On a fourth day of our trip we left Port St. John's after travelling back roads (dirt) for about an hour to go up to an old airstrip with the most amazing views (pic 1). We were headed to Coffee Bay and the Hole in the Wall. We get to Coffee Bay around midday and realize that the only tar road in the area was the highway we had turned off of about 30 minutes back. We stop for a drink at the 1 hotel in the area because there weren't even any shops close by. We hung out for a while looked at the pretty views and took off for the Hole in the Wall where the hostel was. So it turns out that the little line on the map that connects Coffee Bay with the Hole in the Wall is not really a road at all but rather gravel and rocks that are about 1.5m wide for 30km or so, its not level there is areas where there is no gravel or rocks just patches of dirt and grass. We had found some bad roads but I think I can be assured that I will never come across a road like that one every again. So to travel approximately 30km it took us about 45 minutes. There were several locals walking the road so at least it wasn't completely deserted and they were walking just slight slower than we were driving.
After 30 minutes on a dirt road and 45 minutes on a so-called 'road' we reach the Hole in the Wall. And it really was worth it (pic 2), I love getting off the beaten track and finding these little areas. We get to the hostel and check in, the manager dude apologizes for not getting up to meet us but he has a spider bite on his foot and is having difficulty walking. Than he tells us we have our own dorm room because the only other guests around are cops from Mtata down to help out with the tribal war.... I kid you not. The two of us stop and look at the guy and 'your shitting us right' but nope. We were chatting (kind of of, their English was not very good and my Xhosa is even worse) with a couple of the cops later and we thought we'd check with them about this whole tribal war thing because it really kind of seemed that we should have heard about it some how if it was of any significance but there were about 20 cops around from Mtata so that's a lot of cops and they had been in the hostel for over a month already. The cops did call it a tribal war as well but I got the feeling it was more of a tribal dispute rather than a war but hey what do I know I'm a whitey.
We got so excited thinking we get to see a tribal war, with spears and shields and all painted up, but alas we didn't get to see any tribal war. When were driving back to Durban on our last day three boys did cross in front of us with spears, no tribal war just a couple kids going off to initiation school to get circumcised- not completely sure about this but it’s the right time of year, right area, and the boys were about the right age so through the process of elimination...
We did discover the spider bite the manager got had basically killed his foot. It was completely black and they were pretty sure they were going to have to amputate (got this from his wife, she was scared shitless obviously). The day we left they were going to the hospital to see if the medication was working or if his foot was coming off. I have to say we got a little bit paranoid of spiders for the rest of the trip but likely all of our limbs are still intact.
After 30 minutes on a dirt road and 45 minutes on a so-called 'road' we reach the Hole in the Wall. And it really was worth it (pic 2), I love getting off the beaten track and finding these little areas. We get to the hostel and check in, the manager dude apologizes for not getting up to meet us but he has a spider bite on his foot and is having difficulty walking. Than he tells us we have our own dorm room because the only other guests around are cops from Mtata down to help out with the tribal war.... I kid you not. The two of us stop and look at the guy and 'your shitting us right' but nope. We were chatting (kind of of, their English was not very good and my Xhosa is even worse) with a couple of the cops later and we thought we'd check with them about this whole tribal war thing because it really kind of seemed that we should have heard about it some how if it was of any significance but there were about 20 cops around from Mtata so that's a lot of cops and they had been in the hostel for over a month already. The cops did call it a tribal war as well but I got the feeling it was more of a tribal dispute rather than a war but hey what do I know I'm a whitey.
We got so excited thinking we get to see a tribal war, with spears and shields and all painted up, but alas we didn't get to see any tribal war. When were driving back to Durban on our last day three boys did cross in front of us with spears, no tribal war just a couple kids going off to initiation school to get circumcised- not completely sure about this but it’s the right time of year, right area, and the boys were about the right age so through the process of elimination...
We did discover the spider bite the manager got had basically killed his foot. It was completely black and they were pretty sure they were going to have to amputate (got this from his wife, she was scared shitless obviously). The day we left they were going to the hospital to see if the medication was working or if his foot was coming off. I have to say we got a little bit paranoid of spiders for the rest of the trip but likely all of our limbs are still intact.
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