Daytime is playtime, but night-time is playtime too

Thursday, 21 February 2013

(Recommended song choice for this blog entry: "When The Lights Go Out" - The Black Keys)

After a bumpy ride back on to tarred roads, I claimed my seat at the front of one of the mini-bus taxis next to the driver, who had stopped for me on the side of the road. I had left the tranquil life of Bulungula and was preparing myself to meet the Coffee Shack.



I must have looked quite the sight: bags piled on top of me, the only umlungu (Xhosa for white person) inside, whipping out whatever broken Xhosa phrases I could remember on the spot, trying to talk to as many of the other passengers on board as I could.

The sun was shining, the Transkei Big 5 (donkeys, goats, cows, sheep and chickens) were out to play, and I had left Bulungula, beaming.

I spent the hour and bit worth of the taxi ride learning more Xhosa under the supervision of the taxi driver. He would point, and I would name. 

"Inkomo!" I said it fast. As if it were a race. He had pointed to the cattle on the side of potholed highway.

"Ndlela!" I almost yelped, as he pointed at the road in front of the moving taxi. The elderly woman behind us sat, booming with laughter. 

"Inja baleka, ndiyacela!" I yelled out the window at a wandering dog who had aligned himself with the oncoming traffic - "Run dog, please!".

The taxi dropped me off up the road from the destination within the hour, and I lugged my way down to the South African Wild Coast's Mbomvu River Mouth, where the Coffee Shack awaited me. 

I dropped my bags to the floor, and was instantly ushered towards the bar by energetic and grinning staff for my first welcome drink - on the house! 
As I settled in with a cold beer in the midday heat, I took a peek around the space where I would be spending my next 3 days.

People young and old, lounged around this beautiful outside communal area boasting vegetation and small enclaves where tables and benches had been constructed. 

It was almost as if - out of nowhere  - I gained my hearing back.
From spending my time in a gentle silence at Bulungula, I instantly picked up on the festive buzz of the Coffee Shack. So many different languages. So many different versions of English accents. 
The social integration of the crowd was awesome! 
Strangers laughing at one another, sharing stories of the places that they had just been, as well as those spots which they still planned on visiting.

Although I had visited Coffee Bay before, this was my first time at the Coffee Shack. 
I stayed at the Coffee Shack until Thursday afternoon before driving the 45 minute dirt road to Mdumbi Bacpackers  in the Tshani Villge.

In my time at the Coffee Shack I:

• Met some pretty awesome people from all over the world.
• Went on a sundowners mission to the surrounding hills with these pretty awesome people.
• Visited a community school project that the Coffee Shack has devoted itself to.
• Acquainted myself with the locals who hang around the area, as well as the Rastas who play drums up the road at Jah Drums.
• Got involved in the evening Killer Pool Tournament and won! (A big thanks goes to Justin for his kamakaze team work)
• Played guitar in a tree overlooking the river mouth, alongside 3 random strangers, all guests of the backpack.
• Tried to go surfing but unfortunately the weather conditions were too rough, and the rip too strong for me!
• Got my body moving on the Hole in The Wall Hike - a MUST!

ALI'S TIPS OF THE TRIP:

#1) The Coffee Shack is renown for its upbeat and energetic atmosphere. I would recommend staying in one of the private huts opposite the backpack across the river mouth (which is still a part of the backpack) if you are in search of a more private, quieter experience.

#2) Take part in the evenings' FREE Killer Pool Tournaments. This is a great way to make some new chommies (friends)... plus, if you win the tournament, your prize is the following day's day activity on the house! :)

#3) BEWARE: The Babalaza Bar functions according to the BUFFALO RULES. 

#4) High like the Transkei: I feel it important to mention this factor so that people who read this blog and do land up undertaking this vibrant (and highly recommended) excursion do not go into shock.  Due to the on-going poverty in this rural part of the Wild Coast, some of the locals have taken it upon themselves to harvest the wild local mushrooms and marijuana.

How does this affect me?

Well, due to the influx of tourists, the locals see it as an opportunity to do some business. This is a very sensitive problem for the area and is constantly being worked on by both the police and community. They are yet to find a lasting solution - and Rome was not built in a day.

My tip:

If you are sensitive to this kind of issue, the best way to deal with it when approached is to say 'NO' and walk away. I personally felt no threat from these opportunitists, and found it more interesting to observe the different social and cultural dynamics which they add to the Coffee Bay equation.

Magic Mushrooms and pot are grown and sold all over the world. It would be an unfortunate loss for you if you let this dictate and affect your time on vacation in this beautiful corner of the world. 

True to their Fair Trade accreditation, the Coffee Shack encourages growth and empowerment opportunities in and around their immediate local community. 

The Tshezi Community Trust owns 30% of the business. It is also a source of income for many of the locals, as one of the backpack's policy is to employ sraff from the immediate area (95% of the staff). 

The Coffee Shack  not only benefits its immediate employees and their families, but its entertainers, the local fisherman, and the beneficiaries of its social initiatives (through its scholarships and Pato School Projects, which is busy employing locals to help build a new pre-primary school for the area).  

This is a photograph of the new pre-primary school which the Coffee Shack has been building for its immediate area. 

Similar to Chintsa East, often the parents of the local households of Coffee Bay find themselves employment outside of their immediate area. This results in them leaving their homes early in the morning and returning late in the evening after travelling great distances, leaving their children at home with their grandparents and older siblings. 

Most of the Coffee Bay area is underprivileged, especially when it comes down to obtaining a formal education. In response to this, the Coffee Shack has created a Pato School Scholarship Fund.  

This fund aims at sending underprivileged children from the Coffee Bay area to a secondary school.  

Many local children never complete their education as there isn't any school in the immediate area - the closest school being 20km away. 

Families simply cannot afford to send their children to these schools due to both travelling costs and expensive boarding fees, and close to none of these families have electricity let alone cars. 

The Coffee Shack has given guests the opportunity of helping donate money into the transparent scholarship fund. It costs R5 500 to send a child to boarding school per/annum. The Coffee Shack aims to send as many children as they can per year. Each cent counts. 

The magnificent view of Coffee Bay from the pre-primary school which the Coffee Shack is busy building, and a big portion of its permanent residents: the cow. 

This photograph is of the land directly in front of the pre-primary school under construction. Dave Malherbe (father of the Coffee Shack, and on the right of this picture) and his landscaper (on the left) are busy planning to install a permaculture farm in front of the school. The idea is that with the crops that are grown on the land itself, they will be able to feed the children of the school a nutritious meal once a day. 

The Coffee Shack promotes environmentally friendly practises and sustainability as Coffee Bay is an ecologically sensitive area, and as has been declared a biosphere (self-regulating ecosystem). The backpack is therefore a small but important part of the local scene, recognising and promoting the importance of education, skills development, and the preservation and protection of the natural environment around it.  

I believe Coffee Bay is where my obsession for cows started. This photograph is of the area surrounding the pre-primary school under construction. Many of the houses are run down, with no electricity. Like Bulungula, the majority of homes are traditionally built out of mud bricks and thatch, known as rondavels. While I was in Coffee Bay, the area's water supply had been shut down for the majority of my time there by the Municipality. This meant that the area was water-free over the space of  time of my visit. The Coffee Shack had their rain tank water supplies on stand-by, meaning that the shower pressure was just weak. Lucky us. 

An example of a rondavel on the right. 

The Coffee Shack gives you the option of either self-catering or being fully-catered for. Their meals are delicious, offering all meals (including a 2 course dinner meal, with vegetarian option!) as well as a fully licensed bar (The Babalaza Bar), which all works on a tab system. 

The Coffee Shack is also renown for its surfing lessons. Its owner, Dave Malherbe is a former Springbok Surf Champion (and Pro-Am World Title Holder). The backpack offers the cheapest professional surf lessons, where for R50 ($7US) you will hire a professional surf instructor, a wetsuit AND a surfboard for 2 hours. If you already have the skill, simply hire the gear and go face the lekker rightey beach and point breaks.

My den: I stayed across the stream (river mouth) from the main backpack area in Hut 1. It came with a double bed in the room, and a clean communal bathroom just up the path. 

The Coffee Shack accommodation includes dormitories sleeping 6-8 people; single rooms; double rooms; private rooms; en-suite rooms; and a campsite.

A special that comes with your stay is that your 5th night is FREE!
The majority of the people that I had met at the Coffee Shack had all landed up extending their stays at the backpack, drawing out their stays in this little tropical paradise for as long as they could.

Facilities: The backpack's facilities include fully-equipped self-catering communal kitchens; internet; secure-parking; laundry services; safes are available to store your valuables; a shuttle service; a free pool table; nightly campfires; beautiful rustic bathrooms which are -  for the ladies - equipped with 2 hairdryers! 

Sunsets and Sundowners: The Coffee Shack has a list of FREEBIES which are available to its guests which I would highly recommend future guests get involved in. These include:
A welcome drink on your arrival; Free Sunday dinner (potjie); Free oysters and mussels when they are available; Free drum playing circles; Free use of pool table; and lastly Free transport to a sundowners location where you can buy yourself drinks on your tab (subject to weather conditions, ofcourse).

This photograph is of 2 of the Coffee Shack staff carrying the cooler box of booze for sale, leading our group to the precipice where we would chill out under the setting sun.

I met two other Israelis in Coffee Bay, Ido and Eran. 

Ido, sunset over Coffee Bay.

Neil the surf-instructor. Sunset over Coffee Bay.

Neil, saluting the disappearing sun over Coffee Bay.

 

This beauty was what transported us around Coffee Bay on our sundowners excursion, as well as our lift back from the 3 hour Hole in The Wall Hike.

Night time at the Coffee Shack:  (from left to right) stranger; Anthony (Australia); me; David (Germany).

Nestle around the nightly camp-fires after a long day and swap some stories with the other backpackers! The communal areas are generally bustling till around 01h30, when people start to turn in for the night. The Babalaza Bar stays open till late, playing groovy tracks, serving alcohol and monitoring the pool table.

The last of the grooving troopers. The communal area directly outside the Babalaza Bar after a long, successful night of partying.