I heard about this natural wonder on the faraway Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape for years. I used to think it was unsafe to travel through these parts of the coastline and was convince it needs to be bypassed but boy was I wrong.
The Wild Coast is magnificent in its wildness and natural beauty and I can’t wait to go back for another visit.
We visited this natural geological formation for the first time at the tail end of our 5-day Wild Coast hike which was a raving success (you can see the 5 days for yourself on my blogs).
It’s a 20 minute drive down a dirt road, through rural coastal villages, from Coffee Bay. The story is that Coffee Bay got its name after a ship wrecked off the coast losing its entire load of Coffee into the bay, turning the water a shade of coffee. I’m not completely sure how true it is, but it’s a cool story and the locals sells beadwork with various beads and coffee beans as a memento to tourists.
Anyway, we squashed into the Landi and took on the muddy dirt road (apparently due to the heavy Summer Rainfall that we were experiencing, the road wasn’t fit for smaller cars and the Landrover was recommended).
We passed beards of cows in the path as we negotiated the steep and slippery hills and children from local villages shouting, “SWEETIES!!!!” We had been told to take a bag of small sweets along to hand out as we hiked, but didn’t quite meet as many kids until we took the road to The Hole In the Wall.
We finally parked our car safely at The Hole in the Wall Hotel - apparently you get hassled if you park at the regular parking - and we walked through the hotel grounds as if we belonged there. As we passed through a latched security gate we have a wave to security and headed up the dirt road in the direction of The Hole in the Wall.
The bead ladies were right there waiting for us, but I think they quickly realised that we were on a mission before the next rain came down.
Over the hill and a quick left down the grassy knoll and the path turned to white sand dune as it wound around the hill. A couple of the others took another path, but Gail and I kept going in the reverse direction of other tourists returning from their visit.
The path lead into a beautiful forest and as we popped out the other side, directly ahead of us was the wonderful Hole in the Wall.
Low tide exposed the stoney shore and the rushing river which had no doubt carved the hole into the rock formation over thousands of years, was running like brown milkshake into the small bay.
This was not a day for swimming as these murky waters are sharky and dangerous with zero visibility. We wandered along the narrow path along the edge of the trees marvelling at the hole and the various other wonders around us.
The entire area is amazing with a jutting rock formation on top of the hill frequented by grazing cows, big worn away rifts where river and ocean meet, and the lonely mound of rock which is home to a worn away hole.
The hole has been paddled to and surfed through by locals and visitors, who boast about their escapades, for many years. I couldn’t imagine it under the current wild, brown circumstances. But I knowing has been done. I have seen spectacular photos of crystal blue water, but I guess we will have to visit in winter when the river is not running so strongly.
A LOT of rain was predicted that afternoon, so we quickly headed back towards the car leading out now gathered and bigger group along the same path we had taken earlier.
I happened to go back to the Hole in the Wall the following day with my husband and our friend Florentien as they had missed it the previous day. Luckily we only had some drizzle, but it was definitely better the day before.
We are already planning a long trip up this coastline in June or July without our kids who have vowed they will never go on road trips with us again 😂. I love it…. I love the views, the hiking, the amazing nature and how different it is to home. It expands my mind to possibilities, to other adventures that we can have in our own country.
We are so blessed to live here in Africa and experience the freedom and beauty that it has to offer on our doorsteps.