Tent Travels: Another world, a different time

AS per our rather cryptic set of instructions, we turned left off the R61 at the Siyaphambili Store, onto a bumpy track – and into another world.

It was the magical world of beautiful people, fabulous stories and spectacular natural riches that is known by many names. Pondoland, the Transkei or, most descriptively, the Wild Coast, is a place where time moves at a slower pace. It is officially part of the Eastern Cape, but it is a place apart. There is nowhere quite like the Wild Coast anywhere else in the world.

Unfortunately we were only paying this unique part of South Africa a fleeting visit, an overnight stay at Mnyameni, a bumpy but beautiful two-hour drive from our home on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. We were part of a gathering of special friends who were going to the little coastal paradise to celebrate our host, Steve’s 60th birthday.

We bumped along the twisty gravel road that descended into a green valley, crossing the river here and there . Quite often we found ourselves slowing down to admire the typical Transkei scenery. Strolling people, usually followed by lean but smiley dogs, waved as we passed and children yelled at us, demanding sweets.

The road gradually deteriorated into a network of tracks, weaving their way through little settlements and clusters of multi-coloured huts. We passed a subsistence farmer following a team of oxen pulling a sled. It is a common sight in the Transkei, this old fashioned form of transport. It makes practical sense in a rugged place that is generally without a reliable road system. Ox-drawn ploughs are also a common sight.

It seems such a simple life that people lead here but when you visit the Transkei don’t underestimate their level of sophistication. They are part of a complex traditional system built on a fascinating history and their cultural life is a rich tapestry of many colourful strands. The name ‘the Wild Coast’ has not been given lightly to this lovely but treacherous piece of coastline. Many ships have come to grief on these rocky shores and shipwreck survivors from all over the globe have added scraps of foreign culture, not to mention foreign genes, to the vibrant society that has settled this verdant shore. Later came the traders and other settlers.

Like all societies, though, theirs is not without political intrigue, controversy and conflict. As we meandered through the idyllic countryside it seemed strange that, not too far from where we were heading, the Amadiba people had recently endured yet another violent and unsettling incident related to the controversy over a proposed dune mining project. A South African subsidiary of an Australian mining company had applied – and just recently reapplied after losing its initial bid – to mine a pristine but titanium rich strip of coastline in the Xolobeni area.

Bitter wrangling over the mining has raged for more than a decade and has split a peaceful community into hostile pro-mining and anti-mining factions. Those allied to the mining company believe the project will bring wealth to an area where poverty is rife. The anti-mining activists believe that mining and eco-tourist are mutually exclusive but that eco-tourism in this wild and wonderful place would be more sustainable and a better long-term option.

As we negotiated the final, particularly rough and bumpy stretch of track, we gazed at the ancient red dunes, the rolling Transkei grasslands, the distant mountains and the backdrop of an impossibly blue sea. It was hard to believe that conflict and treachery could thrive in such a peaceful, unspoilt place.

Although our friends had all arrived before us the cottage was empty. Everyone was on the beach so we unpacked and went to find them. It was one of those tourist brochure days, complete with golden sun, a cloudless sky and perfectly blue sea. We joined our friends and sat around soaking up the sunshine, idly watched the incoming tide doing battle with the river currents. The waves were slowly winning, filling up the magnificent Mnyameni River estuary. The Wild Coast is renowned for its big rivers, deep river gorges and unspoiled estuaries. This sparkling river mouth was no exception.

It is good for the soul to spend a perfect sunny day on a pristine beach with special people then to round it off by watching a golden sunset from a peaceful pretty spot like the cottage’s rustic verandah. In the meantime, Steve and Daleen were preparing a birthday feast – a delicious paella, to which the fishermen amongst us had contributed their catch. It was a delicious meal and a wonderful celebration and, although it hadn’t exactly been an early night, we all followed it with a fairly early start the next day. The fishermen were up and out at first light but Bill and I chose to take an early morning beach walk then to enjoy the pearly morning views from the sheltered verandah.

Not long after breakfast – yet another feast of a meal –we bade farewell to our hosts and friends and wandered back along the bumpy track. We stopped at a waterfall along the way and took a little stroll to do some tree hugging. The unspoilt and amazingly varied vegetation in this, an acknowledged botanical hotspot, is one of the Transkei’s most valuable assets.

In our increasingly crowded and over-exploited world, I believe this floral wealth, along with the Transkei’s pristine coastline, magnificent gorges, the rolling hills and mountains and the sheer wildness of the unique piece of southern Africa will all be more valuable – in both an abstract and a real, calculable sense – than any wealth men seek beneath the ground.

When we reached the store we turned right, back onto the R61 and into the real world. In this real world of ours we never have enough time to spend in these special places that we love – but virtual time is more more flexible. So, virtually, let us turn left instead of right at Siyaphambili Store and for, the next few weeks, do a little more virtual travelling in this wild and wonderful otherworldly place with many names.