicking in the waves; and are those  whales blowing deeper out to sea?

The urchins suffer homelessness and shiver in the cold night.  The fisher folk must struggle for over-priced permits to make their meagre living. Yet the magic of the picturesque village, the friendly jollity of the people infect us with happiness, tempting us out of our small change and making us willingly overpay for the humour of the smous’s sales talk rather than for the sweetness of his apples.