I just arrived back from the Wild Coast, and what an adventure we had in just two days.
We packed up to go Saturday and arrived at a backpacker (aka hostel) to relax for the day. We had a few study sessions and then headed down to the beach (we walked, and on the way monkeys and baboons were everywhere - swinging from trees, power lines, gutters, etc.) We were the only ones on the beach, and though it was breezy and cloudy, it was beautiful. The surf was really rough, and the undertow was intense, but nonetheless we basically ran and threw ourselves in. It somehow felt very liberating.
That night we went back to Ku-boboyi to have a great meal. The owner put on this special show where he basically danced and flung fireballs attached to chains around his body. It was so impressive and so artistic, I think we all were in awe.
But the real fun came Sunday as we headed out for our day-long hike. We went with Mzamba Tours, which is a community-based tourism company. Basically ecotourism is all about leaving the smallest footprint possible on the natural environment while allowing people outside the community to visit. The company is setup to employ local people and deposit a certain percentage of profit into a community trust fund, then used to renovate schools, community buildings, etc.
We walked along the coastline at first, and the guide pointed out petrified wood and trees, valuable minerals in the rock, caves, fossilized giant clams and, the coolest, a fossilized baby whale.
From there we met up with a river and took some canoes out to row around. In South Africa, all canoes are basically kayaks. So that was fun, and there were fish that would just about two feet clear out of the water. Then we turned inland and hiked into the bush, where we came upon some spectacular views of the coastline and learned about some of the indigenous plant life that the local people have used for many, many years, including some poisons and some trees used to make malaria medication.
I know I’ve talked about the heat before…but this was the hottest I’ve ever experienced. We all looked like death. And that night, the bush got some of us back in the form of ticks and sunburns. I escaped clean, but some others were not so lucky. The guys got by just fine, but some of the girls had a hard time, especially because the rural area we stayed in didn’t have any running water (or drinkable water) and bathing was reduced to a small pale.
A lot of animals live in the area, but unfortunately we didn’t come across any. The baba (father) I stayed with Sunday night said wild boar often come and dig up his garden, and the next morning he showed me the head of one he caught about a year ago. It was eerily similar to Lord of the Flies.
This week we delve into issues of development. Unfortunately pictures of the weekend are trapped on a disposable camera, so it might take some work to get them online.