Into Africa

Today, we crossed into the Transkei, home to the Xhosa people. To us it feels like another country.

From Chintsa we followed the N2 again up to Umtata (Mthatha), then the R61 (newly resurfaced) towards Port St Johns. The road was very scenic, with villages scattered on green hillsides along the way. We didn’t see much industry. It’s all subsistence farming, with a few crops and cattle. Some of the women wear white clay on their faces (homemade sunscreen?) and we notice a few groups of painted young men wearing blankets. We suppose that they are being initiated and we can see their temporary straw huts on the outskirts of the villages. Sunday must be laundry day as all the fences are covered in colourful pieces of clothes.

The scenic R61.

Pat recommended that we visit Mpande, a place he had visited 10 years ago. It wasn’t easy to find. It doesn’t appear on our Michelin map (which covers the whole of Southern and Central Africa). We use our GPS for the first time. It works, and we find Mpande where its always been, a small village and an isolated beach.

It’s beautiful and wild. Three lifeguards all dressed in matching yellow outfits and hats sitting under a tree! We wonder who sponsors or trains them. It seems totally out of character when there is not a single other person on the beach.

Behind the beach there seem to be a few campsites. There are taps (no drinking water), horses grazing, and young boys picking fruits in the trees. The lifeguards tell us that to camp here we must speak to “Nature”. A young girl dressed in pink is sent to the village to fetch him. It turns out that “Nature” is an old man with a knobkierrie (stick with a heavy knob at the hitting end) and is the Nature Conservation Ranger for this stretch of coast. He tells us that we need to get a permit in Umtata (80km back, on dirt road) if we want to camp here. Eventually, he agrees to let us stay for the night on condition that we hire a guard for the night. We arranged for Ronnie to guard our camp for fifty rand that night.

Our camp at Mpande.

Two young men from the village come by as we are setting camp for dinner. They speak English with a strong surfer accent (“Hey bru, no ways dude”). They tell us that this camp used to be thriving when it was run by Nature Conservation. Unfortunately, the community got jealous and asked for the land back. Now, nobody seems to be in charge, and “The Kraal” backpackers on the other side of the village gets all the business.

We noticed a few holiday houses overlooking the beach. Tom-tom told us that white people could buy a piece of land here for a crate of beer, a bottle of brandy and 2000 rands. It seems that some of the old campers may have opted for their own house on the hill instead…

Boy carrying wood at Mpande.

Steve at Chintsa.

Sat (6/12) - We are thinking of Melissa and Tiaan who are getting married today.
Chintsa is slightly north of East London. It is almost the Transkei, although we haven’t passed the Kei River yet. Since we passed Grahamstown and crossed the Fish Fiver, which used to be the old frontier between white and black South Africa, it has started to feel very much like rural Africa. Nabome and cabbage trees cover the hills around us. The first round huts have appeared under the big blue sky. Women sell pineapples on the side of the road. Tonight we use mosquito lotion for the first time, even though there is no risk of malaria yet. We are still eating quiche and soup leftovers from the farewell party a week ago.

Caro at Cape St Francis.

Fri (5/12) - After an easy trip along the N2 we turned at the lively town of Humansdorp and arrived in Cape St Francis to check out the surf, where we had enjoyed it so much the last time we were there. There were no waves, but we had a great time walking along the beach to the light house, and swimming in an almost warm ocean. Our campsite was just behind this lovely beach, amongst white walled thatched-roof houses. The caravaners started to arrive en masse the following morning, the start of Christmas holidays…

Pat and B at Rivendale.

"Petanque" tournament at Rivendale.

Thur (4/12) - We staged a successful “petanque” tournament at Rivendale, and managed to get in a surf at Vic Bay before it was time to head north into Africa.