Coffee Bay - It's Lakka to be Lakka when you're Lakka!

Coffee Bay. Thank God places like this still exist in the world. The perfect back packers. Beautiful, isolated, chilled out and party like hell! Dan and Kieran have certainly seen and heard things now that they hadn't before. And perhaps shouldn't have!!! I really thought I had seen the last of these places years ago when I first travelled around Thailand, so I am happy that we found the 'Coffee Shack'

Coffee Bay, so called because of the coffee trees that used to line th beach following a ship wreck which spilled it's entire cargo of.... coffee beans, is tucked away in a little corner of South Africa literally miles from anywhere. No shops, no telephones, no facefaff or TV's and electricity only sometimes, it's perfect. It is very basic, don't expect hot running water and room service here. The main building resteraunt/bars/dorms are right on the beach, but if you are staying in the bandas across the beach, then at high tide you have to wade to your beds. We stayed in a banda for the first 2 nights, then the campervan the last 2. This is also the only place in the world where even the cows are beach bums and it was funny the first morning wading down to breakfast in between a heard of cows on the beach.

This is very much a chill out during the day and party like mad at night, and our first 24 hours was just that. The night we arrived was Dan's birthday. I had said to Kieran that he could stay up to midnight to see Dan's birthday in, and by midnight the party was well and truly kicking with drinking games galore. (England beat the dutch in the final for those that care!). The bar has it's own set of rules, the main one being the rule of the Buffalo where you are not allowed to drink with your right hand. If you are caught, someone will shout out Buffalo and you have no choice but you have to down your drink in one. This is serious stuff. No exceptions and the whole place screams at you until you are done. Kieran became chief Buffalo spotter and I think many people may have blamed him for their hangovers the next morning, and the barstaff nick named him Buffalo Soldier!

We have made many friends here from all over the world, from Jim and Mohamed, doctors from the Sudan, Gabriel from Brazil, Ralph and the boys from Holland, Billy and Sam who came to SA to work, borrowed a car after one day and went AWOL, Preston, an American who hooked up with Billy and Sam along the way somewhere, A group of 6 guys and girls who are travelling around in an overland truck, learning to surf as they go, Colin and Tim, 2 lads from Southampton, Amy and Nicky, 2 19 year old girls on their travels, (Dan said that in the 4 days we were at Coffee Bay, there was only one occasion he spoke to Amy when she was sober)! 5 mad Irish lads who are all trainee doctors who have just done a stint in a medical centre in Namibia. (These guys are seriously mad and their injuries grow as they travel. At least they can all treat each other Dan pointed out!) to the many others from Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, SA etc etc etc. Most people are on gap years or have just finished Uni, so I am the granddad of the place, whilst Dan and K are the only kids, I say kids, Dan is just a couple of years younger than some, so really had mixed in well and made some good friends, whilst Kieran just fits in with everyone and I have been really proud of them both as they have held their own and socialised with nearly everyone very well.

It's strange but nice to see your 9 year old hold a conversation with a group of adults from all different backgrounds, different countries, but that is part of what travelling is about and he is so cut out for it. Several times I would wonder where Kieran was and find that he was playing pool with someobne from Brazil, or chatting on the beach with a load of Dutch or had gone swimming with Billy or Amy or Colin or Tim or whoever.

It wasn't all just partying, we did some pretty cool stuff during the day too. One day we went for a 10km hike to the Hole in The Wall. The hike was along the coast but it was all up and down the cliffs and was pretty tough in places. We did walk across some gorgeous beaches too where we could take off our shoes and soak our feet in the sea which felt like heaven. It was weird putting shoes on again as this was the first time I had worn shoes since climbing Table Mountain which now seems about a hundred years ago!

The Hole in The Wall is a narrow strip of rock in the middle of the bay, I don't know how tall, but big, and with a huge arch way that had been eroded through the middle over hundreds of years. The fun part is climbing up and jumping into the sea that surges through the arch. Huge waves come crashing through, and the trick is you jump and time your landing just right so the wave carries through to the bay, otherwise you get sucked out and could end up in serious trouble. Apparently someone nearly drowned last week! It was great fun jumping, but the current was really strong and you really had to swim hard when you went in, even with the waves. Kieran did jump as well, but from a safer place, but Dan went in, as did most people and it was well worth the trek to do this.

The other thing we did which was great fun was the cliff jumps. This too was a hike, but a shorter one, again along the cliffs and through some caves where we got to a perfect spot with sheer walls and deep water. Unfortunately the rocks we had to climb in order to jump were razor sharp, and more than a few of us are now sporting cuts and scratches to out hands and feet, but they'll heal! I thought I might have got out of this one as I am not a great fan of heights and I won't even go off Rozel harbour wall, and I was sure that Kieran wasn't going to do the jump, which was about 15metres high. My guess is the top wall at Rozel is about 8metres, someone might correct me if I am wrong. So this was double give or take a metre. Dan of course stepped straight off, as if he was jumping off the side of the pool, and of the 20 or so of us that came to do this, about half bottled it. Kieran kept trying, and just at the point of giving up, Billy talked him into it and the 2 of them jumped together. Which meant, that if my 9 year old son can do it, then I am going to have to, and their was much laughter as I, after about half a dozen attempts, stood knees trembling, before closing my eyes and jumping, screaming like a big sissy all the way down. This was the smallest jump and Kieran did it a few more times whilst some did the jumps that were much higher still. Fair play to them. Unfortunately on Kieran's last jump, he landed awkwardly and did a sort of reverse belly flop. Bit like a back flop. I reckon you could have heard the slap all the way in Durban, and we had tears for a few minutes until the shock had passed.

The walk back after this was very hairy, in fact I would go as far as saying that this was the first time this trip I was seriously worried. Part of the cliff we had to climb or walk along was like a ridge, about 30 or 40 cm wide, but with huge drops either side. There was nothing to hold on to so balance was essential as was taking it very slowly and carefully. The boys didn't seemed fazed at all, but I really didn't like this and was mighty relieved when we reacheded the other side where at least we had one side to lean against when finishing the scramble up to the top. I think it's bad enough when you are scared for yourself, but watching your own flesh and blood on that ridge too was not a nice experience! Still we survived, though Kieran was complaining his back hurt still so I gave him a piggy back all the way back, (about 2 km up and down mountain paths in the fierce African Heat) for him to make a miraculous recovery in time to do more cliff jumping in the river further inland. This time much shorter jumps though!

So, that was Coffee Bay, we were only supposed to be there for 2 nights, but ended up staying for 4, sacrificng 2 night in Durban, but we made so many good friends, and it was sad to leave. In fact Kieran was really upset as he had particularly become very fond of Billy and Amy.

It was an early start this morning and again I set off whilst the boys were sleeping in their beds. It was nice to drive along the 'right' road this time and I drove past hundreds of kids all making their way to school. I stopped and picked a load up at different points and they were very appreciative, I am not sure how appreciative Kieran and Dan were having their 'bedroom' invaded by a load of chattering Xhosi school children whilst they tried to steal a couple more hours kip, but if these kids are willing to walk 20 km to school there and back every day, the least I can do is help a few of them out and give them an easy start to their day.

After leaving the school kids behind, (there are about 3 schools between Coffee Bay and the road to Umthata and I made several school runs!) I picked up some other hitchhikers. One old boy though I wasn't actually sure whether he was hitching or not. I think he might have just been some old tramp on the side of the road, but he came along for the ride anyway and appeared to enjoy it!

In Umthata, which is Nelson Mandella's birthplace, I had the campervan checked out and we discovered that there was a problem with the brakes. They have now been fixed and the little light on the dash has gone off, and after breakfast and a little more campervan maintenance, set off for Durban where we are now.

After roughing it for the past however many days, we now have the luxury of a hotel for a couple of nights. I had a shower today which was nice, and I looked in the mirror and had quite a shock to see a beard there! I'm still deciding whether to leave it or get rid of!

I'll make that decision in the morning.