Shona’s wonderful Wild Coast walk – Day 3
Between Mosquito Beach and Mkambati Falls lies the rusted remains of the Weolmi 303, a North Korean tuna fishing trawler, which ran aground on a calm day in 1964.
A CHICKEN scoots past, and the familiar smell of fire, to warm a large pot of water, hangs in the crisp morning air.
ALSO READ: Herald journalist Shona Aylward begins her eight day hike through Wild Coast
We depart from Msikaba Village, and cross the Mtentu River by canoe, to get to Mkambati Nature Reserve, which is a 7720 hectare coastal reserve.
We have now stepped into a fascinating and diverse area of flora, indigenous forest patches and wetlands, flanked by the magnificent forested ravines of the Msikaba and Mtentu rivers.
A large herd of jittery hartebees watch us cautiously in the distance, and our guide Sinegugu Zukhulu pointed out that grazers like the eland, wildebeest, zebra and various antelope species have been introduced into the reserve.
“They also have a vulture colony in the Msikaba gorge,” adds Sinegugu
Interestingly, the reserve was a leper colony until the mid-20th century. The name ‘Mkhambathi’ comes from the local term for leprosy.
It’s a scorcher of a day, and a swim in a glorious Strandloper rock pool provides some relief.
The water is sparkling clean and some of us fill our water bottles.
Between Mosquito Beach and Mkambati Falls lies the rusted remains of the Weolmi 303, a North Korean tuna fishing trawler, which ran aground on a calm day in 1964.
In the book titled ‘Mkambati and the Wild Coast’ written by Div de Villiers and John Costello, it says the crew had consumed too much ‘asahi’ beer and the captain didn’t realise he was heading for the rocks.
The book goes on to tell the story of the late Hugh Nicolson, who was on a botany trip to the Mkambati leper colony at the time.
After a rough trip he questioned a rather drunk local as to everyone’s whereabouts, who slurred that they were all at the shipwreck.
When he went down he found a merry party in progress. The ship was also carrying whisky!
This story certainly makes one chuckle.
But the search for cellphone reception takes the journalist on a detour from the the group to the top of a hill, adding on what felt like an extra 10 miles to the hike.
The extent we go to file a story.
* Shona Aylward is taking part in the Wild Coast hike sponsored by the environmental journalism training agency, Roving Reporters (www.rovingreporters.co.za) and the 8 Mile Club, an adventurous group of charity swimmers who raise funds for various deserving charities.
