Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other’s yarns—and even convictions. – Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Though we may share the same DNA, the same basis for life, the cultures and people of the world are incredibly vast and inherently different. If it weren’t for our universal vision of brotherhood, man and its disparate sects might as well be alien species, sharing commonality only by way of inhabiting the same watery hunk of space rock.
For the western world, that stark difference between people and place is no more apparent as it is in Africa. Since the discovery of “The Dark Continent,” European and other pasty-skinned pompous peoples have been fascinated by Africa. And surfers are no different.
Even for South African surfer Dale Staples, the widespread cultural disparities of his home continent still set him aback. But it doesn’t hinder him from exploring – quite the opposite, actually. Staples was one of the early ambassadors for the recently discovered Skeleton Bay in Namibia, or as he calls it, “The Perfect Wave.” And there’s good reason for that. The latest clip from Staples sees him back at Skeleton Bay, threading the needle through postcard perfection. It’s smaller than the usual edits were used to seeing from Namibia’s best wave, but in no way less entertaining. (It looks like a middle schooler’s math class stoke doodles come to life). We also get some clips of Dale exploring other frothy fruits Africa has to offer – like the pumping beachbreaks and numerous reeling righthand pointbreaks.
It just goes to show that no matter how different, no matter how weird and wild a place may be from what you’re used to – as long as there are perfect waves, does it really matter?
