Just popping in to tell you about our holiday at the Wild Coast before I disappear again to start work on my carving commissions.
A young hunter with his hunting pack. He proudly showed us the cane rat and rock rabbit he was taking home for dinner.
Most Transkei trips are not without drama but the magic allure of the Wild Coast keeps calling us back and my husband who has been fishing there for well over 30 years is completely smitten.
The highs:
1. Perfect weather ( though sometimes it was a little too hot in our tented cabins).
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2.Amazing beaches populated by comical goats.... and cows .... and donkeys.
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3.Long energizing walks gathering pebbles (you should see my pebble stash) and quiet moments sitting on driftwood treetrunks contemplating the sea.
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4. Paddling in the delicious warm water while the men fished at sundown.
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5. Savouring the view from the high boma where we spent most of our time when not on the beach.
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6. Sipping wine in the evenings while watching the huge moon come up from behind the hill.
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7. Laughter, good conversation and new friends from Australia.
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8. Fresh crayfish braaied on the fire every day.
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9. Dear sweet Pammy, my friend who was such an easy person to spend a holiday with.
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10. An extremely well organized week thanks to our friend Dave.
We ate all our meals at this tall thatched boma. There was always a breeze and the view was wonderful!
Happy wood gatherers who enjoyed the lollipops I took for them when we went on our daily walks.
Tented cabins with thatched roofs.
View from the boma. You can see our vehicle parked behind our cabin.
The Lows (most of which weren't really low at all)
1. Though the trip down was interesting and picturesque it was slow and a bit hairy in places with livestock, nose to tail for the last 40 kilometres, however it was nowhere near as bad as it has been on other trips. They had layered the slippery slopes with chunks of rock and the rain held off except for a few short squalls. We stopped counting after 30 dead dogs and various other animals on the road.
2. Tarantulas under toilet seat rims ..... well only one but after that my imagination conjured up tarantulas leaping out from every nook and cranny. It is also Black Mamba country so I have to admit to being a bit skittish about long snakey shadows.
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3.A broken toilet and no hot water for the first 3 days.
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4. A burglary in the cottage nextdoor when EVERYTHING was taken from right under the noses of the sleeping inhabitants. A sleepless night followed ..... wondering if it was our turn next.
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5. Several nerve racking hours when the outboard motor failed miles away from camp on a murky, deep, green river inhabited by God only knows what. Fishermen have been catching Zambezi sharks along the Wild Coast and a little further down coast there have been several fatal shark attacks so I was feeling particularly vulnerable. The boat was lent to us by cottage owners who were away. I hadn't been too enthusiastic about going on the "cruise" in the first place since I had a baaaad feeling ...... and the plug for the boat was a champagne cork!!?? .... but hubby had promised it would be an unforgetable experience .... which it was! When the boat came to a sputtering standstill far up river we noticed petrol pumping out into the water. After many heart stopping, failed attempts to get going again and numerous "rests" in the mangroves one of the men managed to hold the broken fuel pipe together while another pulled the starter cord and finally the boat limped back to camp.
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6. Near the end of our holiday a couple from KwaZulu Natal were hijacked just down the coast from us .... Gerald was killed and his wife Ingrith was shot in the stomach. My condolences go to Ingrith (a well known face around PMB) and to the Roberts clan who have lost a beloved member of their family.
*All photographs are mine except for the top one which I found here.
