Wild Coast to Garden Route and back to Cape Town

On Tuesday, December 20th the road trip began. Charlie, Rebecca, Durkin and I flew to Johannesburg where we picked up our rental for the 11 day road trip...a pearly white Tiida Nissan that had the most leg room in the back seat I have ever seen. We left Jburg and headed for Durban. Within the first 10 minutes of being on the trip car rules were made...no map the entire trip, the Zim bird we called Zimmy (wooden bird that the Zimbabwe interns had brought to us) would make the entire trip, the front seat passenger was not allowed to nap and must man the radio and lastly any and all car games were necessary.

Packed and ready to go

Logging expenses

Writing the rules

Andrew (driver) and Charlie (DJ)

Zimmy's position the entire trip

Back seat drivers (Rebecca and me)

After a good 3 hour trip (a few wrong turns due to no map) we made it to Durban and our first stop of the trip...a hostel named "Tekweni Goes Off" that was located right off of Florida Street which is where the best bars and restaurants in Durban reside. We dropped our bags off and made our way down to the Durban beach for some beers and a 30 minute job along the beach (weird combo I know). The beach scene was definitely different than the Cape Town beaches. The beach was packed with locals and we were certainly the minority. It was refreshing to see in comparison to Cape Town when sometimes you feel as if you are in a California beach town.

Durban bound

Hostel number 1

Hostel where Andrew and Charlie lost half their stuff...good start

Some awesome people watching

Durban at its finest

Andrew hated Durban for some reason so we thought this photo was necessary for him

After time at the beach we decided it was time to try out the Durban night life on Florida Street. The crew went to an Indian restaurant...spicy, but good. Then for a round of margaritas and finally some Cubana before the night was over.

Margarita please (not sure about Andrew's face)

There is a Gordon Street everywhere

Good food and lots of laughs

Wednesday, December 21st it was time to leave Durban and make the trek to Port St. John's. Another good 3 hour drive with lots of scenery and interesting towns packed full of people.

The best nap position ever

First sign for the Wild Coast

Typical signage...who wouldn't want to have a Ding Dong Day

En route to Port St. John's...please ignore the guy peeing next to the sign...supposedly people can go wherever and whenever along the side of the road and they are not shy.

We arrived in Port St. John's  and to the Amapondo Backpackers around 4 pm. We quickly decided to check out the beach, a quick nap (2+ hours) on the beach and then back to the hostel to get settled in and meet some people. Amapando comes alive at night. The bar becomes a club for the locals about 11 pm and from there on there is dancing, hoola hooping acts and even a few fire throwers.

It was a very relaxed, open, hippy hostel...

Cloudy view from the beach

No towels but naps none the less (Only two people packed towels so 4 people shared 2 towels for beach and shower)

My bed for 2 days...got hot as hell by 6 am and mosquitoes galore

View from the outdoor showers...if they weren't cold I would of stayed in them longer

Livestock wandered everywhere...drive at your own risk...literally...

Thursday, December 22nd we woke up to a sunny day in Port St. John where we were determined to hike somewhere and explore the landscape. After Rebecca and Charlie unknowingly offended the hostel tour guide (not knowing "bandanna boy" was the hostel hike guide) by asking him where we should hike because we didn't want to pay for the guided hike, the four of us started off with very little guidance other than "stay away from local wardens that will take your money." We discovered a cool lookout point with chains and ladders...totally safe mom :).

Gorgeous coast line

Shanty town amongst the coast line with million dollar views, but a 5 mile long hike downhill into town

Trying to capture the beauty

Trying to find some alone time

The lookout point discovery

Sending the boys down the cable first..

They didn't fall so I went next

Enjoying the edge

Classic picture pose

The never ending coast line

Hiking around the coast watching the tide come in and knowing we still had to cross back over...

Creep nap time with Andrew

Nap/reflecting on life

After a much needed shower we headed to a local restaurant called the Delicious Monster. During the 3 hour excursion it started to pour rain. It was peaceful until we realized the place was packed and our car was at the top of an extremely windy, muddy road. While slowly attempting to back down the windy road Andrew ran over a tree stump that cause the right side of the car to hang off a hill embankment. Charlie, me and Andrew got out to survey the situation while Rebecca got in the driver seat. Through mud and rain and all in flip flops (great planning) we finally got the wheels back on the road only to get stuck not being able to go forward and a sliding back into a tree. Being a rental car we were all freaked out. Out of no where a man who spoke no english showed up to our rescue. He helped get the car out of the 2nd stuck spot and we were finally able to get back up the hill and turn around to attempt the way back down heading forward. Wet and shaking we went back to the hostel and ordered drinks.

On Friday, December 23rd we departed Port St. John's en route to Coffee Bay. We stopped at a shopping centre to get petrol and buy some snack food. However when I say stopped at a shopping center it sounds easy. This was not the case. It took 40 minutes to get into the parking lot, and hour and a half to buy food and another 50 minutes to exit the parking lot. I have never seen so many people in one location and such poor traffic efficiencies. For some reason no one except us seemed in a hurry to get some where and three lanes of traffic exiting a parking lot meaning no one could enter the parking lot cause a stand still that no one knew how to handle. Thankfully traffic police finally sorted through the mess and we were back on our way. About 40 km out from Coffee Bay we saw signs for the Hole in the Wall scenic attraction. We headed that way to check it out through a horrible dirt road full of hills and mud. We kept scrapping the bottom and finally came to the conclusion that our little Tiida was not going to be able to make it down and back right when a British couple pulled up and said the road was flooded 10 Km down from us. Turning around was not so simple. Once again we found ourselves stuck with our wheels spinning and in the middle of no where. Suddenly a 5 year old local boy came out of no where. Without fail we all looked to him for guidance as Andrew backed up and attempted the hill with speed. Finally after 20 minutes and a 5 year olds help we were back on our way to Coffee Bay.

Durkin driving and me manning the radio

Zimmy...delirious at this point

Super bright colored huts along the way

View coming into Coffee Bay

The river you have to pass to get to  additional lodging and the beach

The river at low tide...so imagine high tide, a few drinks in and trying to cross...

Where we stayed for 3 nights...Christmas being one of them

Another view

On Saturday, December 24th we went on a hostel led hike around Coffee Bay and then back to the hostel for free vodka lemonades and a 100+ people Christmas eve dinner. By this point in the trip there were a couple of different groups that we had met along the way doing the same trip along the wild coast so it was good to hang out with somewhat familiar faces for Christmas eve and Christmas day. The majority of the backpackers along the way were South Africans on holiday, some peace corp volunteers and then a number of dutch and Norwegians.

Family picture

Walking toward the cliffs but they ended up being too wet to cross

View from up high

Waiting an hour to start the hike and annoyed we didn't just explore on our own

River leading into the ocean

Diverse plant life that grows along the coast

Hiking along

Cool look out point

Sunday, December 25th, Christmas Day we woke up to sunshine. Rebecca and I went to the beach by 8 am. In order to get to the beach you must pass 20+ bead vendors asking "Sister take a look at my beads" and then wade across two rivers to find the beautiful beach. Around 10 am we went back to get the boys and did some secret santa shopping for each other. The rest of the day we laid on the beach, read and played soccer with local kids who loved being able to kick a real soccer ball. Not a bad way to spend Christmas, but it certainly did not feel like Christmas. For Christmas dinner we had a traditional village meal that consisted of lamb and rice. The South Africans love their meat so if you are a vegetarian be aware.

Monday, December 26th we left Coffee Bay and headed to Chintsa, our next location along the Wild Coast. The road was full of pot holes and free roaming livestock. We nearly hit 2 dogs, 1 cow and 1 large pig. Seriously the livestock would be along the side of the road and then just dart out in front to cross the road. We arrived to our fourth hostel called Buccaneers in Chintsa bay around 3 pm. We checked in and headed to check out the view and then the beach.

On our way to Chintsa

The fourth hostel

View from the hostel

Lagoon that surrounded the beach and was right below the hostel

View from our dorm room

A very relaxed place and cool design

Night view of the lagoon

That night we waded across the lagoon to check out a recommended place called the Little Barefoot Cafe (cafe started by 2 south african surfers) for burgers and pizza. We had to leave the cafe somewhat early so we could make our way back across the lagoon mouth before the tide got too high. After that we hung out in the bar, went for a midnight swim in the hostel pool and ran into a clan from Coffee Bay that showed up late after hitting and killing a horse in their mini cooper on their drive to Chintsa. Luckily everyone was uninjured but the car was totaled with the indent of the horse clearly outlined. Our crew went to bed in a full dorm room of 16 people. Rebeccca, Charlie and I woke up early to beat the morning heat and go for a much needed run along the beach.

Tuesday, December 27th we had to leave Chintsa in order to drive Andrew to Port Elizabeth (a 6 hour drive) so that he could catch an evening flight back to Cape Town because his sisters were coming to visit. We drove to Port Elizabeth, dropped Andrew off, had lunch in Port Elizabeth and then drove the 100 Km onto Jeffrey Baii.

Scenery along the way...

En route to Jbay

After many hours in the car we were ready to be there

View from the hostel called Island Vibe

Rebecca taking a break to read

Where we would eventually camp after our tent fiasco

Path down from the hostel to the wide open beach...yes please.

We arrived into Jbay around 5 pm. Our original plan was to get in touch with some colleagues of ours that were vacationing in Jbay for the break so that we could camp on their lawn. Unfortunately for us both of their cell phones were off. Our only option was to find a hostel and pray they had space for a tent. Luckily Island Vibe took us in with open arms. That is until we attempted to put up a tent that was borrowed from another friend. The tent we borrowed came complete with missing poles and mis matched tent pieces. After about 2 hours of trying to make this tent work, gawking and laughter from the other backpackers watching 3 Americans attempt the impossible, help from the owner of the hostile, 2 Norwegians came to our rescue with a 2 person tent to borrow. We quickly became friends, but were still dejected and confused by why it took them 2 hours to come to our aid. After that it was nightfall and we still hadn't gotten a phone call back from our colleagues so we drank the wine we had bought for them, made friends and settled in for an uncomfortable scrunched night in the tent. Lucky for us we woke up to a sunny beach day.

The failed tent attempt

Looks like an angry bird...and one that wouldn't survive a night of rain

Gorgeous back drop for a 2 hour tent build

Wednesday, December 28th we read books, went for runs and laid out on the beach all day long. The sun drained us all and we were back in our lovely tent by 9 pm for another night of uncomfortable rest. 

Thursday, December 29th we packed up by 8 am in order to give the tent back to our friends who were also moving on and left Jbay for greener pastures. We were on our way back to Cape Town and didn't have any definite plans for where to stop next. As luck would have it we stopped off in the land of the Tsitsikamma National Park at Bloukrans Bridge which is home to the longest "bridge" bungee jumping experience. The bungee jump is 216 meters of pure adrenalin. Charlie had already done the jump so Rebecca and I attempted to sign up. At first there were no openings so we headed back to the car only to be stopped and told that they would open 2 spots for us. I have bungee jumped 3 other times in New Zealand, but as I stood on the bridge with my toes overhanging the edge and people cheering me on my only thought was...why am I doing this again? Needless to say it was amazing and scary all at the same time. My ankles felt like they were going to rip off, but other than that it was a ride of a lifetime and well worth the $85 US dollars (considerably cheaper than New Zealand bungee jumps).

Pulling in

The bridge and all its glory

Enough said

Video of a random person's jump

Post jump

By 2 pm we loaded up the car and collectively decided that we were all ready to head home to Cape Town. 6 hours, plenty of gas stop snacks (all we really ate during car days) we rolled into Cape Town around 8 pm and couldn't be more happy. Tiida had made it safe and sound minus a bent in bumper which we were able to pound out and hand in without them knowing (remember we don't get paid). Plenty of quotes, pictures and laughter was had by us all for an amazing (and not so relaxing) road trip. Now back to work on January 3rd, but plenty of adventures still to come.

The long but much needed trip home