The Middle of Nowhere is Somewhere!
Coffee Bay, Eastern Cape(May 2-6)
The long and winding road of the Wild Coast which leads to the door of the Sugarloaf Backpackers Hostel in Coffee Bay is fraught with danger. At any given moment, one's vehicle could smash into an idle cow (or chicken, goat, dog, HUMAN, etc...) standing in the middle of the road. What is worse is the fact that the road is also chock full of pot holes which drivers are constantly swerving to avoid, tossing and turning the passengers in the back seats about like boneless bodies. My hands relentlessly gripped the seat in front of me for the entirety of the two-hour roller coaster journey.
Once in Coffee Bay though, it is impossible to remain unaffected by its tranquility and peaceful isolation from the rest of the gosh darn world. Yes, I must admit that I was somewhat dismayed initially to learn that the nearest ATM was 18km away and that access to WiFi was frankly laughable, but after a few hours left to my own devices to soak in the vibe of the wee coastal village, I had completely succumbed to its charms.
Sugarloaf Backpackers, run by the husband/wife team of Brian & Judy, is one of about 3 different hostels in town but is a lot quieter than the most popular and infamous place in town, the Coffee Shack. Translation? Sugarloaf is where you want to go if you are seeking a little bit of solitude mixed in with a spicy dash of social interaction whereas the Coffee Shack is the place to rest your pack and then party on down till the wee hours of the morn, "hooking up" with one of your fellow travelers once you have downed enough alcohol so that your inhibitions have been obliterated. Or something like that.
The village of Coffee Bay is incredibly beautiful and there are a couple of fantastic coastal hikes one can do there. Seeing that I had 3 days (4 nights) there, I had ample time to do both of the hikes and was blessed with mostly blue skies while I was out walking. On Day 1, I did an outstanding 19km round trip hike to the Hole in the Wall, located just outside of the village of the same name. By my side for the duration of the walk was a local guide nicknamed "Lucky." As we walked, he explained to me the origin of the village's name; apparently, a ship carrying a large supply of coffee beans was shipwrecked just off the coast in the 19th century and all the beans washed up on the shores of the settlement-hence its name. Lucky also offered up a few facts about the social organization of the Xhosa tribes which make up the majority of the population in the Eastern Cape, particularly along the Wild Coast. As we were walking, Lucky opened up to me about his future aspirations, particularly in regards to the vegetable garden he had been trying to cultivate. Unfortunately, access to water in the area (let alone electricity) is quite spotty, leaving Lucky and other villagers in incredibly difficult straits. He is trying to aquire financial assistance from the South African government but needs to present/promote his "case" to the best of his ability. I ended up taking a number of photographs of his agricultural project after our hike and plan to send him a few prints once I get to Cape Town in the hopes that these pictures will increase his chances of getting some money. Good luck Lucky!!
On the following day, Lucky and I hiked in the opposite direction towards the Mapuzi Cliff & Caves (12km), but this time accompanied by a pair of British blokes also staying at the Sugarloaf, Andy & Tom. I truly enjoyed the pleasure of their company as the level of laughter skyrocketed from what it had been on the previous day. Andy is a military man who dreams of one day piloting helicopters for the Royal Airforce (TM Prince William) whereas Tom works for some sort of NPO on the Isle of Cull in Scotland. Both of them were delightful, charming companions who play a decent game of pool and are great bar mates due to their generous tendency to buy rounds of drinks to anyone fortunate to be in their proximity, ha ha. Seriously, they are simply lovely lads through and through.
I must confess, alas, to yet another moment of cowardice. While on our hike back from the caves, we stopped at a river where many a passersby has been known to leap from the rocks overlooking the water. Lucky, Andy and Tom all majestically leapt from the rocks, plunging 9 meters down into the fairly freezing river below. But me? I only got as far as removing my shoes & socks and climbing up to the top of the rocks, but once I got a good gander at the trajectory needed to jump to safety, I totally wussed out. Sigh. What has happened these past few months to the gal who so bravely road the Death Road of Bolivia and more recently jumped into a shark cage without hesitation?! Huh?!!
On my final day in Coffee Bay, I mostly lazed about, taking pictures of local surfers and reading a far-from-mentally-taxing Jeffrey Deaver thriller. I did have an interesting chat with a fellow named Kingsley from East London. He was a very talented guy with a camera and showed me these awesome videos he had created with time-lapse photography. I was also quite impressed by the photos he showed me which he had taken using a 10-20mm lens. Essentially, this is an extremely wide-angle lens, but not quite as wide as a fish-eye lens. I herewith resolve to buy myself a lens like this once I am working again and have a little extra moolah to treat myself. So sayeth I.
All good things must come to a...yadda yadda yadda...which is pretty much how I ended up in what is commonly-referred-to-as...the armpit of South Africa...
DURBAN!!! (May 6-8)
I did realize the doggie doo I was stepping into before arriving in dumpy Durban as I had unfortunately flown in/out of the city on my previous South African holiday. But this time, the city could not be avoided as it is a mandatory overnight stop on the Baz Bus route. Furthermore, my flexi-pass Baz Bus ticket included a Zulu Village Tour which was in an area called the Valley of a 1000 Hills, about 45 minutes outside of Durban. So off I went, frozen smile and not-so-gun ho attitude in place.
I stayed at the On The Beach Backpackers which was...wait for it....a literal hop, skip and jump away from an actual beach in the Glenashley neighborhood. I had a dorm room all to myself (Mine!), unlimited WiFi for 50 rand AND the affectionate company of a partially blind pussycat. Bliss! To be honest, staying in this beautiful, more affluent suburb of Durban basically allowed me the luxury to relax so that I didn't have to constantly fear a mugger sneaking up on me from behind. Yes, it did also mean that I was unable to help myself to a deliciously spicy helping of the local South African/Indian"delicacy" known as Bunny Chow (a loaf of bread hollowed out and then filled to the brim with chicken, beef, veggies or beans) as there were no take-away shops in the vicinity, but peace of mind trumped the needs of my tummy.
The Zulu tour, frankly, wasn't "all that." Our 19-year-old tour guide did his very best, I suppose, to entertain and inform us, but during the tour it felt as if there was very little tradition still being practiced there and we were simply being given a regurgitation of some facts about the way things used to be. Sure, we did meet a traditional healer, aged 78, who looked as if she had made a pact with the devil or was on close terms with Dorian Gray, but for the most part I had the strong suspicion that it was all just a put on for the tourists. Can't say I blame them though as it was also readily apparent that times were tough and money scarce.
Ding, dong, Durban is done. Next up? The Northern Drakenburgs!!
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