Day Trip to Port St John's

On Sunday, we decided it was time for another outing, this time to Port St John's, which is about 70km from Mthatha, and at the mouth of the Umzimvubu River.

I've seen plenty of breathtaking pics of the Wild Coast coastline, and was looking forward to seeing it in all its panoramic glory. The countryside was beautifully green and lush, but unfortunately it's useless for farming, as it's too mountainous.

As we drove into the village, one of the first things I noticed was the proliferation of signs like this all along the beach front. The next thing I noticed was the blatant disregard for this regulation.

Broken glass and empty beer cans all around the car park. Even so, people were enjoying themselves on the beach and in the sea,  despite the warnings about sharks.

And of course, the entrepreneurs were present, with the uber-versatile wheelbarrow acting as a mobile braai.

This magnificent fellow also thought it was a great day for the beach

Election posters for May last year are still up - as in Mthatha.  Admittedly, this one could be a bit tricky to reach.

We went to Amapondo Backpackers for lunch.  On the back of this sign was another notice, asking us to keep the gate closed, to stop the donkeys from getting out.  When we arrived, the gate was open, and the donkeys were nowhere to be seen.  We knew where they were though - we'd seen some donkeys hanging around the braai area on the beach - hoping for tidbits.

Okay...

After lunch, we went exploring.  There are houses dotted all along the cliff tops.  At lookout points there were women selling beautiful beadwork.  We didn't see any other cars while we were up there, so business must have been very slow.

Someone found a bit of flatness, and planted a vegetable patch. The colour variation in the sea is probably caused by the fresh water of the Umzimvubu River mixing with the sea water. The 'stripe' runs for kilometres, and is this straight as far as we could see.

Love it!

Interesting combination.  And just in case you can't read, here's a picture to help you make up your mind.

A deserted beach.  Well, almost.

On the way home, we noticed kilometre upon kilometre of concrete pathways next to the road.  Good to see some infrastructure development.  Would be nice if some of it was sent in the direction of our potholes.

Now we know where white bakkies go to die.

What a Load of Bull

A few Saturdays ago, Bob and I were pottering around the house and garden (as one does), and he called out to me:  "Hunnee, they're back!"  I looked out of the window and saw nobody.  "Look in the road!"  he yelled.

And there they were.  This bull had obviously spread the word about our luscious grazing, and brought his whole family along (which takes Spur Family Meal to a whole new level).

Yes, a HERD of cows grazing in our road.  At least three are in hidden in the long grass. The dogs were not sure how to respond.

Each family member brought a feathered friend along

I haven't mentioned yet that our landlord subdivided his property before we moved in, and is building accommodation for travellers in what was his back yard.  Building started about a week ago, and I'm sure it will provide much blog material in the months to come.  But I digress...

The old buildings have been demolished and the site is being cleared for construction

As I returned home from renewing my drivers' licence today (more about that, later), the cows were back in our road, perhaps not realising that blackened grass  is neither tasty nor nutritious.  However, our garden is looking rather lush, and I had a Eureka moment which I thought was a win-win situation.

I asked some of the builders from next door to herd a cow or two into my garden.  They thought this was a
 delightful diversion and tackled the project with gusto, but not much success.




We managed to 'encourage' one cow into the garden, but without her mates around, she got stage fright, and lost her appetite.

Then she caught sight of the pool, and this was the final straw - she left.



There was much merriment among the builders as they worked out that if we got MORE cattle into the garden, they'd be more likely to graze.  But I decided to call it a day, as the thought of fishing a cow out of the pool was not too appealing.

So the builders went back to work, laughing and chatting - probably dying to tell their wives about this mad umlungu next door.  The last I heard before I went inside was, "Nee man, daai koei is useless.  Hy wil fokkol eet."*



* No man, that cow is useless, he wants to eat F-all

Holy Cow!

Bob and I were walking the dogs, and came across this bull (note no fence) wandering down our road. The bull spent most of today grazing and resting outside our gate. No wonder Telkom didn't arrive to fix the ADSL.