Coffee Bay

The distance between Port St Johns and Coffee Bay is 58 Km as Buzz flies. However, for Ufudu the distance is 186 Km because one has to travel in a triangle; first inland to Mthatha and then down to the coast again. The road is tarred all the way to Coffee Bay and mostly good. However due to road works, sections with very bad potholes, dogs, cattle, goats, mules, pigs, taxis and children the going was slow, resulting in a 5 hour trip which included a shopping and refuelling stop in Mthatha. We were pleasantly surprised by the new shopping mall and general cleanliness of Mthatha.

We are constantly amazed at the vast number of school children walking beside the roads each afternoon. They are mostly neatly dressed in school uniform and vary in age from about 5 to 20. One wonders what distances they cover and what time they leave home in the morning, as many are still walking well after 5! And our kids complain about their difficult lives!

Thanks to Pauline and Andrew’s suggestion we found ourselves a campsite at the White Clay resort, right on the beach, with the most wonderful view and of course the constant sound of waves breaking.

We woke up to a beautiful, sunny day on our first morning so the contents of the trailer bin was taken out to air and/or dry while we waited for Pauline and Andrew to arrive.  They got there in time for lunch which we had at the resort’s restaurant, overlooking the sea; fresh cob, chips and salad. Really yummy…

The next day we set out to visit the ‘Hole in the Wall’. It was most interesting and scenic; one of those ‘must see’ points of interest.

For lunch we went to the Hole in the Wall Hotel. Again, most scenic and the lunch was good value for money.

Something that we found rather fascinating is the adornments that people put on the apex of their rondavel roof tops. Roger heard that the tyres are used to ward off lightning so we asked the resort owner Roy about it. He thinks it is a matter of economy; using recycled tyres is cheaper than buying a galvanised fitting from the hardware store. Some even have aloes growing out the top!

White Clay resort is situated a short distance out of the Coffee Bay village centre and as Liz puts it: ‘Away from the noisy backpackers and dodgy herbs’. And I believe there is also drumming into the early hours of every morning. That said, we decided to go into the village in the afternoon to explore Coffee Bay proper.

All too soon it was our last evening with Pauline and Andrew. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing them and spending some time together.

The campsite is very safe, even though it has no security fence. There is a guard dog called George that patrols the grounds during the night together with the night watchman. And then he sleeps all day, unless he is disturbed by unauthorised visitors. He spent his time between the Trollip’s and our sites and after they left he was at our site constantly. Very comforting!

When our water tanks needed refilling we discovered that there is no outside tap close by.

We went for a stroll along the contour path on the top of the cliffs outside of camp, towards Hole in the Wall. I am happy to report that I managed to get my foot into my hiking boot for the first time since my operation and the walk was great! The views are breath-taking.

At each low tide hordes of people swarm over the exposed rocks, harvesting whatever they can. Their methods are very destructive, using steel bars to pry red bait, oysters, limpets and mussels from the rocks with scant regard for future growth. There are constantly men trying to sell crayfish (most of which are well under size) but how do you explain to these people about ecology and sustainability when this is their only means of survival? Luckily the Wild Coast lives up to its name and there are still rocky areas that are inaccessible.

After 5 nights it was time to move on, reluctantly, but also looking forward to the next destination. Not sure where that will be…