THE WILD SIDE OF THE WILD COAST

“The traveller that resolutely follows a rough and winding path will sooner reach the end of his journey than he that is always changing his direction, and wastes time in looking for smoother ground and shorter passages” Samuel Johnson

The wild coast was all about the riding! And some of the most picturesque roads, trails, paths and views! After a rainy day in Cintsa, I departed on Thursday under blue skies and made it my mission to try and get to Coffee Bay on as little tar road as possible. Armed with a fairly detailed map of the Transkei, featuring vital turn off coordinates, I made my way from village to village through some of the most spectacular gorges, forests and along what has to be some of the country’s most beautiful coastline. It took me the whole day with lots of stopping to appreciate my surroundings and I eventually arrived in Coffee Bay late that afternoon.

Whilst in Coffee Bay, I took a day trip to Hole in the wall over the grassy hills along parts of the hiking trail and even braved the waters with a swim out to the hole (in the wall). Coffee bay is a popular stop for the backpacking tourists and evenings in the Coffee Shack or Bomvu Paridise Backpackers are especially festive with lots of games, Xhosa dancers and locals jamming away on Jembe drums in the background. There are exciting daily activities on offer, including amazing hikes, cultural tours and drum making. The following day I joined a guided hike along the cliff edges dropping sharply into the ocean. We waded through rivers, up and down steep hills, through incredible caves and past the local villages to arrive at a spot known as the Jacuzzi where you jump off the 8 meter high cliffs straight into a bubbling pool in the ocean. The hike was pretty hairy at times with little in the way of safety measures but together with the 12 other foreigners, I made it through unscathed and enjoyed every second of it.

From Coffee bay I headed for Port St Johns, again trying to take gravels roads and tracks as much as possible. The 250km took me most of the day as I weaved through the valleys crossing no less than 30 bridges in the process. It was another spectacular day of riding. The Wild coast must definitely rank as one of SA’s top destinations for off road motorcycling as the network of lesser used tracks is endless and the views: breathtaking. The kids were definitely not used to seeing motorbikes zoom through their villages as they rushed out of their houses and ran towards the road whenever I approached, shouting and waving with massive grins on their faces. The petrol tanks were dry in Coffee Bay and this meant stretching my 460km range to the limit, I got to a point where I was stopping to ask anyone I saw for directions to the nearest petrol station, mostly to no avail but I was relieved when, out of nowhere, a small quarry town appeared and with it, the wonderful sight if a Caltex tower. I eventually came to a tar road and cruised along the last 40km into Port St Johns, relieved that the constant vibrations had come to an end. Riding along some of the corrugated gravels roads makes you feel as though you are riding a jack hammer at times and every time I take my computer out of its pannier case I turn it on with increasing anxiety. So far the pelican case pannier system has worked incredibly well and dust has managed to find its way into pretty much every nook and cranny on the bike but my pelican cases are performing perfectly.

My stay in Port St Johns was brief but nice, it is a much smaller town than I had anticipated and the Mzimvuba river gorge that snakes its way down to the town is no less beautiful than all the others in the Transkei but far more accessible. I left early after just one night in PSJ to try and make up some time on my rather sketchy schedule and headed for the KZN south coast. This involved navigating my way through the towns of Lusikisiki and Bizana, both of which make you feel as if you have just landed in deepest Africa. There are people and cars and donkeys and goats and sheep and chickens EVERYWHERE!!!! It was good practice for cities to come where traffic laws are more of a guideline than enforcement. I loved every second of the Wild Coast urge anyone with a bike and half an inkling of an urge to go and explore it for yourself.