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Coffee Bay
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Hello Everyone,
We drove back out from Port St. John's to the main road and then back in to the next village of Coffee Bay. It is speculated that the village got its name when a ship crashed into the shoreline spilling its large load of coffee beans it had into the water.
This was a great place, the beaches were beautiful. The whole area had a friendly laid back atmosphere to it. There are two backpackers right across the street from each other. The coffee shack is well known for its partying that goes well into the night. The other one called Bomvu is a little more mellow. We chose the quieter one. Or so we thought. The first night we had the only room available. The door to it was directly off the bar area. Even with earplugs in we could still hear the loud beat of the music. It was a nice place though. The staff were very friendly. The food was great and reasonably priced. The 2nd night we were moved to a quieter room.
 
One of our outings here was to another area close by called Hole in the Wall. It has a more expensive resort there by the same name. An Irish girl we met at the backpackers came with us since she didn't have a car.
We parked at the resort and headed to the beach to start our walk. We bumped into a couple just coming back. They recommened we take two young Xhosa boys with us. They would take us to the best views and would only request 5 rand each. ($1) We made our way along the beach to the hole in the wall. It was a impressive rock of great size. It was out a ways in the water and had what else, a big hole in the center of it. The boys then took us up a hill behind us to get an even better view of the surrounding area and the hole in the wall.
 
Later that afternoon we went again with Liz the Irish girl on an outing. This time it was with a local named Sallice. We had met him the night before at the backpackers. He was taking us to his village in the nearby hills to meet his family and see his house. We walked through his village to get to his house. On the way many people were outside of their dwellings greeting us and Sallice as we went by. We arrived at 3 buildings. Two were round rondavels with thatched roofs and one was square with a tin roof. Sallice lived there with his mom, dad, two sisters and his 18 month old daughther. His daughters mom lives in another village. Sallice brought her to live with his family as the mom did not want the responsibility of a child.
We were taken into his house and I think we were all humbled by how he lived. The houses are made from brick and mud. The bricks are made from a mix of clay, grass and cow dung. We saw some drying out in the sun and were amazed at how hard and strong they were. The floors are also made of the cow dung. We were told the thatch roofs can last for up to 30 years before they need totally replacing. Surprisingly there is no smell from any of the dung.
We were then taken outside and introduced to his family. His mom, dad, sisters, daughter and 2 other local children were all sitting around on the ground. In the center of them was a pile of what they call mealies. It is maize or corn on the cob as we would know it. Sallice aksed us to all sit down and try some. They taste a lot like our small corn we have in the can. He insisted we eat some more. I think we were all thinking the same thing. We did not want to eat any more of their food, knowing they have so little.
This was a very happy family. Sallice talked amongst us in English as he bantered back and forth in Xhosa with his family. They would burst into laughter many times. One time during the laughing Sallice told us they were making fun of the mom. She gets very nervous if they go into the big city, which would be Umtata. This happens to be an area where Nelson Mandela grew up. She has to get one of them to help her cross the streets, the crossing lights are too confusing for her.
Sallice then showed us their garden. It had maize, pumpkin, and a few other vegtables planted in it. We said our goodbyes to his family and continuted up a very steep hill.
We would now make our way to the local Sangoma for the village, (doctor). We joked that anyone who made their way up the hill to the Sangoma must not be very ill. He must make house calls if someone is very sick.
 
We arrived at a small hut and we were asked to take our shoes off and step inside. We have seen a Sangoma a few times now. All of them seem to sit inside their home in the darkest part. Maybe to keep cool. The Sangoma came out of the dark and gave a nod to greet us all. Sallice asked us to sit cross legged on the floor in a circle. The Sangoma had a very old and weathered face. Sallice translated for us as the Sangoma told us some of the ways he treats people. He had a very good sense of humour. He asked the single Irish girl if she would like to stay to be his 2nd wife.
We stayed here for 2 nights. Each evening we had entertainment from Xhosa that lived in the village. The first night we had a large group of lady and men dancers as well as many drummers. It was an awesome evening. Before the main dancing got started a few ladies and
men were gathering around the fire. They had a couple of their small children there. They
started a chant to get the small babies to dance. It was so cute, one of them couldn't have been much older than a year. She could already move her waist and hips to the chanting and do a bit of shrugging of her shoulders to mimick the traditional dancing.
The dancers lined up and started a chant as they made their way up to where everyone was sitting to view them. The men had wraps on to mimick skirts. The woman had white paint in tribal patterns on their faces.
Jack and I could hardly believe we were sitting in Africa listening to native drumming and watching traditional tribal dancing. The drumming is by hand on drums they make themselves out of carved trees and animal skins. Their drumming skills are incredible. You really start to become one with the beat. Your heart races as you listen. The dancing was a mixture of different movements. One of them is a trance like dance. They shake their body, especially the upper body in a movement hard to explain. I can't imagine trying to do it. There is also chanting and different vocal sounds being made while the dancing and drumming is done. The dancing went on for about an hour. Then they left and the drummers really went into action. We listened to them well into the evening.
 
 
The 2nd night we had a group of young girls come to dance. I would say they were from 10 to 13 in age. They had on skirts and only beads on their upper bodies. There was one drummer for them to keep the beat to while dancing. Singing was done as well. We have never seen anything like it before. These girls could move their bodies so fast it was unbelievable.
A bit more info on this wild coast area. It has the villages along the coast as well as inland areas. This use to be one of the original homeland areas in South Africa. During the apartheid if you were white you had to get a visa to even enter this area. You could only go there for a day. It was and still is known as the Transkei. In Umtata we went to the Nelson Mandela museum. It has documentation of his life. It also has many rooms full of gifts he has received from many different countries, dignitaries, etc. As well it has lists of all the honourary degrees given to him from universities around the world. He has been given the keys to many cities as well. They are also on display.
See you in Cintsa, our next stop on the wild coast.
Latest Comments (2)
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Hi Jack and Audrey (reply)
Jan 29, 2006 17:28 EST by mkennedy
It is with great interest I read your last article about the huts with cow dung floors.... I just watched a program on tv last night with the exact same type of housing and floors.... and guess what they were eating termites..... yike!! I hope you didn't have to eat the mealies is that mealie worms by any chance???
It sounds like you are having the trip of a lifetime.
Its great, goo... show all
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Hi Audrey and Jack (reply)
Jan 29, 2006 14:32 EST by de
Your imagery gives me a whole new perspective on what Africa is really like. I want to drop everything to go there but unfortunately my new employer would be quite upset with me. You have everyone waiting on your every posting....it is a 'to be continued' story. On the edge of your seat waiting to hear about the next adventure. When you come back you are going to have to publish your story because... show all
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