Blogs from Chintsa, Eastern Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 2

Hi Everybody; We've made alot of stops since our last entry. We don't have any pics posted this time because backpackers won't let you download into their computers. We'll have to do it at an internet cafe next time we're in a bigger place. After leaving Swellendam we went to Oudtshoorn. Beautiful drive. At times I'd swear we were driving through New Mexico. This spot is labeled "The Karoo". There are big ranches here, but not for cattle, they're for Ostrich. Ostrich are here naturally but started being farmed back in the 1800's when European and American high society women felt they had to have Ostrich feathers to be fashionable. It's quite a big business here. We took a tour of an Ostrich farm, got to feed them, see how their eggs are incubated, how their ... read more

Back to early morning surfing, beautiful clean waves...what a life. I am finally off the 7ft board and onto Craig's 6.6ft shortboard (glad to be rid of the tanker). Camping is still cool...but at Buccaneers they gave us a patch of land (down hill) in a forest on an ant hill. The first night was not comfortable but we moved the next day to a camping platform which was good. The board bags came in handy and we used those as mattresses. We did a lot of surfing and some canoeing (to keep paddle fit) and attempted to play volley ball, which for me was like slamming your hand in a door. Craig was fascinated with the horsonkys (as he called them), which is half horse half donkey ...very strange. The Aussies arrived in Cinsta and ... read more

Today a group of 7 of us staying at the hostel, signed up for a Mountain Bike/Cultural Tour. We were first driven along the main roads and then dropped 2 kilometres outside of the Xhosa village of Ngxingxolo. Xhosa is one of the native groups in South Africa (Nelson Mandela is a Xhosa) and is also one of the eleven official languages in the country. Thousands of Xhosa villages dot the area known as the Transkei or the Wild Coast. In Ngxingxolo, we were welcomed by a group of women and children who played a drum and sang a song to greet us. Then we spent the next hour or so with possibly the most magical woman I have ever met - Mama Tofu. She is 89 years old, born in 2920 in the next village ... read more

I could not be happier, simply being out of Port Elizabeth and on with my trip. I am now in Chintsa, a teeny village on a bay on the Wild Coast. In fact, I’m staying at a hostel across the lagoon from the teeny village of Chintsa. The bus turned off the highway, then off a regional road, then off the paved back road onto a dirt and stone drive. A few kilometres along, we reached the hostel. Only half an hour after getting here, I was off. The hostel had a free trip to a nearby school: Bulugha Farm School. We were taken there for a performance. Bring there brought back so many memories of the rural schools I visited in Uganda with my volunteer project there. But it gave me such hope here, such ... read more

Hi All, Sorry it has been so long since my last blog, I have been too many fantastic and wounderful places however the internet is not brilliant! (thats my excuse). Since my last entry in St Lucia I have made my way down to Zulu territory in Eshowe where I experienced the real Zulu way of life. I spent a day in a Zulu village and went to a tribal healing ceremony, belive me this was a real experience, I hadn't realised they passed vodka around in a mug! But an unforgetable experience all the same! I played with the local village kids and they are so friendly, they have nothing but are still happy, it a fantastic way to be. I got very lucky as the backpackers was fully booked so me and some others ... read more