Surfing and Sliding Over Rough Coffee Bay and Hogs

Can’t Talk, Lifeguard Duty at Coffee Bay

Blue Bottle Coffee Bay

Coffee is known to make people happier. Even fight depression. The same could be said for travel. So from the confines of Durban, South Africa, Nadine began heading southwest coast along the Garden Route to Coffee Bay. A combination of two life giving endeavors, coffee and travel.

Coffee Bay wasn’t the new Mecca for coffee lovers. Nor the home of an unknown bean variant, but Coffee Bay did provide the liquid canvas to meliorate surfing skills. From a four person hut, Nadine, Melissa, another medical student named Molly, and I boarded a four seater van for Long Beach. During the ride, we met another passenger from the same Minneapolis neighbor as Melissa’s grandmother. In the end, they lived only four houses from each other. Who knew it would take a trip to South Africa for these two people to meet? It truly is a small world.

Following Directions Is A Sign Of Success

Surfing Among Steers And Jelly

Back to Longhorn Beach, a name I created and should honestly patent because it’s so darn clever. But we never understood the real name. The beach was very long with a two mile break. There was the added comfort from shore of a steer as lifeguard. Thus, the newly coined Longhorn Beach. “Moooo, grab onto my udder. I will bring you ashore.”

Sam, English and probably his best life as a beach bum, led a small surfing lesson. Rather than foot placement and balance, his most important point was simple. Avoid the blue bottle jellyfish. I mean honestly, it’s not like there was a small flag jutting out of the water indicating their location. The blue bottle jellyfish is small, but is not technically a jellyfish. It looks like one and is attracted to human legs. They mostly like to attach themselves to lower limbs.

Like a future doctor looking to lessen the likelihood of being stung, Molly threw on a wet suit. The blue bottle jellyfish must have taken her safety precautions as a challenge. On her very first wave, a blue bottle successfully found exposed skin, and instead of her hanging ten, she only caught one.

After several attempts on standing on our boards, we all rode at least one wave in.

Later, another next blue bottle jellyfish accepted a challenge. This one grabbed Melissa’s foot. Manners will get you a long way in life. At this point, I politely asked the other non-jellyfish to ignore me. My legs are unappetizing. They peacefully complied. They had had their fill with Molly and Melissa.

Where’s The Gym Coffee Bay?

A Quartet Of Travelers

It’s Just A Cloudy Hole In The Wall

Great weather joined the first day on Longhorn Beach (patent pending). Apparently the sun continued on to Cape Town for the next two. The plan was to hike for three hours along the coast to the Hole in the Wall. Through erosion over a few million years, a natural hole formed at the base of a small island just off of the coast in front of the Nzulwini River. As the tide rushes in, water shoots through this hole.

A truck replaced a miserable hike through rain and wind for a pregnant woman. Once there, we hiked to the top of some smaller islands providing a better viewpoint of the rock formation. The green of the land made me imagine what Ireland must look like with as way too green hills plunge into the water.

Be The Wave

The Gaucho Bus

I liked the gargantuan Shell gas station in Mthatha immediately. They had Magnum ice cream bars. The perfect snack before a bus ride to East London. The bus station was also located here. Our quartet broke up. Molly returned to her Durban medical rotation. The three of us went somewhere more proper, East London. What made this 100 rand bus ride great was the fact that it became free, a glitch on the bus companies part.

On the bus was a rookie traveler. He was from Argentina. And unfortunately, or fortunately if you like to talk, his seat was next to me. This was his first trip abroad. Instead of Brazil, Chile, France, he decided on South Africa. It provided me the first chance to speak Spanish in a long time. Nadine and Melissa were none the wiser when I talked about them. After a comment, we’d look in their direction, and laugh.

Where’s Big Ben?

Jolly Good East London

The world is small. At dinner in an East London restaurant, the waiter revealed that his mother was from the small of Elma, Washington. This is the city next to where Nadine volunteered in Washington state.

Since East London was devoid of sites like Big Ben or the London Bridge, the mountain town of Hogsback was next. The name comes from the three hogback mountains towering over the region. On good authority, Hogsback has the absolute best reading spot. From this point you can read, watch parrots during a brief pause between chapters, be distracted by monkeys rustling in the trees, and sit at the edge of a cliff.

How Is That For A Reading Spot?

Aren’t You Bit Old For This?

Just like Texas was made for football and Tex-Mex, and New Mexico was made to be made fun of, Hogsback was made for hiking. That’s just what the three of us did. Two days of heavy raining made the first half of our hike problematic. A stream of water dissected some paths. The “Big Tree” marked our first break. This tree was soaring, broad, and old enough to know better. It was reported to be 800 years old.

One point in the trail required crossing a trivial limited creek. The heavy downpour transformed it into a broader and more extensive creek. My first attempt was illuminating. Just as soon as my right foot touched one slippery rock, I was in the drink. Water up to my butt cheeks.

More rapids changed our original route. Further on, another point had a less dangerous, but still intimidating crossing. We crossed successfully, but with no path on the other side. The entire time we had been going with an 18 year old English teenager who proudly became the unofficial guide. His credentials included his statement that he got lost the last time he went hiking. Not an enthusiastic endorsement that encouraged me to follow his Robert Frost aspirations.

Madonna And Child Falls

Father time

So when the other side required bushwhacking to find the trail, that was the exact moment I felt the fatherness emerge. I immediately stopped my group, namely Nadine and the baby in her womb, and redirected my team to the path. And we’d stay on it. It caught my attention to notice the father-to-be in me come out. Good sign. Nadine and Melissa noticed as well. So I’d like to take a moment and tell everyone right now, “Don’t run with scissors in your hands! And, brush your teeth tonight! I mean it. I’ll pull this car over!”

The rest of the hike was an enjoyable, educational, and safe experience. Especially for the new baby. There will be a quiz over this in a couple of years. Both the Swallow Tail and the Madonna and Child Waterfalls left us mildly wet but satiated.

Backup Lifeguards To The Longhorn

My Big Five

The Big Five entice people to Africa, and South Africa in particular. A safari is a requisite for any trip. The Big Five consist of the black rhino, Cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, and lion. Since we have yet to see a single one, there is now our own Big White Five. These animals are commonly seen across South Africa and boy, are they ferocious. The Big White Five are the horse, cow, sheep, goat, and donkey. They live life to the fullest. They readily cross roads paying no heed to cars roaring towards them. These animals group under trees or just laze in the sun. So upon your return home or next time you’re at a party after a weekend in the Texas countryside, tell that special someone that you recently saw the Big White Five. Then proudly hike up your pants. Your friends will look at you with envy.

Life is good. Our threesome is about to visit two game parks before heading directly to Cape Town.