Exploring the Wild Coast at Port St Johns

I have always wanted to visit The Wild Coast (formerly known as The Transkei) so was very excited to finally get the chance.

Highlights

• Driving through the thriving towns on the way to Mtatha, all bustling with humanity. 
• Arriving in Mtatha and discovering that our shuttle to Port St Johns was an African taxi!  The real deal. We travelled with the locals, driving like a bat out of hell at times through the mountainous roads and stopping many times to pick up locals along the road.  I loved it!
• The beautiful landscape - mountainous, hilly and green with lots of traditional houses along the way.
• Stopping at one point to watch the moon rise from the hills. Sublime stuff.
• The mellow vibes of The Jungle Monkey where we stayed. Sometimes a bit too mellow maybe as the food often took ages to arrive, if it arrived at all.  The staff were all extremely friendly though.
• The three friendly dogs and the one very grouchy, old St Bernard, who didn't like attention very much at all.
• A gorgeous hike along the coast with our friendly local guide, Buntu, and the dogs. The highlight of the hike was a slightly precarious climb down a cliff to view The Gap and Blowhole.  Also the beautiful rock art that Buntu created on the beach during our break.
• Being very tempted to swim in the ocean, but remembering Atony advice not to as Port St Johns has the most shark attacks in the world!  When we arrived back at The Jungle Monkey, we discovered that a local was attacked by a great white while we were hiking!! Thank you, Mr Boting for your sage advice!
• The mellow cows on the beach.
• The Vervet Monkeys "swearing" at the dogs from the trees. Very put out, they were.
• Going for a walk in the town and exploring the markets, then stopping at a river side restaurant for a nice milk-shake.
• Going for a drive with Mike, the friendly owner of the hostel, to the old airport high on a mountain top with amazing views down onto the river.  As we were driving towards the cliff face, Mike jokingly sped up in the car and I just about had kittens!  A total phobia for me it turns out.  Mike let the dogs out and let them run and I have never seen such speed and grace as I saw from the youngest one.  She's just built to run; a beautiful sight.  
• An early morning walk to The Lighthouse that had lovely views of the coast.
• Our relief when the shuttle arrived to take us back to Mtatha. Taxi's are apparently notoriously unreliable on a Sunday.
• Lazing on the grass with a group of fellow backpackers, eating delicious bran and banana muffins at the Mtatha Petrol Port, while waiting for The Baz bus. And a lovely double thick milkshake from The Spur. Their milkshakes are definitely better than their burgers!

We did a lovely hike along the coast with Buntu, a very friendly local guide, with the dogs in tow.

How's that for a stunning coastline!

This was the hairiest part of the climb: a steep climb down to view The Gap and Blowhole. Needless to say, the dogs didn't join us.

Enjoying the view from The Gap.

The dogs loved every minute of it.

Lots of cows on the beach.  Not a bad place for a cow to live, chilling on the sand.  Definitely free range!

Buntu created some beautiful stone art at rapid speed.

Some wildlife along the way: A very curious Vervet Monkey and a Giant Kingfisher that Chrisèl had been hoping to see.

Lovely plants and flowers.

The view from the lodge where the hike ended.

The Jungle Monkey -  a very mellow hostel. 

I absolutely loved their mirror. Every bathroom should have a mirror like this!

Exploring the town of Port St Johns

Enjoying the amazing view from The Airport at dusk.

A lovely morning walk to The Lighthouse.

The beautiful hills of The Transkei from the bus window.

Away with the Fairies at Hogsback

Legend has it that Tolkien, the author of The Hobbit, visited the town of Hogsback as a very young child and its forests and mountainous valleys inspired his future visions of The Misty Mountains, home of Smaug the dragon.  It is a gorgeous place with great hiking but in winter, it's important to come warmly rugged up!

Highlights of our two nights in Hogsback ...

• A fascinating drive to Hogsback from East London with Dan, the owner of Away With The Fairies, the hostel where we stayed.  He regaled us with story after story about the Frontier Wars between the British and Xhosa people that greatly influenced South Africa's history.
• The amazing open air bath at Away with The Fairies, perched on a cliff with extraordinary views across the valley. The bath even comes with hot water straight from the tap if you have the patience to wait for the 2 hours required to heat it up with a real fire.  I lay in the bath for over an hour (without any water!), meditating and filming the shifting light and clouds with my iPhone's time lapse camera.  Extremely peaceful. Except when my phone fell over and nearly fell off the cliff!
• Lazing by the fire in hostel's lounge in the cold evenings, admiring the murals of fairies on the walls, drinking great red wine and munching on the best pizza I think I've ever tasted.  
• Meeting up again with Jarred and Kate (who we'd met at Buckaneers) - a lovely South African couple on their honeymoon.
• A beautiful but chilly hike through the forested valley, oggling at some immense trees and exploring a plethora of waterfalls along the way.  The one waterfall required a steep climb and constant searching for little blue ribbons to find the way. It felt a bit like a treasure hunt! 
• Max, the local border collie, came for the walk and insisted on swimming in the river at every stop, despite the freezing temperatures.  He was a gorgeous, friendly fellow; until we arrived on the road, and then he turned into a psycho demon.  At one stage, he launched himself off a small cliff in order to rush up to a car driving past.  I had visions of telling the hostel their beloved dog was no more!  Thankfully, he survived it.
• Great sighting of Samango Monkeys, a speciality of Hogsback. They are apparently very closely related to Vervet Monkeys but look very different.
• A stunning, early morning walk to The 39 Steps Falls past bushes and trees aflame in berries and autumn colours.

Away with the Fairies, the backpackers where we stayed.

Beautiful wall murals at the hostel.

The view across the valley from the bottom of the garden ...

... and this amazing outside, hot water bath. A bath with the best view in South Africa!

Fairy sculptures around town.

A lovely walk through the forested valley ...

... past enormous and ancient trees ...

... exploring waterfalls along the way, with Max, our very energetic companion.

More beautiful waterfalls.

Sightings of Samango Monkeys, a speciality of Hogsback.

Rameron Pigeon

A lovely early morning walk to the 39 Steps Falls ...

... loving the sublime Autumn colours ...

... and the morning sun coming through the trees.

Playing with time lapse

Chilling out at Buckaneers in Cintsa

I stayed at Buckaneers Backpackers in Cintsa in 2000 with Ally, Colleen and Mike just before heading off to live in London. It was my first experience of a backpackers in South Africa and I absolutely loved it; in fact the couple of days we spent here are amongst my most cherished memories.

So it was really exciting to head back here to this laid back and beautiful slice of paradise.  And it was as wonderful as I remembered.  

Highlights of our 3 days:

• The amazing view out over the lagoon and ocean from the restaurant balcony. 
• Some absolutely delicious meals including Indian and Thai, eaten in a lovely social setting with other backpackers.
• Fun games of volleyball and free wine each afternoon.  So great to play volleyball again after so long.
• Long, long walks along the pristine beach that seemed to stretch forever, stopping to admire the shells and river estuaries meeting the beach along the way.
• Climbing up to the top of a high sand dune for a great view and then running all the way down.
• A couple of gorgeous swims, including floating on my back in the waves for ages, feeling very relaxed.  Then a salute to the sun who blessed us with her presence the whole trip. 
• Slipping into a luxury lodge just off the beach for a bit of a "sticky beak."  Beautiful, but the backpackers had more atmosphere.
• Amarula, red wine and tequila drunk in the bar, playing a game of "F*ck the Dealer" and chatting to fellow backpackers.
• Phil, the friendly barman and games organiser.
• Dinner and great conversation with Meggan and Aron, two very friendly girls we met.
• A delicious lamb pizza for lunch in the local town, well worth the long wait for it to come.
• The chilled out cows on the way to the beach.

The ultimate highlight was paddling up the river on a canoe, watching and photographing the abundant birds along the way including a fish eagle, kingfishers, herons, cormorants, and excitement of excitements: a long crested eagle that posed beautifully for me.

Buckaneers.  Backpacking hostels don't come better than this!  As you can see, the views from the restaurant balcony were spectacular.

Long walks along the beach... 

... enjoying the beautiful shells.

Climbing up onto a high sand dune ...

... loving the patterns in the sand.

Nothing better for the soul that a beach that stretches as far as the eyes can see

Stopping to explore river estuaries meeting the beach.

We came long this very cute dog on our walk and it really made me miss Mack.

Great games of volleyball everyday at 2 pm with free wine provided. 

The friendly cowsliving on the beach's edge.

Paddling along the river in the early morning in a canoe provided by Buckaneers, enjoying the glassy reflections on the water.  So peaceful. 

Chrisèl stretching her legs and showing off her balancing skills.

African fish eagle.  I was so delighted when she let out a plaintive cry; to me the sound that most epitomises Africa.

Here she is in flight. So beautiful.

Crowned Hornbill with big conks on their bills. 

Grey Heron

Cormorants and two Kingfishers.

Brown-hooded Kingfisher, showing off his beautiful tail feathers.

Pied Kingfisher. I love the way they hover above the water before diving down. Hard to capture in a photograph though. 

 I was so excited to see this Long Crested Eagle.  I almost fell out of the canoe in excitement.

Water Dikkop, Striped Drongo, an unidentified sunbird

Ibis, cormorant, yellow billed duck