The Great Green Rolling Hills of Transkei, South Africa
Today we traveled roughly 600km further up the East Coast of South Africa. From where we did the bungy jump yesterday. As we swing off the N2 from Cape Town we are now heading into the rural heart of Africa. This is the place where transportation for many is but a wheel barrow, women and children tend to the cattle and fields while the men work in the cities. I found myself here for the first time in April 2007. I was traveling with two friends Nick John from the UK and Kali Alcorn from Canada. I remember this like it was yesterday. We arrived there at 1 am in the morning, my tip to you, never ever drive into the Transkei after dark.
Out here pot holes are a more common sight than road signs in the western world. At night the road becomes a warm bed for cows, goats, donkeys and dogs alike. Funny enough if you drive with your hazards on they seem to get out of the way. A little trick we picked up from the locals. It's a 70 Km drive down to Coffee Bay from the N2 but feels longer than the drive up from Cape Town... Definitely, worth it I might add! The winding roads take you up and over hills and forests with little villages nestled in between. Absolutely magical!
When we finally arrived at Coffee Shack Backpackers, we were greeted with the warmest heartfelt welcome, I'd ever experienced in my life. We checked into our spots after which we enjoyed a complimentary drink at the bar before we retired to bed. All you could hear was the ocean in the background.
When we awoke that morning, to the sound of the ocean. We had not realized how close we actually were. With the ocean on our door step what better way to start the day than with a swim. The scene is amazingly beautiful, as we all stood there speechless. We went for a long stroll and the first thing I eventually said was, "I'm going to come live here soon"! We had a good chuckle... We planned on staying for two days but I think we ended up staying nearly a week. Before we got the courage together to pack up and move on to Lesotho.
What really adds to the magic is due to the rural nature of the area the is no major lights at all. And in the evening this means a sky so full of stars it would quite literally blow your mind. Definitely some thing every traveler must have on their try be for I die list.
This photo was taken in 2008 when I finally moved there.
I took up work at Bomvu Backpackers as the Activities Manager. I was super stoked! My dream of living in Coffee Bay was now a reality. My duties ranged from activities manager to barman, guiding even building a new adventure center as well as the general well fare of the day to day runnings. I was in love with this place like you won't believe. Doing the daily outings and working the bar I got to know everyone who came through this place. It was such a common sight to see people checking in for two days then two became four and four became ten some of them just got stuck for weeks even months. Others just never left and became part of the furniture and so it went.
Living out there, I started playing the djembe drums and fire poi. Working out there is not just a job it's a lifestyle, we were the house entertainers each night around the fire we would jam it up till late. I forgot about the world outside this magical place... The first time I left for the city again was three months since I had arrived. I had forgotten that there was life outside of Coffee Bay. I was bare foot since the day I arrived and living in my tent on the river bank with the waves breaking at my front door. That day in the city reminded me of why I moved to Coffee Bay, I didn't go back to town for months to come after that scary day. The Transkei truly is a place that will change you forever. Pure magic!
As time went by it was once again time for the annual music festival. I dug deep and pulled some ideas together. I organized a big outdoor festival for five days and nights, some of my friends from Cape Town are DJ's and they came up to support the movement. They call themselves The Village - very cool guys. The festival was an awesome two days of tribal music and live bands with a three-day psychedelic trance party much like the 60's when Jimi was rocking it. Our festival went down in a big way, it was fantastic to have all these people from all walks of life just having an amazing time together.
If I can give you some advice, when you come to South Africa and should you have limited time, skip everything else but make sure you get to see and experience the Transkei. This truly is one of the few places on earth that is peaceful by nature.