URT: Coffee Bay

9-12 November

I forgot to mention a funny moment: when we were in Durban a guy holding the door looked at me and as I walked away he said, "Excuse me. You are so beautiful." He then looked at Marita and said, "Well, you are beautiful too. But her? She's just... [[shakes his head]]... she's beautiful." I smiled, thanked him for the compliment, laughed, and decided that was a great way to start a road trip... haha.

We woke up early in the morning and hopped on the Baz Bus in Durban and 8 hours later we were dropped off at a petrol station in Mthatha. At that station we met up with the shuttle to Coffee Shack, our hostel in Coffee Bay. It was over an hour and a half from that point that we made it to Coffee Bay, spending 70% of the driving on the wrong side of the street and swerving back and forth to avoid massive [I mean MASSIVE potholes]. We drove through a village and through some rolling hills, right into the middle of nowhere, sitting on the mouth of the Bomvu river.
I go all the way to the middle of nowhere South Africa, and what do I find? A Yalie. Really? Can I not escape from them?! We immediately argued over who was going to win The Game in a few weeks and as you can see from one of my previous posts, I was obviously right. Harvard > Yale.

Anyway, this place is absolutely beautiful. We walked through a Xhosa village of the Bomvu people, Bomvu meaning something about red because they have these red "good luck" beans that grow from the trees in the area. The village pretty much looks just like the ones in KwaZulu Natal: same rondevals, same thatched roofs, same scattering of farm animals. The difference this time is that they people are from the Xhosa tribe and not the Zulu tribe. They build their houses round because 1. there are no corners for bad spirits to hide in, and 2. the rondavel can handle all sorts of weather. The houses are made with mud bricks, the roofs thatched with straw, and the floors with packed cow poop [the house we were in had its floor freshly redone... smelled great]. We had a huge traditional Xhosa meal at one of the houses, and I was one of the few to finish my plate and the only female. I sure can pack in my food... am I supposed to be proud of that? I guess that is a victory I don't need to be sharing. We went to the sacred waters of that village, where they believe they can go and talk to their ancestors. From there we visited a sangoma, a cute little old man who smiled at me often and told me I looked familiar.

After going through the village Marita and I ran over to get "the world's cheapest surf lessons" (R40) from a professional surfer [I think his name was Reyno]. Now, there are some sports that I just know I am not good at-- namely most anything involving skill and coordination. Unfortunately, that happens to be quite a few sports out there, including surfing. Fortunately for me, surfing doesn't involve balls coming towards my face-- that is a positive. I thought if I could get a 2-hour surf lesson for $5 in the middle of paradise, why not go for it? I thought this despite my prediction that I would be under the water being tossed by the waves for most of the time. Well whaddya know?! I stood up on my second try! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am not incredibly horrible at surfing. I couldn't stand up on the board too long until my very, very last attempt, where I rode the wave all the way onto the shore, doing fists pumps of victory into the air. I was happy for the rest of the night. I wish I could have taken a picture of me surfing with majestic cliffs and the bluest of blue waters in the background... a beautiful place!

We were supposed to leave the next morning, but the Baz Bus was full and we had to extend our stay another day. Aw shucks [sarcasm]. Instead, we took a 3-hour hike up and down steep hills and deep valleys to a place called Hole in the Wall. Although I have always loved being outside, when I was younger I didn't understand the point of hiking; why would you walk hours and hours just to return to the same place that you started?! But I have grown to love hiking-- not only is it a great form of exercise, but I truly believe that if you only experience the man-made urban world you are really failing to experience the other 80% of God's creation and you are missing out on some tranquil and wonderful moments. Anyway, the walk was awesome! We walked all the way with the coast on our left, looking like it was from a resort brochure from Hawaii or somewhere in the Carribean. To our right there were luscious rolling green hills spotted with cows and sheep... how I imagine Ireland or Sweden. In fact, I was even prompted to attempt a yodeling session as I walked up a hill through a group of goats. We ate a snack of oranges right in the middle of a cow herd. It was cool. We got to Hole in the Wall and realized that it was one of those things where the journey is more exciting than the destination... but the journey was totally worth it. And although I put on sunscreen, I am still constantly reminded of the journey to Hole in the Wall as I peel sunburned skin off my shoulders every day [I got burned pretty badly].

The nights we were there involved going to the tippy top of a hill and watching the sunset color the sky and leave nothing to be seen but silhouettes of the thatched roofs peaking over the hills, nothing to be heard but the murmur of the crashing waves below. [Aww, I smell a romance novel in the making]

All in all, it was a beautiful stay and lots of fun!