Tucked away from the bore of the well trodden path and see-sawing on the edge of secrecy sits a three point stretch on the East Coast of South Africa where the rural African countryside collides with the beachside sands. Dividing the rolling hills and the Atlantic Ocean are steep rocky cliff faces dropping into jungle-like shrubbery and fading into pebbled beach.
Here lies the Transkei, a small state negated for the Xhosan people during apartheid which has surprisingly managed to avoid the mass tourism disease and retain its welcoming vibe. The Transkei is home to the trio Port St Johns, Coffee Bay and Mpande which sit together quietly on the Wild Coast, enjoying simplicity, silence, and the rhythm of the waves.
Kept as a traveler’s secret and in a tourist's oblivion, the Transkei’s gem is Coffee Bay. Its degraded road of potholes and roaming animals prevents pompous sports cars and any preconceived notions of souring its natural beauty.
With barely two simple hostels shaded by the beach, Coffee Bay remains modest despite its visitor’s compliments. The Coffee Shack and Bomvu backpacker’s hostel sit happily beside each other, each run by a past surfer stuck in paradise, and local Rastafarians.
Despite the two hour crawl down the road to the middle of nowhere, the only problem is not having enough time to appreciate all that Coffee Bay has to offer. For a place whose nearest petrol station is three hours away, Coffee Bay has endless explorations and activities to make up the time before sun-downers drinks on the hill watching the African sunset in the edge of the Earth.
The cliff faces worn in by a millennium of crashing waves have formed impossible rock formations towering out from the water. Hole in the Wall hovers as an arch rising from the ocean, where the waves fight through its gate to be calmed down onto the shore. A three hour hike balancing between the divide of the green farm pastures and cliff faces framing the beach, challenges your heart rate and your original ideas of elemental perfection.
At the end of the hike the warm Indian Ocean meets you, and a swim to the sea bound Hole in the Wall formation allows you to look back onto the Wild Coast of where you came, and realise this is one secret you would never be able to keep to yourself. If your legs are still strong from the hike and swim, you can climb up inside the arch with the sea gurgling bellow you and jump off into the coming waves. Rolling with the waves with the sight of Hole in the Wall washing further away as you drift back onto the shore, the only thing missing is the Moby soundtrack!
There are many walks like this where you can stumble upon the Wild Coasts secrets of bat caves, rock jumps and natural Jacuzzis.
Both Bomvu and the Coffee Shack can point you to friendly locals who will happily lead you along each of the walks and show you the highlights, or you can follow the trail yourself and go exploring yourself with new friends. Both hostels host a range of activities such as surfing lessons from an ex surf champion for AU$3 an hour, or you can wander up to the Bongo Café on the hill and make your own bongo drum and have a lesson by a local Rastafarian. You can buy crayfish for pittance and braii them for dinner, or enjoy the hostels’ traditional Xhosan meals and international favorites. Bomvu and Coffee Shack both allow you to stay in dorms, private shacks, or camp with some of the cheapest prices in South African accommodation.
Choose The Coffee Shack for the new bathrooms and great food or take Bomvu for the wide open flat camping spaces and the huge campfires. Being the friendly open place the Transkei is, you can go between the two with ease, and make sure you are there for a full moon party which starts with sundowner drinks on the hill, a bongo drum jamming session between the locals, and drinking on the beach under the stars.
The only necessity for Coffee Bay is spare time and an open mind. There is an appreciation for marijuana and mushrooms, but locally grown produce are both quite mild.
Whilst the drive down in a hire car is possible, a four wheel drive would be favorable because of the conditions of the roads. Or to not have to worry about either you can get a Grey Hound bus or the Baz Bus to Mthatha where each hostel will organise a van to pick you up.
The Transkei is a place where you can spend a million hours doing nothing but laying on the beach under the trees, or explore the coastline, the country side, and everything in between, and yet never run out of things to do. It's a friendly welcoming beach side village and a great place to meet other travelers. Coffee Bay is unlike anywhere else on the South African coastline that has managed to remain somewhat of a little known rumor known by local South Africans and travelers who manage to make it past the popular beach side surf spots along the Garden Route. The only thing you should expect is to extend your stay over and over again.
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