Midsemester Part 2

Back for Part 2 of the wonerful adventure that was my midsemester roadtrip. Last time I left off with driving into Coffee Bay. Here's the map again for reference:

Day 3 and 4: Coffee Bay

   As I was explaining before, Coffee Bay is one of the most remote locations we visited during the trip. Our path to the hostel took us through some hilly, bumpy, and cow-grazed terrain. Upon arriving, we dropped our things and immediatly ran to the beach (seeing how the hostel was located on the beach, we didn't have far to run). 

Coffee Bay Beach

Powerful waves, green hills, and a joyous afternoon met us full force as we headed into the water. That night happened to be a full moon, so we had a Full Moon Celebration at sundown. It was fun meeting all the other interesting travelers who found themselves in Coffee Bay. Interesting people like Sam and Emily from Canada traveling after graduating college, a group of Germans traveling before starting college, and a couple from London who have a long list of places already visited during their short marriage. 

I tried oysters for the first time! (not too bad with some lemon)

Sarah, me, and Duke enjoying the sundown

The people living, working, and visiting Coffee Bay all adapt an attitude of relaxation, graditude, and acceptance that stems from the beauty and peacefulness of the place more than anything else. No one was in a particular hurry to do or be anywhere, and everyone was respectful of eachother and the place we were. In one word....it was pretty hippy. Like a lot hippy. But it was great. After our sundown celebration, we were treated to traditional Xhosa dancing from some of the women in the village, and then enjoyed a traditional Xhosa meal.

Dancers from the village

One of the best parts of being in Coffee Bay was the fact that we spent two nights there. This gave us a chance to explore Coffee Bay for a whole day, uninterrupted. A group of us decided to attempt the "Hole-in-the-Wall" hike along the coast and through the hills of the village. We started on our trek in the late morning with only the trampled down grass of frequented footpaths for our trail. Cows, sheep, and goats roamed the hillside as we made the three hour hike to the "Hole-in-the-Wall."

Off we go!

Friends we made along the way.

While the hike was not really like any of the other hikes we have done since being in South Africa, the change of terrain was nice. However, do not be fooled by the pictures- a lot of the hike was still very challenging. One hill in particular was a beast to go down, and eventually back up.

Too bad you can't tell how steep this part is...

Most of the time, visitors hike to "Hole-in-the-Wall" and then get a ride back to the hostel. However, none of the people were available to drive us back, so we hiked back. It was not a problem except that we only had a jar of peanut butter, some granola bars, and a couple of apples to share between all of us for provisions. The whole thing took 6 hours in total and we covered about 12 miles. Neither the rain, nor the difficulty of the hike could crush our spirits.

We made it to Hole-in-the-Wall!

Our goat friend led the way home.

Is this real? Too beautiful for words

Needless to say, we were all beyond tired when we arrived back at the hostel. It was a day well spent, and one I will cherish in particular of all my days spent in South Africa. That night  we relaxed around a fire and listened to some of a drum circle happening across the street. We planned on leaving around 7 or 8 the next morning to get on the road for Durban. I ended waking up at 6am to go to the bathroom and ran into a small number of girls getting ready to go for sunrise yoga on the hill. I decided to join them, and experienced one of the most peaceful and beautiful sunrises I have seen thus far. I do not have any pictures from this because we were too busy experiencing, appreciating, and seeing the sunrise to capture it. And I think that is ok. Sometimes I think that my camera gets inbetween me and my experiences here. It was nice not to have it for once. Yoga in itself is restorative, but practicing yoga on that hill in such a beautiful place while the sun was rising was almost too much. There was no other way I could have wanted to start the morning. I had never been more happy my small bladder had forced me out of bed early.

Day 5: Durban
   Everyone was sad to leave Coffee Bay, but driving through more of this beautiful country made it a little better. We headed for our last coastal city, Durban. Because the drive from Coffee Bay to Durban was pretty long, we did not have too much time in Durban. We went out to dinner and then Ushaka Seaworld the next day. There was a seal show with more show than seals, but it was fun to walk around and look at all the different fish, sharks, and other sea animals. From Durban we turned inland toward Johannesburg. It is hard to explain the feelings I had after leaving Coffee Bay in exchange for cities like Durban and Johannesburg. I was surprised by my anxiety and animosity toward the cities because of their lack of green spaces. However, there were still treasures along the way like this field of sunflowers. For me, the sunflower is the flower that brings the most happiness and joy to its beholder. I cannot help but smile for sunflowers.

Part 3 (the final installement) of midsemester is Johannesburg and safari in Kruger! Stay tuned for more about the apartheid museum, giraffes, elephants, and much much more!