Weekend Away: Bulungula

A year ago, when we learned that we were relocating to Mthatha, a friend said, "Ooh, you MUST go to Bulungula, it's AMAZING!"  She was right, and I'm sorry it's taken us so long to get there. 

The map says the travelling time from Mthatha is 3 hours.   This is true, unless you take a 25km detour, as we did.  The directions are good, but there are so many roadworks, the distinction between main and subsidiary roads can become a bit blurred.

An advantage of the detour - we got to see that the washing of vehicles in rivers is not restricted to taxis and bakkies

Some of the landmarks can also a bit tricky to identify..."After another 10km you will drive through a small stream and soon after you will reach the Arts Centre – turn right here (Embekweni Store will be on your right)..."

Embekweni Store was open for business on Sunday afternoon

We arrived at dusk, and had to negotiate the hilly, grassy 500m from the car park with all our luggage and two dogs* on leads . . . in soft, soaking rain.  It was pitch dark by the time we arrived at Reception.

The view from our hut in the morning made the soggy slog worthwhile though:

The view of the sea from our hut.  The blue building is the reception/dining/kitchen/lounge area.

The view of the Bulungula River from our hut

All the buildings are beautifully painted in cheerful colours.  Kilo, the resident dog-who-must-be-patted basks in the morning sunshine.

The goats are quite used to humans, but don't like being patted.

They prefer to wait at the entrance to the campsite - where the grass is greener, of course.

The unisex toilets are a riot of colour, and immaculately maintained

Telling it like it is - on the back of each toilet door

This cubicle, for some unknown reason, is the most used toilet at Bulungula, and the system battles with the amount of waste it has to process.

For a special treat, you can use the forest shower, which is fuelled by paraffin and tissue paper in a delightfully noisy pipe contraption which heats the water long enough for a steaming hot 7-minute shower.

Or you could go for a more rustic option. Light a fire under the bath and ablute with a view of the sea

Saturday morning was glorious, and we explored the mouth of the river before heading off down the beach.

The dogs were intrigued by this peculiar looking dog they encountered

Bulungula has several activities which involve the community.  Here, a local takes a visitor fishing. 

There are quite a few large branches along the beach which have been stripped of their bark by the elements.  Some of them look quite apocalyptic.

Harry, at 15, is getting a bit old for these long excursions, and was quite happy to hitch a ride in the backpack

On our way back, we are reminded that people are living here - wood needs to be collected, and rivers need to be played in

Maintenance is ongoing, even on Sunday morning.  

The Xhosa bread is amazing.  When last did you see a bread slicer like that?

There is a library with books ranging from a tourist guide to the Peninsula in Chinese,  to fantasy, crime thrillers, some rather obscure textbooks and a book on the history of the trading stations in the Eastern Cape.

On Sunday we explored the goat-free campsite and decided that this is where we're going to stay next time.  Because there will definitely be a next time. Everything is perfect - eco-facilities, price, hospitality, yummy food, beauty, community responsibility and friendly staff.

 

This donkey visited us and was quite happy to be patted. Aren't those clouds glorious?

A perfect end to a perfect  weekend - chilling with a book.  Even with such heavy cloud cover, we got sunburned - don't forget the sunscreen.

* Dogs are welcome, as long as they don't chase the chickens and goats.  So, the first thing Jasper did on Saturday morning was chase a chicken.  The dogs spent the rest of the weekend on leads, unless we were on the beach. Late Sunday morning, one of the staff asked why we kept them tied up, and we told her.  "No man,"  she said, "let them off.  The chickens must look after themselves."  And of course she was right.

Did you got a licence?

My driver's licence came up for renewal last week. 

To avoid queues, several people advised me to go to one of the traffic departments in one of the outlying areas.  But I wanted to experience what the majority of Mthatians go through, and went to the main traffic department with a friend who could help me with language and procedures.

The traffic department overlooks Mthatha.  In the foreground is the area where learner drivers take their tests.  Just beyond the fence you can see a large area of burned grass - a sight I am now getting used to.

We arrived at 08:00 and there were already over 60 people ahead of us in the queue. I had done my homework and brought a copy of my ID with me, but not a copy of my driver's licence. No problem. There was a man in a container offering all the necessary services - so I had my photos taken (grim, as expected), and made a copy of my licence.  I didn't have the exact change though.  No problem.  Moses, in the queue behind me, was willing to help out.

In the middle of the pic is a building site - a brand new shopping centre which will have a Woolies and lots of other fabulous chainstores.  I hope the access road gets upgraded too - if you're not avoiding potholes, you're looking out for killer speedbumps.

The queueing process was very orderly, and everyone was patient and understanding. It was rather fluid though - people got up and came back half an hour later, and their seats had been kept for them.  Sometimes people left and didn't come back at all.  Very little was said, and I'm still trying to work out if there was an elaborate signal sytem that I wasn't aware of.

By 11:00 it was all done and dusted (fingerprints taken electronically - no messy black ink).  But after three hours in the queue, my bladder was protesting, so I thought I'd see if the toilets were usable.

Mistake.

The first toilet had no lock on the door, no seat, no toilet paper, no cistern lid and no water in the cistern. Decided to give that one a miss.

The second door was locked

Let's see what's behind door number three.

The door was slightly ajar, but there seemed to be something in the way of opening the door fully...

Ah.  Now I see why I can't open the door.

I looked behind me to see if there were any other doors, and yes, there was another cubicle.

 However, it too, seemed to have been turned into an impromptu filing room.

There seemed no other lavatorial alternative, so I grit my teeth and left for home.  Quickly.