Day4-8: Durban-Port Elizabeth
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
3
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Durban/Pt Edward/Pt St Johns/Pt Elizabeth,
South Africa
Monday, September 20, 2004
Anyways, the drive to Port Edward was only a couple of hours where I was dropped off and then picked up by one of the owners Eric, a french guy who moved to SA to open the Ku-BoBoyi lodge about 3 years ago with his partner Michael. It's in an amazing location perched on a hill over looking the Indian Ocean so you can sit on the veranda just watching the waves crash on the beach below. It was a really comfortable place too and I had a nice single room for the night.
Sabrina (a German language student from CT) and Hidiki (a Japanese language student from CT) also arrived from Durban, they were in the same dorm as me at the Hippo Hide and decided to stop off on route to Coffee Bay
Ikaya Lodge
. So we spent the night at the lodge, so peaceful and quiet, there was also a couple of German couples staying (sooo many Germans in SA) so we had a lovely dinner together and an early night. Sabrina and Hidiki were driving around the coast so kindly offered to drop me off in Port St Johns the next day.We were up about 8, had breakfast on the veranda before leaving. As we were having breakfast we could see a killer whale in the distance jumping in and out of the ocean, it was amazing. The whales cross the indian ocean on route to the atlantic and you can often see the whales breach (come up to the surface) and see big spurts of water in the air. See the killer whale jumping in and out of the water was amazing tho!
So we jumped in the car and drove to PSJ - an amazing drive through wild african countryside and mountains, through tiny villages and occasionally the odd big town which was rammed with people and small markets. The roads had some of the most ridiculous pot holes you've ever seen and you also had to be careful not to smash into the odd roaming cow/goat/horse.
The drive down to PSJ was amazing, the road hugged the mountainside and swerved in and out, and from being so high you could see the bay in the distance, golden sandy beach and blue blue sea
KuBoboyi Lodge
.So we arrive at Ikaya lodge - down a dirt track and over a bridge to the end of the path, and further and we'd have been in the forest! Was a little disturbed as it's about as rustic as you can get, and the only was a 50 yr old hippy....but in the end it was only for a night. Next door was a little shack restaurant called the 'Delicious Monster' but the most amazing thing about the place was the view which over looked the beach, very cool.
Sabrina and Hidiki left me to carry on to Coffee Bay. So off I trot to the beach where I had my first swim in the Indian Ocean, wasn't too cold at all but pretty choppy so had to be careful. When I got back to Ikaya I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one there but met a French-Canadian guy called Alain and we had a natter, we were later joined by 3 Isreali travellers too, had a cool conversation in the evening. Then decided to go over the the Delicious Monster for dinner with Alain.
Well a place which was quiet and chilled in the day was completely different at night, very surreal....after travelling thousands of miles to South Africa I was confronted by a load of drunk Scotsmen!
Port Edward Beach
It's one of those places where everyone just goes to get completely wasted on a Friday night, and god were some of them wasted! It was a wee bit scary to be honest....Alain and I were occasionally joined by a long haired big bearded bloke called Jack (well that's what he said...second name 'Off'), he was harmless enough thank god. Also discovered that Alain was also a gay solo traveller - and I thought I was the only one (not my type tho).You also don't expect to get served quickly in that sort of place, my food took half and hour and Alain (who ordered at the same time) to an hour after that!! So once his arrived we made a quick exit and spent the rest of the night at Ikaya.
So Saturday morning came and at 1pm Matthew collected me and Alain (he decided to come with me) and took us to his guest house in the hills called Wetham Hill. Matthew is a friend of Derek's in JBG who hooked me up with him. He was a lovely bloke and very handsome too ;O) His guest house couldn't have been anymore different from Ikaya, beautifully decorated rooms and guest lounge, crisp white sheets - fantastic!! Of course you'd expect it being gay owned and all.
So we had a very chilled afternoon, Matthew took us to the top of the mountain where there's an old military airfield, the main reason was for the spectacular views across the mountains, Port St Johns and the sea....the pics are fantastic
View from Wetham Hill balcony
!Had a very quiet evening in the lodge just watching a film...Matthew had Satellite TV so it was nice to see some music tv again for a bit.
Sunday morning came and I was collected lunchtime by a local taxi to take me to Umtata about 90kms away to catch the BazBus to Port Elizabeth. The local taxis are like 10 year old minibuses, they look like they're going to fall apart and they usually squeeze about 15 people in them. Only one other white person in the bus and that was another backpacker called Della who was also going to catch the BazBus but to Durban. The ride was a wee bit hairy as the driver drove as fast as possible sometimes in the wrong lane!! But I made it in one piece.
The bus to PE wouldn't be getting in until 10pm so it was a long drive, about 8 hours. Luckily there were a few people on the bus, a guy called Richard who actually lives in CT, lovely accent (think he was Afrikaans) and good looking too (I have a way of talking to good looking blokes..dunno why!). He had been working for a TV company in Durban setting up a campsite for a UK reality show - so keep an eye on the telly for a reality show set in Durban!
View over Port St Johns Second Beach
He took my mobile number so hopefully we'll hookup when I get to CT.Got into PE at 10 to the Base Camp Backpackers, a proper house for a change and I had a double room for the night. Gonna stay in PE on Monday too and then move on to Knysna Tuesday morning on the BazBus.
So it's Monday afternoon 20th September, PE isn't very exciting really so it's a good job I'm off tomorrow. The backpackers is dead too...got up at 10 this morning to find absolutely no one else in the building at all, hopefully they'll be a few people around this evening, most people arrive in the afternoon. Just done a bit of shopping and now I'm here finishing this log.
Should be in Cape Town Thurs/Fri where I'll stick around till about the 2nd of October.....
