Scribbles Abroad

Lesotho

November 15, 2009

We saw it on the map. Lesotho, a country within a country. We called it Lay-so-tho. But as we begun questioning locals about this place we learned that it is actually pronounced Lahy-su-tu. We also learned that it was worth the visit and considering we were so darn close, why not go check it out? So after the Northern Drakensbergs and after the realization that we didn’t need to pay $50 US to go on a guided tour to see Lesotho, we set our route and began our next adventure.

We entered through the top of Lesotho at the Butha Butha crossing. What you noticed as soon as you entered the country was how barren it seamed. Very rocky, chilly, and people walking around with blankets around them also wearing gumboots.

Lesotho is known as the Kingdom in the Sky. Geographically it is the plateau at the top of the mountains. Fully bordered by South Africa. After several attempts to be taken over by others, Lesotho has remained steadfast and has been able to remain independent. Partially due to their geographical advantage in war and the power of the people. The infrastructure was pretty basic but the roads were pretty well maintained. It seems they make their money off of mining, livestock, textiles, and marijuana.

We drove through the top and stuck to the side with the Drakensberg Mountain range enjoying their spectacle from the other side. There are very few trees, tons of sheep, and a lot of shepherds to watch over them. In some cases it appeared that 1 shepherd could take care of more than a hundred sheep over vast areas of barren rock and little shrubs. They lived in rudimentary rock houses that looked really cold.

We spent one night in a local hotel and then continued the drive by tour the next morning. We noticed wild ganja plants just growing around the property.

The rest of the country that we visited offered a lot of the same. Lots of windy roads, cold temperatures, sheep, shepherds, lots of children running and begging. As you passed a village, the kids present would run towards your vehicle with their hands out. Simply begging. We tried not to condone it but it was tough and we began giving some of them candy.

Kim posing for Lesotho Girls Gone Wild.

On the drive we passed a ski resort! It consisted of one lift but the snow was missing. I guess it was a bit early in the season still. It was defineltly cold enough and there was snow on the ground in places.

One of the highlights was our departure from Lesotho. The descent into South Africa is one of the most exhilarting 4×4 experiences around. Most people go up Sani Pass and then down. Its an off road journey that in my life has been uncomparable. We chose to do the fun part and only go down, although at the end I was ready to drive back up and do it again. Each turn put you on the edge of irreperable harm and the steering wheel was rightfully sweaty by the end. There have been many tragic mishaps on this pass, luckily we didn’t raise the tally. I’d say skillfully.

Pic of the border.

The team.

This was a cool ad that we saw. South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, and most of the other countries in southern and central Africa have the highest HIV infection rates in the world. Something like 35% of the people in Swaziland have HIV, I don’t think that Lesotho is as bad but I don’t think its much better.

Saw this hill and thought of Darryl Freeman, our buddy and legendary downhill skater.
Northern Draks

November 9, 2009

After Swaziland we booked it a couple hours West to the Northern Drakensbergs, the mountain range on the Lesotho – South Africa border. A few weeks into our road trip we were flipping through a travel magazine, saw some amazing pictures of the Drakensberg Mountains, and decided to make it a stop. Like most of our journey we were winging it and did not know what we wanted to see or where we were going to stay. After a quick flip through our backpackers guide we found a place called The Amphitheater Backpackers. It said they had a Jacuzzi in their bar, we were sold.

When we first arrived they took us on a little tour of the place and gave us this 20 minute sales pitch for the different tours that they offered. The guy did a really good job because we were sold. Even though it was pricey they made it seem like nearly impossible to do them on your own. Much earlier in our round-the-world trip, I think in Vietnam, I swore off organized tours because they usually end up being a big over priced joke. I must have forgotten all about that because we signed up for the Sentinal Peak hike and the Lesotho day trip. Lunch, transport, and a first aid certified guide was included in the $45 fee for each trip.

The hip bar at the Amphitheater Backpackers

The next morning about 14 of us piled into a minibus along with our guide Zee. The drive to the hike was FAR, about a 2 hour drive. The roads were windy and it was very misty and foggy. On our way we spotted a motorcyclist waving for help. We were the first on the scene and called for an ambulance. The guy was wearing protective gear but was still pretty banged up, if he were just 3 meters different no one would have found him. After calling for help, we were surprised when our guide suggested that we get back in the van and move on instead of waiting with him until help arrived. We all refused and there was little she could do. 30 minutes later a few police arrived followed by an ambulance. We got back in the minibus and continued our journey towards the Sentinal. We hoped it wasn’t a sign of things to come.

Sentinal Peak up in the clouds in the background

The hike was about 12K and took us about 5 or 6 hours. There were people of different fitness levels in our group so we hiked really really slowly. In a single file line and took a break about every 10 minutes. This drove me a little nutty because its nice to walk at your own pace instead of feeling like a cow in a herd, but it did give you a lot of time to look around and soak in the scenery.

The herd

Walking along the base of the Sentinal Peak. Look at how small we are!

There were a couple of girls in our group that were afraid of heights (acrophobia). This was not a acrophobia friendly hike. The sales people back at the backpackers intentionally misled the girls to make a sale. The girls even told them they were afraid of heights and asked if they would still be able to do the hike. They said, yeah, no problem. The most difficult part of the hike was a loop, so once you committed there was no turning back. The girls made it up the steep climb up to the view-point with some trouble but Todd was there to assist them and to keep them calm.

The steep climb up to the view-point

View of the amphitheater. The peak that looks like praying hands is ironically called the Devils Tooth.

It was a loooooong way down, probably a mile high straight drop. Creepy! Kahi sat by on the very edge while I stood at a safer distance.

TOYOTA!

More refreshment, more reward.

Our guide Zee enjoying her lunch at the top

Kim getting a little too close to the edge for Todd’s comfort

After soaking in the amazing view from the top it was time to make our way down. The most challenging part of the hike was descending a 100ft cliff on a chain linked ladder. Sketchy… Not something an acrophobiac would every want to do.

The ladder

Kim going down first

Todd making his way down

Sunset over Sentinal Peak, the highest peak in the background.

Nothing like soaking in a jacuzzi after a long day of hiking and Todd telling you all about it, click on the photo and check the jaw action

The hike was beautiful, but we could have done it on our own for $5 instead of $45. The group tour would have been good if you didn’t have your own car but it you have one it might be nicer to go on your own. We re-thought the Lesotho tour and decided that we’d do it on our own. That way we could take our time and spend a couple days in Lesotho instead of a few hours.

The next day we drove to the Royal Natal National Park to do another hike with a different view of the amphitheater. The last view was from the top down and this hike would give us the view from the bottom up.

Local kids selling rhinos and hippos made of clay at the entrance to the park. Kahi made the mistake of telling one of the boys “maybe on the way out.” He waited for us for 5 hours, ran up to the car, and said “mister, you promised”

The Amphitheater from down below

The first 3/4 of the hike was well marked and easy to follow. Towards the end we were not quite sure where to go or where the end of the hike was. After climbing up a couple of ladders that lead to no where we decided to walk up the riverbed until we found a nice view of the mountains.

Walking up the riverbed and keeping your shoes dry was a little challenging

Kahi’s super cool $10 shoes from “Jet” (a local cheap clothes chain)

Amphitheater

The Northern Drakensberg Mountains were magnificent, but after a couple full days of hiking we needed a break. We packed our bag, loaded the car and made our way to the Lesotho Border. They remain one of the highlights of our entire trips in South Africa. GO THERE, DO IT ON YOUR OWN.
Swaziland

November 6, 2009

Our car died at the Jeppes Reef border, no surf. With a beer in my lap and the border guard motioning me forward the car froze. I passed the beer back to Todd and got out of the car. I explained to the officer that the car had died, it didn’t want to go to Swaziland. But we still wanted to. The officer laughed and helped us get our car back onto the South Africa side of the country so that we could figure out what to do next.

We called the rental company and they acted like it was their fault. They were so sorry for our inconvenience and they wanted to get us a car as soon as possible. Never mind the fact that we had just rambled the hell out of this soccer mom car. They promised us a car in 4 hours to our exact location. While we waited the girls and Todd checked out a cultural village show and I searched for a place to stay for the night.

I caught a local taxi with the locals and found us a place. It definitely wasn’t in the Lonley Planet, but it was only a night and we were out of there at first light.

After arranging the hotel for the night I caught the death taxi back to the Cultural Village. I got there just in time to watch the end of the show which was amazing. We stayed around for a bit after to talk with the crew as they were curious as to who we were. As we drank our cocktails we witnessed one of the main things that makes me cringe. The degradation of employess by a boss. In this case it was the owner (a white man) of the cultural village, in front of his guests, completely humilitiating his employee (a black man). It was wrong regardless, even if the employee had fucked up, a reprimand isn’t necessary in front of everyone. We paid our tab and got the hell out of there telling the other employees that the reason were leaving was because of their asshole boss.

The car came shortly thereafter and we didn’t know what to expect. We were talking to the guy over the cellphone to get him to exactly where we were and when he pulled up it was a tiny little red 2 door and we just started cracking up. We would manage but it would be extremely uncomfortable. But luckily a few seconds later the real car showed up, a brand new Nissan X-Trail. The plastic on it and everything. Little did it know what was in for it.

Since there didn’t seem to be anything open we got stuck eating KFC. There are KFC’s everywhere in South Africa! It was the first time we had eaten fast food in a while and we hoped it would be the last. We got there just as they were closing. As we stood in line, we got cut in front of twice and when we got to the front all we got were the leftovers. The locals knew it was closing time and had no qualms with walking right in front of us. We laughed and had our nasty KFC dinner. It would’ve been nasty either way.

Swaziland was amazing, some dude at the game reserve told us it was dirty and only good for the gambling but let me tell you that guy didn’t know shit. We had a great time, hiking, exploring, off-roading, staying at unique backpackers and just having a great time.

We met a son of the King and therefore a potential Prince/King. But he was just a security guard. In Swaziland polygamy is cool, I can imagine all the Kailua guys buying tickets as soon as they read that. The King has a butt load of wives and therefore thousands of kids. The locals do a dance once a year (the Reed Dance) and the King picks out new girls to be his wives. Anyways, the economy seems to be running smoothly. It was good to see Africans running the business that would usually be run by the Whites in South Africa. They were in suits and looked very professional. But there was also the desire to remain true to their culture. We saw many locals in the local garb and sometimes mixing the traditional outfits with modern fashion as well.

This is Todd with one of the Kings thousand kids, children. Guys kinda old.

The Prince worked at another Cultural Village and we wanted to go swim at their waterfall. But we also thought about staying in one of the tent rooms they had as well…..until we saw the asshole! He owned this cultural village as well. So we didn’t stay there on principal although it was pretty nice, but we did go swimming completely ignoring all the signs telling us to stay away from the waterfall. We couldn’t help ourselves. We took naps as the the sound of the crashing waterfall eased our minds. It was a very relaxing afternoon.

Our favorite stay while in Swaziland was at a backpackers that was actually an old barn that had been converted into dorm rooms. Each stall that usually held a horse was now a bedroom. It was open to everything so there wasn’t much privacy but it was still really cool. We had giant bonfires as the wood seemed inextinguishable. We ate very well while there.

In one town we visited the local hot springs. While Todd and Kim had nice massages (turned out to be pretty bad actually) we soaked in the empty pools. But there were these two young boys, say 15, and one of them popped a big boner when Louise got in the water. It was really funny. His buddy was pointing at him and he got really embarrassed. I got really embarrassed too, these African kids are more like grown men! Later we met some African girls that wanted to take a picture with me so we obliged. Sorry I didn’t get a picture of the kid with the hard wanger.

One day while the girls went to shop, Todd and I hit some balls. This guy in the pic below was just picking up balls by hand with no gear. That has to be one of the most dangerous jobs around!

Todd and Kims prom pose.

We took a great hike in a secret spot, actually forgot the name of the area. See the pics.

Which way do we go? We got lost about 5 times this day. Thank goodness I can navigate by the stars and we got back just in time for sunset.

This pic shows all the animal trails climbing up the hill.

This is a pic of the view I had while taking a deuce in the bush. It was a magnificent poo.

This pic is for Don, Jason and Barrett, and I guess anyone else thats been the victim of a deez nuts joke.
Kruger National Park

November 1, 2009

South Africa – Mozambique Border

Our journey through Mozambique was a crazy adventure and we loved every minute of it but it was time to cross back into South Africa. Not knowing what to expect in Mozambique added to the experience but sometimes made things a little difficult. We decided to drive through Kruger vs. going back down along the coast through Mozambique because we knew what to expect in both countries. We chose South Africa to avoid the treacherous roads of Moz. plus, we were looking forward to the grocery stores, frequent gas stations, comfortable and readily available accommodation, etc. Our drive to the Mozambique – South Africa border was not without drama, check it out The Drive Across Mozambique. We didn’t run out of gas, thanks to the nice policeman who hooked us up with a few liters of petrol, and were able to cross safely into South Africa. We weren’t home free yet. The Pafuri Boarder Post led us right into Kruger Park and not into a small town like we were expecting and the nearest gas station was still about 30K away. The Border Patrol Officers gave us directions to the nearest gas station but it was crucial that followed their lead or we could run out of gas which would SUCK.

While driving toward the gas station we weren’t expecting to see much right away but shortly after crossing the border we saw a bunch of baboons, elephants, and all sorts of antelope. We stopped shortly to take a few pictures but moved along in our search for gas. After 10-15 minutes of driving we saw the Total Gas Station in the distance. What a relief. They didn’t take credit card and we had very little Rand on hand because we had just crossed the border and hadn’t gotten a chance to stop by the ATM. We filled up with what we had then drove to the Punda Maria Restcamp which had accommodation, a small store, and a restaurant. Their ATM was out of service but we bought a couple things from the store and they let us take out some extra cash. We had a proper lunch consisting of massive burgers and ice cold beer, topped off the tank and made our way down south.

Lunch at the Punda Maria Restcamp

Kruger was in a sort of way, a bonus. We hadn’t planned to go there, but we were so close. Kruger Park is the largest game reserve park in South Africa and is about 200 miles long by 60 miles wide which also makes it one of the biggest in the World. Over a million people visit Kruger each year so as you can imagine it can get quite crowded and accommodation in the park fills up quickly. It’s recommended that you reserve your accommodation at least two days in advance, which we didn’t do. Kruger has about 13 restcamps distributed throughout the park most providing everything a variety of accommodation, a restaurant, and a store, some are quite large and are more like small towns. While trying to arrange last minute accommodation we realized our first choices were full but luckily we were able to reserve the last two places in the Shingwedzi Restcamp. The accommodation was R130 per person per night which works out to a little less than $15.

The rest of the day we drove around looking at animals and were quite surprised by how frequently we saw something. We figured that most of the animals would get scared away by all the cars driving around and we would only see a few things. On the contrary, the animals didn’t seem to be phased by the vehicles. It was like they viewed cars as some type of non-threatening animal that lived amongst them. They would stop to check you out, but once they realized you weren’t a threat they would continue their business. You could sit there and watch them for ages if you really wanted to.

Technically you’re not suppose to get out of the car because its really dangerous and you can get killed and it’s against the rules and what not, but hey……

Securing a place for the next day proved to be a little more difficult. It was a weekend and we were further south where the majority of the visitors stay, needless to say they were completely booked. The only thing we could hope for was that someone would cancel their booking. We decided to head as far south as we could and try to make it out of the park then find a place to stay outside. The park is only 200 miles from north to south and we were about a third of the way down, but the speed limit is 40K per hour (25 miles per hour). You can’t get too far going 25 miles per hour in a day plus you need to be out of the park before 6 pm when they shut down the gates or you face paying a heavy fine.

Kruger is very different from Tembe. The vibe at Tembe is more of a luxurious pampered safari experience. Everything is taken care of for you and the safari guides know where to drive you around to find a certain animal. The parks are so large that if you dont know the patterns of the different animals behaviors it can be very difficult to spot something specific. In Tembe it was nice to sit back and have someone show you around. We learned a lot about how to approach an animal in a vehicle, clues to look for when searching for something. Tom, our guide at Tembe, taught us that if you want to see lions or rhinos you need to look for them in the morning because they sleep in the afternoon. If we tried to drive around Tembe ourselves I don’t think we would have seen much at all. It was nice to have a guide. It was nice that Tembe was smaller and had less visitors than Kruger. There were only a two or three safari vehicles driving around the park at a time and it felt more private.

Kruger on the other hand felt like it had a much greater concentration of animals. You could arrange a safari tour but I really didn’t think you needed one. You could drive around the park and run into tons of animals, especially elephants, giraffes, zebras, hyena, baboons, and antelope. Plus many of the roads were paved and as an independent driver you were driving on the same roads as the safari. Just a different feel from that of Tembe. We really enjoyed Kruger because of the nonstop action from many animals that crossed our path. Keep in mind that didn’t put much effort into spotting animals, except for driving down the road and keeping our eyes peeled. This is what we saw:

Hippos crusin’ by the river

Waterbuffalo enjoying his meal

Juvenile elephants having an afternoon drink

A hyena den only 2m from the road

Momma hyena carrying her new born baby

Kahi won our “spot a rhino” competition and enjoyed the prize of a free beer from each of us and he savored every drop of those beers

Heard of elephants crossing in front of our car

Southern Ground Hornbill

Pregnant hyena about to pop

Southern Kruger gate entrance/exit

Giant aligators taking a nap in the river just outside of Kruger Park

Kruger was an once in a life time exeprience. The abundance of animals and the added freedom of driving on your own and spotting the animals was a treat. Quite affordable too! Accomodation ~$15 per person per night. Entrance fee `$18 per day. Car rental ~$25 a day +/- $10 depending on vehicle. You dont need a 4×4 beacause most of the roads are paved. Totally worth it. We were stoked we decided to take the road less traveled across Mozambique in order to beable to experience this. We hope to return someday to share the experience with our family. Check our thier main website for more information Kruger Park.

Next stop Swaziland!
Bazarutos and the drive across Mozambique

October 28, 2009

It had been a few weeks of Mozambique and we still hadn’t scored epic waves. But that’s how surf trips go. We’ve learned that you can’t expect to score non-stop surf. Such high expectations leave you disappointing. The attitude we chose to take was one of, the absence of waves gives us the opportunity to see more of the country. And that’s what we had and continued to do. Once out of Pomene, surf potential becomes even more scarce but the beauty does not diminish. We had heard of these islands off of Vilankulos that were perhaps some of the nicest in the country.

Collectively the islands were called the Bazaruto Archipelago. We relaxed in this area for 3 days and the highlight was the trip to Margaruqe Island. We charted a boat for the day. Just Todd, Kim, Loiuse and I. This boat was made in some guys backyard and would no way be sea worthy in the US, but hey this was Mozambique and all went well.

Todd and Kim (our traveling partners) kickin at the place where we stayed. I love these guys, Todd is 40 something going on 17, and Kim is as relaxed as you can get.

We chose the cheaper slightly dodgier operation. Seemed like two ruled the town yet there were plenty of others that wanted/needed business. After some smooth negotiations I was able to arrange for us to have all our snorkeling gear, fishing gear, food and soft drinks all for less than the other operations were charging for just the sail. But then they say, you get what you pay for. We learned this in Indonesia, Ha Long Bay, and Hanoi, but they always worked out and you meet like minded individuals in the process.

The operater/boss picked us up the next morning and on the way to his boat his truck ran out of gas! We were in shock, laughing, and thinking of what was in store for us. As we walked the rest of the way to the boat we came across this beached boat that we thought might be a foreshadow of things to come.

We made it to the boat and a crew of three were waiting for us. We dumped our beers into their coolers filled with soda, water, and a bunch of ice. Ice is gold and crucial for any sea journey. We set out on an all day tour. The torquiose of the water rivaled any carribean or Hawaiian waters.

The beauty was stunning and due to its isolation, very few boats and tourists were out to enjoy it. As we got close to the island of our choice (Margaruque) they lit up the onboard Braai/BBQ. This Braai was just a corrugated metal box filled with ash at the back of the boat. They stacked some fresh charcoal, detached the gas hose to the engines, sprayed a bunch on the coals, reattached the hose and then lit it up. No OSHA has yet been through Mozambique. Their technique worked although I wouldn’t say it was flawless, as the fire roared within a foot of the gas tanks we moved ourselves further up toward the bow of the boat.

The bathroom on the back of the boat was wide open.

Once we reached the island the crew found us a secluded little nook in the reef and anchored us perfectly. We then got to enjoy one of our most exciting snorkels of our trip. The reef ledge drops off about 30 feet and a current rips you along it for as long as the island goes.

Right under the surface lays a plethora of pelagic and reef fish. See the video of just one section full of Uluas (Kingfish/Jacks). The crew snuck out behind the boat to catch dinner althouh the Ranger was there. Their technique involved sending beers with the two random local girls on the beach to take to the Ranger. As the Ranger drank, they would drop into the water behind the boat, make their kills and then pop up behind the boat again. It was tricky with the current but they still landed a bunch of good kine parrot fish, a couple others too that I didn’t know.

As we took laps the crew that wasn’t spearfishing was cooking our food. We had enough of the snorkeling and begun relaxing on the deserted beach. As we began to doze off we reveled in our current existance. Fuck we are lucky. Awoken by the crew announcing our fresh fish and vegetables being served under the coconut trees, we were nose deep in a great lunch before we were able to wash the makapiapia from our eyes.

This is the captain bringing us our lunch.

After lunch we just went exploring around the island. Once around the corner we ran into a bunch of tourists and we were pleased that our crew chose the secluded area. We could have walked all the way around the island had we chose, but a dive back in with the current before it turned was more to our liking. Todd and Kim went inland to explore and Louise and I cooled off. On this dive I saw the biggest Ulua I have ever seen in my life. We also saw a bunch of lobsters and countless other tasty morsels that were forsaken as the area was a marine sancutuary, which our boat crew managed to disregard.

We sailed back that afternoon, landed a huge fish with Todd’s expensive lure only to have the captain of the boat lose it, along with the lure. After the loss of the fish we pulled in the lines and just enjoyed the swift sail back to our hotel. I convinced them to take us back to our hotel so that we wouldn’t have to walk. Told them we’d give them a tip, and buy them a round of rum’n’coke. How could they say no.

That evening we went to the best local restaurant in town and recommended by the locals. Fishermen were bringing by fresh fish for sale throughout the night and not one tourist was there, except for us. The power went out twice but that didn’t halt our perfect meal. Fresh snapper, whole fish and filets. It was soooo gooood.

The next morning we set off on our journey across the interior of Mozambique back to South Africa. The start of the road was the end of the tar and it was time to get back onto the dirt.

My international drivers license, plus the fact I kinda crashed the car twice already, led Todd to drive for the rest of Mozambique.

Flying through the dirt, rock, sand, and a mix of all those, Todd was focused to get us to the border by 5PM. We didn’t make it. At about 4PM around 80km from the border, 9 hours into the drive, the fourth car we’d seen all day stopped us. The two guys in the truck asked us where we were going. When we told them we were trying to get to the border they replied that it was impossible. They told us that they had a camp about 25km up the road and we could camp with them for the night. They had extra tents. We’ve seen a lot of horror movies, and my caution has kept Louise and I out of a lot of trouble thus far in our journey, but it seemed like we didn’t have any choice. We stopped about 10 km further down the road at a village of 6 huts and a little store. There were a bunch of locals and all we wanted to do was get a few beers. A few beers turned into a few more and before you knew it we wanted to get the hell out of there. They too let us know there was nowhere to stay at the border. Then they started getting really pushy about buying them some gin, gin in a box. The locals were beligerently drunk and I didn’t want to have to show them the one and two. We jumped in our car and got the hell out of dodge.

This is what the locals were drinking at that place. Gin out of a box!

Another 20 km up the road we came across the strangers campsite. They had a trailer and a tarp covering all kinds of odd looking machinery. I was still a bit cautious, worried they were axe murderers or something. At the campsite they had a guy watching their stuff. He was called “old man”, although he was probably only like 50. Anyways, old man went and got us water from the Limpopo river to shower and then grabbed wood for us to start a fire. He didn’t speak a lick of english and although I knew spanish, it didn’t help with his portuguese. We started a fire and began to cook all we had. A bag of rice, curry powder, and onion. The guys we met whose camp it was still hadn’t come back and it was pitch black. Right around the time our food was ready they pulled up, or should I say ebrake slide then burn out in the dirt, do some donuts and stop with the music still blaring at full force.

We had a fun introduction but when the saw what we were cooking they said, “What is that shit? Looks like vomit. Throw it away.” Slightly taken aback we responded that that was all we had to eat. They then told us to come with them to their car. Inside the back of the truck was a giant electric cooler filled with steak, lamb, sausage (boewoers) and BEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!

Our vomit food that we still nibbled on.

Cameron and Brent were diamond hunters. Straight out of the movies. Hunting for their fortunes……….again, because they were experienced, had already hit the jackpot but were now addicted to the hunt.

They fed the stuff we cooked to old man and then proceeded to cook us a Braai of lamb and boerwors that we will never forget. We had very little to offer other than good stories of our travels but we knew they could trump us. We offered them a few Valiums and they were very appreciative of our offer but they had that stuff and a ton of everything else you could think of.

As we drank beer and enjoyed other things they offered the night turned into one of those one in a lifetime encounters. We spent the night dancing, singing, chasing and catching wildlife (crocodiles and scorpions), eating the best food, trying to pry the secret recipe of the Rookensmiths Drywoers, collecting firewood, hallucinating, and everything else into the late. Cameron didn’t believe us when we told him we saw a crocodile but we told him we really did and where we saw it. He disappeared for about an hour but when he came back he did with a baby croc.

We went to our private tents that old man set up for us late that night but were awoken to the sound of our hosts still partying sporadically till around 5 AM when they finally passed out. We were able to wake up Cameron to say bye but Brent was another story and we had to say by to him as he snored in their trailer alongside the river.

We gave old man a few bucks and a tshirt and he was so stoked. I think the amount of money we gave him was around what he made for the whole week. He was deeply religious and made us pray with him. Its what we needed because we were driving on fumes. The gas light had been on for a few km before we got to the campsite and we were still 30 km to the border. Our rule of thumb is 25 miles once the light goes on. But on 4×4 roads that estimate drastically decreases. Going up heavy rock hills the car began to sputter. But luckily, we liked to thank old mans prayers, we made it to the border. Once there we were able to sweet talk our way into a few spare liters a South African Border Post guy happened to have in his garage. Fuck we were lucky.

What a great end to Mozambique. We’ll be back and next time we hope to score better waves but we had no complaints from this journey.
Mozambique: Ponto de Ouro to Pomene

October 24, 2009

Girls working hard to fetch water just outside of Maputo, Mozambique

We had been on our road trip for about two weeks now and were finally closing in on the South Africa/Mozambique border. Before leaving Jeffery’s Bay we did a little research on Mozambique via the internet and by asking those who have been before in order to find out about the road conditions and if we would need to take our own food, gas, tents, etc. While searching online I came across a blog about this guy’s surf trip in Mozambique. He drove to the surf spot Tofo in an old school Toyota Corolla and said the driving was no problem. I also checked out the surf spots on WannaSurf.com and they mentioned that you would definitely need a 4×4 to get to Ponto de Ouro and to Tofo. I figured if the guys made it to Tofo in their Corolla and its recommended to have a 4×4 that the roads must be rough rocky hard dirt and that it’d be better to have a 4×4 but you really don’t need one. A couple of South Africans that had been to Mozambique told us that we’d need to bring everything with us food, gas, water, everything! Another person told us you could get everything there but its just really expensive. We weren’t quiet sure what to expect. There were a few marked gas stations on our map and we decided we’d figure the rest out once we got there.

Kosi Bay border crossing. The change in road quality was a little bit of a surprise.

While stopping for gas before the border we noticed a few trucks were also crossing into Mozambique but were fully loaded with food and camping gear. This made us nervous, thinking we might not be quite prepared, but off to the border we went. The border consisted of a few buildings and we must have arrived at a good time because there was hardly any line. They briefly searched our car and checked for a letter from the rental company authorizing us to leave South Africa then waved us through. As we got out of the car to get our passports stamped I looked toward Mozambique and thought “Where’s the road?” The road literally went from tarred roads in South Africa to sandy tracks into Mozambique. We were driving a Honda CRV and weren’t 100% sure if it was 4×4 or not, plus it didn’t have the best clearance. We kind of looked at each other and thought “What are we getting ourselves into?”

Sand roads in from the Kosi Bay Boarder to Ponto de Ouro

We put the CRV to the test and started off on the soft sandy roads in the direction of Ponto de Ouro. The number of tracks seemed to quickly multiply and soon there were a few paths to choose from. It was confusing at first but in the end we realized that they all lead to the same place. Kahi was having a great time testing out the CRV and so far so good. The traction was fine but with the car’s low clearance we were dragging our belly the whole way.

Ponto de Ouro wasn’t quite what we were expecting. It’s suppose to have one of the best waves in Mozambique but it can be quite fickle. After scoping out the tiny town we decided to find a place to stay for the night and if the conditions improved we would stay another day, if not we would move on. All the roads in the town were made of sand and it gave the town a mellow vibe. We spent a while searching for a place to stay because the places right in front of the break were real (excuse my french) shit holes. Dirty, grungy, dark, and moldy, plus they were asking for $100 a night. Totally not worth the asking price. It was a shame that these places were so run down.

Before we left Ponto de Ouro someone told us that we were suppose to get Third Party Insurance at the border and that you can get into a lot of trouble if you don’t have it. We weren’t 100% sure if this was true or not. So Kahi asked Todd to walk down to the police station to ask them rather than driving and stopping in front. It was a good thing we didn’t drive over there because they would have busted us and tried to get some money from us. When Todd asked them, they replied, “Did you drive here? Where’s your car?” He told them he didn’t and he was just inquiring Our only choice was to drive all the way back to the border to get it. When we got there and told them we entered the country without it they were pretty mad at us and thought we came back to get it because we had hit someone or something. They searched our car for any damage and after a few minutes of convincing them nothing was wrong we finally got the Third Party Insurance.

The bridge leading to the ferry port that crossed over to Maputo

The road north was sandy for a while then switched to a nice sturdy tar road, not as much fun but way faster. A few hours later we arrived at the ferry that crossed the bay to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. We got there just in time and were in Maputo in less than 30 minutes. The city was much bigger than I was expecting it to be but we wanted to get out of there A.S.A.P. Mostly because we didn’t want to get lost and second of all we didn’t want to get into trouble.

On our way to the ATM we got pulled over by the local police. Our car screamed tourist, surfboards on the roof and a Durban license plate, it was just a matter of time before we got pulled over. One of the guys walked up to the drivers window and the other holding an AK47 stepped out of their truck as well. They wanted us to pay 1000 Rand or $130 for crossing over a solid line that didn’t exist. Luckily we didn’t have much money on us and after some hard bargaining they only got away with 200 Rand or $25.

Locals swimming at a beach just outside of Maputo

Our plan was to keep heading north until we passed a decent place to stay. There weren’t as many B&Bs or guest houses as in South Africa so we decided to stay at the first within our price range, which we had to negotiate down still. The last thing we wanted was to be driving around at night looking for a place to stay. Roger’s was the name of the little hotel we stayed at right out side of Maputo. Our noses led us to their braai where the cook was barbecuing chicken. It smelt wonderful so we put in an order for half a chicken each. It was so tasty we ordered more and were permanently hooked! We needed to figure out how they made this tender, juicy, tangy, spicy chicken.

Our first glimpse of a tropical beach setting in Tofino, Mozambique

Tiny village just out side of Tofino, the homes are made out of coconut frawns

The next morning we continued our way to the sea side town of Tofino in search of the surf break Tofo. Our first night we stayed at Turtle Cove a backpackers about 5 minutes walk from the beach. The food was good but the room we were in was a little grungy. We only stayed there for one night then moved into our own house closer to the beach. It was a nice house with two bedrooms, two baths, a large kitchen. and two decks over looking the ocean.

One of the beautiful beaches in Tofino

The next week we spent fishing, surfing and touring the area. The surf wasn’t anything amazing but was pretty fun. At Turtle Cove they showed us a video of Tofino Point when it was firing. It was double over head but the curent was sweeping. It looked fun but they said it was very difficult to surf when it gets that size because of the current. The waves we surfed were only about head high but it was fun and it was so nice to be back in the water and to be surfing without a wetsuit. Most of the time it was relativly uncrowded and even when there was a small crowd everyone was pretty mellow.

Todd cruisin’ on a quad in front of the surf break in Tofo

There was a tiny open market in town where you could get bread and fresh vegetables but if you wanted meat and more variety you would have to drive 20k into Inhambane. One day while Kim and I were wandering around the large market in Inhambane picking up fresh produce for our meal, Kahi went to find us some chicken we could cook up too. He came back with a local who told us he could get us a fresh chicken and would kill and clean it for us. We were all quite curious to learn about the process and followed him out of the market and to the local street side chicken farm.

Our soon to be dinner

We picked the chicken, paid for it and no sooner its neck was broken and it was dead. Then he lead us back into the market to the back of a tiny local restaurant where he plucked and clean the chicken. It was a messy process, but now we know how to do it ourselves if we ever need to. That night we grilled the chicken but it wasn’t very good. Not too sure why, but it was some of the nastiest chicken I’ve ever eaten. It was tough and didn’t have much flavor. Maybe it had something to do with experiencing the whole process, but I think I’ll stick to grocery store or butcher shop chicken from now on.

The process of cleaning a chicken

Our not so tasty but very fresh chicken

My favorite dinner was when Kahi and Todd went fishing at high tide near the surf break and brought back a nice fish. On Kahi’s second cast he caught his fish. Then Todd gave it a go and landed one on his sixth cast. A few locals nearby couldn’t believe it. They had been out there much longer and caught nothing. The two fishes would have been too much for us so they gave them Todds fish. The locals were so stoked.

Kahi fishing and his beautiful Jack.

The fish and us chowing down

While we were staying at Turtle Cove we met a guy named Shaun who operated an Ocean Safari. It was a little expensive so we were a little hesitant to commit to the signing up but the idea of swimming with whale sharks was very tempting. Todd and Kim scoped out the other resorts that offered similar safaris but we decided to go with Shaun because he’d let us take beer on the boat and he told us there would only be 7 of us on the boat. His description of the safari went like this: we’ll cruise out to this deserted beach where you can surf and fish then we’ll set up a nice braai for lunch. One the way out to the beach we’ll go fishing and swim with whale sharks, whales and dolphins. We were sold! He told us to be at Turtle Cove at 9:30 am.

Kahi, Pierre, Louise and Kim on the boat

We invited our new buddy Pierre, who was just staying down the road from us, to join us on our safari adventure. The next morning we all met up and there were about 13 people waiting to go on this safari. No worries, the more the merrier. We just asked for a little discount and he agreed. They explained to us how we were going to launch the boat, which sounded a little hectic but manageable. In the process Kahi’s Maui Jims fell of his head into the beach break. Everyone jumped on the boat and we stayed back searching for them. Miraculously he found them with his toes. Those MJs are gold when traveling!

Kim and I modeling our extremely stylish life saving gear

Kahi and Todd enjoying an ice cold beer

Less than 20 minutes from shore we spotted a whale shark. We slowly got in the water and swam along side it for a while. The thing was huge around 5 meter or 15 feet. It was such a beautiful mellow creature. On our way to the beach we saw a bunch of whales and a pod of dolphins. The amount of sea life was incredible.

A whale tail

The whale shark and I

A stunning view of the beach we arrived at from one of the new luxury homes they were building on the hill side

Double hanapa’a! Both lines were taken by large King Fish at the same time.

While on the boat Shaun told us that you’re not actually allowed to fish on the Ocean Safaris though so on our way back we had to put the fishing poles, fish, and hooks into a surfboard bag. I had brought my pole and the rangers saw me put it in the boat. Shaun got a call from the bossman who had warned him when we got back the boat would be searched. So Todd and Pierre saved our asses and swam in with the bags into a bay around the corner and almost drowned in the process. The police were waiting for us on the beach when we got in. There were no poles on the boat and no fish, so everything should have gone as planned, but they saw us taking poles on the boat and were quite suspicious. All in all the trip was a shady deal but we still had a great time.

Later that evening Pierre’s buddies had just arrived from Mossel Bay in South Africa. It was a long 18 hour road trip in a VW bus with 8 guys. These aren’t little guys either. Crazy! They were rested up and ready to party by the time we got back. Their house was stocked with all sorts of beer and liquor and tons of food. They cooked us up a beautiful spread of lobster, prawns, and calamari. It was unreal. A lot of drinking went down and we had such a good time getting to know these guys.

Another round of Shake-Face

Todd won this round, check out this pic

We had a great time in Tofo. The surf wasn’t amazing but it was fun and the water was warm. It was so nice to be surfing in a bikini and not a 4/3 wetsuit for a change. Our tans were looking good and we had made some really good friends but a swell was about to hit and we heard about a better surf spot a couple few hours away that we wanted to hit up so we packed up and headed north to Pomene.

Pomene City

Pomene is a gorgeous little seaside village. We stayed at Pomene Lodge about 6k or 4 miles from the actual surf spot. There’s an old abandoned hotel overlooking the break but you can’t stay there. Its a shame because it really does have the best location. Pomene Lodge was special in its own way and we were more than stoked to be staying there. It has a estuary on one side and the ocean on the other. The water was turquoise blue and crystal clear which reminded us so much of home.

Pomene Lodge pool and bar overlooking the estuary

A gorgeous picture of the Pomene Lodge pool

Honeymoon bungalows at Pomene Lodge

Old abandoned hotel at Pomeme

Local girls at the old hotel

A baptism at the lagoon near the hotel. Kim and I saw another baptism and weren’t quite sure what was going on. Everyone was singing and celebrating but we didn’t know why. Then we saw a priest lead a 2 year old child into the water and dunk him a bunch of times. Later we asked some locals and they told us it was a baptism.

Kim and I going Hawaiian Style in Pomene

Pomene surf set up. Lots of potential not enough swell.

The swell never hit and the waves never got bigger than waist high. Only Kahi decided to get in the water and he managed to catch a couple meager waves out of desperation. No worries though. Todd and Kim went on one of the world class dives that they offer in the area. Kahi and I opted for the cheaper option of snorkeling in the estuary. We also spent a lot of time fishing and working on our tans.

Snorkeling in the estuary. An artificial reef created out of an old quad bike and tires attract a variety of fish

Kahi and I trying to catch lunch and Kim working on her tan

Lunch!

A cool dead tree

Kahi taught these kids the “pull my finger” joke. They were hanging out down by the surf break and Kahi was trying to talk to them in Portuguese. He asked one of the boys to pull his finger, and when they did he let out a giant fart. The all started laughing hysterically.

Before we left Pomene City we styled out a few of the local groms with some boardshorts that were donated by Quicksilver. The little boys were so cute in their little boardies!
Lions, and Elephants, and Zebras oh my!

October 10, 2009

Just a few hundred kilometer out of Durban and we were now in prime wildlife viewing area. The CRV was a smooth ride and it was luxurious compared to what we were driving. We first stopped at St. Lucia (Loosha) to check out the Hippos and scored the bonus of Crocodiles!

We stayed at what looked like a nice hotel but little did we know that 2 family’s of Afrikanns with drunk karaoke singing parents and whining kids were right next door. Sleeping was tough and the managment was terrible. Don’t stay at the Boma Hotel in St. Lucia, it sucks. It was comical looking back on it but quite hellish experiencing.

While in St. Lucia we did a nice hike without a guide. Its amazing how they just let you rome when there are creatures out there that will eat you. On the hike we saw the infamous Dung Beetle. Its also known as the bush helicopter because it can fly and sounds like a helicopter. It flys in search of shit and once found begins molding its own private golf ball size to roll off to somewhere private. Once rolled away it lays an egg or hundred, not sure, and the babies are born in poop. Being born in poop must not be so bad because you don’t know any better. The keikis eat up all the poop and then the cycle continues.

We also saw our first Zebras on the trip. We learned that they are striped and hang out in groups so that lions have a hard time distinguishing a single zebra therefore making their chances of survival greater. When they are all together it kinda looks like one animal, thats if you are a vision impaired lion.

While hiking the only map we had was this picture of a map, we were so lost, none of us knew where we were going and this map didn’t help shit. We didn’t want to get stuck out there in the dark and luckily found our way to the coast. From there it was easy getting back to town.

Todds cute sock tan, or does he shave his ankles?

After St. Lucia and two nights of crap sleep we decided to pamper ourselves and go to a real Big 5 Game Reserve. The Big 5 are Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Water Buffalo, and Rhinocerous. A Game Reserve is a area of land, huge areas of land, some the size of Oahu, where the animals are protected and roam undisturbed living out true wild lives. We chose the Tembe Game Reserve on the Mozambiquen Border because it was on the way but later found out we made an extremely good choice. Tembe is home to the largest Elephants in Africa and therefore the world. Another cool thing is that it is one of the only, if not the only, game reserve where the Elephants were not introduced. The Elephants have been there long before us and with the concentrated effort of the Tembe people, the Elephants should have a home for the far future.

All the animals you need to be aware of while touring in Tembe. Of all the animals in Africa, ironically every year the Hippo is the one that kills the most humans not counting the mosquito (insect).

As soon as we checked in our stay at Tembe was a non-stop action packed Safari. The following was our itinerary for our 3 days at Tembe in which I hope to show you the intensity and excitement of our stay. The food was all top-notch, the service was perfect, and the beer always cold.

Day 1: Check in arrive at 3:00pm

3:15 PM Off on first private safari drive. See kudu, red duiker, warthogs, zebra, giraffes, elephants, etc.

5:30 PM Spot Elephants as sun is going down, watch sunset and the elephants from the roof of the truck with a beer.

6:30 PM Bonfire and drinks

7:00 PM Amazing Dinner

8:30 A small bit of free time before passing out

Day 2: Awoken at 5:45 AM

6:00 AM Quick breakfast

6:30 AM 3 hour Private Safari Drive spotting all kinds of funky looking animals.

The monkey says “Damn, those berries go right through me! But they smell just as delicious coming out as going in.” His friend says, “Can I smell it too?”

9:30 AM Huge Lunch, local Tembe food and South African fare

11:00 AM Safari Drive to the Hide (A Hide is a shelter where humans hide in order to get a better view of the wildlife.) Stay for about two hours, cold drinks served. COLD BEER!

This is the Hide, from inside you look down on the watering holes.

3:00 PM After coming back from the Hide we had about 30 minutes to ourselves and then it was time for another 3 hour Safari Drive. On this drive we came across a herd of Elephants headed back from the watering hole. They came so close to our car you could almost touch them. I got out of the car and our guide was like, “What the hell are you doing! Get back in here!” Oops is all I could say. I just wanted to get a picture with it. Still got the shot, but from inside the truck.

We end up staying out late trying to find the Lions. We got a reading on the beacons but we didn’t get a visual.

Kim with the spotlight, you could spot animals really easily as the eyes of the animals would reflect the light. Then we’d play the guessing game of what we thought it was.

6:30 PM Bonfire and drinks

I got a black label with its label upside down! I thought I was so special.

7:00 PM Dinner & then Desert

9:00 PM passout

This is our luxury tent. Nicer than our room at our house.

Day 3: 5:30 Tom offered to take us earlier and he felt that if we did, we’d have a better chance of finding the lions. So we did wake up earlier and Lion hunting is what we did.

5:45 AM Quick Breakfast

6:00 AM 3 Hour Safari Drive on the hunt for Lions, and LIONS WE FOUND!!!!!!

The picture above is Tom tracking the Lions. A few of the Lions had tracking collars on them. Another guy working at the park was tracking them as well. With both trackers and another spotter, we were able to triangulate their position. Easier said than done, considering the past two drives we used the tracker and never found them.

But this time Tom positioned us perfectly and the Lions came right out of the marsh and crossed right in front of us. They were curious and stayed around for a while until the leader came back and roared at them to follow. Tom told us not to make any sudden movements because the Lions percieve the truck as one entity. If they figure out that it is a group of seperate entities, they are liable to attack. Here’s Todd tempting fate and in the background are the Lions (actually cubs) sizing him up.

Lion tracks, you could tell if they were fresh because the trucks drive over them and leave a clean slate. Therefore the guides can tell, if they had driven in the area recently, that the lions or other animal had walked by recently.

The anti-poaching unit in Tembe. Check out Louise…….fricken classic.

9:30 AM Huge Brunch

12:00 PM Sad departure from Tembe with the staff singing a beautiful goodbye song as we leave. It sounded like a song straight out of Lion King.

As you can see we had very little free time and it was a non-stop action packed Game Reserve. 3 days was perfect. We had such a great time in Tembe and I highly recommend it to anyone. We also have gone through Kruger park which you will read about later and I found Tembe to be more user friendly, but in the end it was mostly because of the staff. Tom and his people were such great hosts. Our stay cost us around $130 US per night and it included everything except your drinks. That is extremely affordable if you ask me.

From Tembe it was only 45 minutes to the Mozambiquen border.
1st Leg of the Road Trip to Mozambique

October 9, 2009

Over a month ago we left Jeffery’s Bay in search of adventure. Kahi and I both wanted to go to Mozambique but needed a little motivation to move on from J-Bay. The waves in Jbay were really good which made it very difficult to leave. One day while surfing we randomly met another couple from Oahu, Kim and Todd, who also wanted to check out Mozambique. After a few days of planning we were pumped up and ready to be getting back on the road. My birthday was on Thursday so we decided to leave on Sunday to give us a couple days to recuperate and get ready for the journey.

The horseback ride in J-bay was beautiful. Though the trees, over the sand dune, and onto the beach.

For my 25th B-day Kahi took me horseback riding. It was my first time and it was soooo much fun! Well besides the fact that the next day my whole body hurt. The horse stables were right out side of J-bay and the ride took you through some trees then over some sand dunes and then onto the beach. I was pretty nervous at first. You’re so high up on the horse and all they told me was to pull back on the reigns if I wanted to stop and to give the horse a little kick if I wanted to go faster. I got the hang of it pretty quickly but only after my bottom got a little bruised up.

Johnny Walker shots!
Later that evening we invited a few friends over for a brai (BBQ). We had Kim and Todd over plus another couple from Tahiti, Poema and Noah, and the crew from up stairs Roy, Ken, Kurt and Noma, Herbie and his wife. Kim and Poema made me a beautiful lei and haku lei and for the evening I felt like I was back in Hawaii. We proceeded to stuff ourselves with delicious food and tasty deserts complimented with wine, beer, champagne and shots of Brandy and Johnny Walker. I had such an awesome time and would like to send out many many thank you’s to everyone who helped me celebrate.

We were supposed to leave on Sunday but we woke up to a fresh swell, perfect winds, and the surf was AMAZING! Needless to day we didn’t leave. It was one of the best day we’ve seen at J-bay so we ended up spending the whole day surfing our brains out. The next day was on shore and crap, making it the perfect day to hit the road.

Finally hitting the road! From left to right: Roy, Ken, Kim, Todd, Kahi, Louise, Kurt and Butters.

Our first stop was Chinsta West a small town just north of East London. There were a couple of places to stay in East London, but staying in a big city isn’t quite as nice or safe. We checked into a backpackers called Buccaneers and scored one of the dorms to ourselves. Nothing like paying dorm prices and getting our own little private house. It was a pretty nice backpackers with a great bar but the town didn’t have much to offer, the surf sucked, and so we packed up and continued north to Umdumbe in the Transkei.

The drive to Umdumbe was a long 6 hour drive with the last hour on a pothole infested road. The Transkei was different from other places in South Africa. The majority of the population lives in what are called rondevals, round one room huts with roofs made of straw or grass. These are sometimes painted in bright colors ranging from pink to fluorescent green. The colorful homes stand out in comparison to the brown grass covered landscape.

Transkei beauty

The people of the Transkei were not affected as badly by the apartheid and you can feel the difference in the energy of the community. In the Tanskei people seem happier and the quality of life appears to be higher. During apartheid it was set aside for the coloured community to live in a homeland with no segregation, though I doubt white people would have wanted to live there at the time. The people lived in village communities without influences from the head governments run by the whites.

We made it to Umdumbe smoothly and tried to check into the only backpackers in the area. Unluckily they were fully booked for a special convention they were holding, some kind of therapy with dolls, creepy. The other accommodation in the area was pretty rundown so we booked it to Coffee Bay about 20k away. There were a handful of backpackers and small hotels but we scored a little two bedroom flat at a place called 4 Winds. The couple that owns the flat also run an orphanage right outside of town called Khaya Letu which takes in children who are directly affected by HIV or AIDS. Many of the kids have lost their parents to the virus and/or are infected themselves. The orphanage not only educates, feeds, and shelters the kids it more importantly offers them a home filled with love.

The kids were so excited about their new toys and had a great time coloring away

When we drove up to Khaya Letu the kids came running to the gate and were so excited to see us. All they really wanted was a big hug. We brought all sorts of goodies that were donated by Ethan, David and Linda Altschuler that the kids loved. Crayons, pens, color pencils, paints, and tons of books to stimulate their minds. We spent the afternoon coloring with them and playing on their cool jungle gym. It was a great experience to spend our day with these amazing kids and to see their big smiles and bright eyes.

Kids of Khaya Letu showing off their skills

Later that evening we ran into some locals selling their daily catch, a big bag of live lobsters (or crayfish as they call them here). We bought a few and took them to the Sugar Loaf across the street where we were going to eat dinner. Their chef a the time, Rocko, is an amazing chef. He cooked us up a seafood feast including oysters, lobster, two types of fish, and mussels. The meal was one of the best we’ve had the whole time in South Africa. Needless to say we stuffed ourselves and went to bed very happy. Best part, it only cost about $8US!

Lobster feast at the Sugar Loaf

The next day we were planning on absailing (rock repelling) and going to the Hole In The Wall but the weather wasn’t very good. Instead we decided to pack up and continue heading north.

The next town we stopped in was Scottsburgh about 30 minutes south or Durban. Its a small town with not much to do but fish and surf if the conditions were right. Again we got lucky with our accommodation and ended up staying in a holiday flat in a 6 story building overlooking one of the surfbreaks in the area. We could see the buoys that marked a shark net that was put in place to protect swimmers and surfers. This was not the most comforting site considering that it only ran for a couple hundred feet. It seemed like a shark could easily swim right around the net and it served as a constant reminder that the sharks were nearby.

Kahi shaping his Alaia in Scottsburgh

After a couple days spent relaxing in Scottsboro it was time to head to Durban to exchange our four door compact in for a bigger more comfortable 4×4. We got to Durban International Airport at around 10:00am but didn’t end up getting out of there until 2:00pm. The rental car company reserved us a Honda CRV but they weren’t 100% sure that it was four wheel dive, which was must for Mozambique. After trying to search for another car we decided to go with the CRV and if it didn’t work out for any reason we could call the rental company and they would sort it out for us.
Jeffreys Bay Update – With Alaia Videos – Lekker

August 13, 2009

Louise and I have gone nowhere. We are here in Jeffreys Bay and are completely content. After visiting 14 countries in the past 8 months, the chance to just relax in one has been just what we needed. We’ve become part of the community in this short time and we feel comfortable. When we were traveling through Asia it was a non-stop unpack, pack, jump on a bus, catch a plane, hire a boat, and it keeps going. Here in Jeffreys Bay it goes, wake up check the surf, eat, surf, drink, repeat! I must admit that at times I feel guilty for currently living such a great life, but like I learned from a friend in Australia, “Treat yourself, if you’re not treating yourself, who will?”

The waves have been epic and during the breaks between swells we’ve been keeping busy. Louise has been crocheting beanies for our friends, collecting shells, and she has also begun painting with water colors. I’ve been keeping busy shaping 2 alaias and fixing my other. I’ve also been trying to fish but so far no luck. We’re also trying to adapt what we learned in the book 4 Hour Work Week and are currently building a new website.

ALAIA VIDEO

An Alaia is an old style Hawaiian Surfboard made of a plank of wood. Simple and clean.

Part of Louises shell collection.

Me fishing, not catching.

The surf in general has been world class. The best waves we’ve gotten on our trip thus far. I know its been really good at home but its no Jbay. When we first got here I was really gung-ho on the surf and was paddling up to the peak non-stop. Needless to say I had a few run-ins with the locals. Luckily my humorous and Hawaiian vibes have kept me out of trouble and actually I’ve made some decent friends out in the water. I am no longer a tourist who they will drop in on at any time but an accepted hinderance in the water that they’ll only drop in on every once in a while to keep me in check. I think one of the reasons they’ve been accepting is the fact that I have such a beautiful companion surfing with me and secondly because I’ve been riding my alaia the majority of the time. They’re just curious and stoked to see me flying down the line on a piece of wood.

This was a reject piece that was used to protect the rest of the shipment to SA. It served as a pallet. It was rejected because there is a big crack down the middle, but I’ve since glued it back together and have finsished shaping it. Tomorrow I’m oiling it and it will be in the water by the next swell! I also shaped a regular blank that I may get to ride if I’m lucky, I think the owners want to sell it. I was just stoked to practice shaping it.

I think this is the biggest wave I’ve caught with the Alaia so far. How’s the wicked poo stance, uuughhhhhhh. Clean water lines. Thanks to Glen for the photos. If you are ever in JBay and want some photos of you surfing, look him up. Glen at twiggspics@gmail.com.

Working on repairs for the pine board that broke in half the other day, and then broke again after my fix job. I need a stronger glue, any suggestions?

EA25ID layback on the Pine Alaia from Roscoe Fowler

Mixing up boiled linseed oil, turpentine, and beeswax, even parts. I heard the stuff can spontaneously combust. That’s why I keep it in the shower. But you’re not supposed to put an oil fire out with water, oh well. Don’t tell my landlord, oh wait, he’s probably reading this.

Louise has been sitting wide and continues to catch the bombs that everyone ends up being too deep for. The constant steep hollow rights have honed her pigdog stance. She’s been getting barreled and all the photogs are snapping pics of her. We’ll come out of the water or see other surfers in town and they’ll just comment on how graceful she is in the water. I’m like, “what about me?”

My chick rips!

Our little home is extremely cozy and we’ve adopted a dog, or should I say it adopted us. This dog is one of those little shit dogs I hate but have come to enjoy, every once in a while I’ll even pet it and maybe talk to it. Kinda like the locals out in the water and their feelings towards me.

This pic is of our dog, Kalia, Butterface, Butternuts, Pumpkin Head, Scooter Girl, Shit dog, this dog has a lot of names.

We are planning on spending another couple of months here. We are saving a ton of money. Our rent is around $275 US a month, our meals are about $2 US each because Louise cooks for us, and our car is $10 US a day. South Africa is currently very affordable for us. We are scoping out dream properties and are wondering if we could make a go of it here for real. Granted we are half way around the world from our true home, perhaps we could do 6 months here and 6 months there.

This is the property we want to buy. It has unobstructed ocean views of Jeffreys Bay, both Supertubes and Surfers Point along with all the goodies in between. Anyone want to split it with us?

The Alaia has definitely had a large impact on my life and Louise is getting the hang of it now as well. Its funny to think that a piece of wood could impact someone so much, but its more than that. It slows down your life and makes you appreciate every wave. Its like learning surfing all over again and the stoke of a beginner flows through your blood. Its a bigger picture item, you end up conversing with individuals out in the water that you would normally ignore and you also get a shit ton of attention. I guess I kinda like it but it does get kinda annoying after a while. Some of the attention is awesome, like the photographers sending us photos and the comedians out in the water. The funniest thing a guy said to me the other day was, “Hey, hows the yank on the plank!” I couldn’t think of a comeback in time and so I just laughed.

Supertubes empty, this day it was just Louise and I.

Some people are under the impression that the Alaia is a fad but I feel that it will now be with me for rest of my life. When a surfer rides the Alaia for the first time they are completely humbled. Their place on the pecking order of the surf spot drops close down to the bottom and kooks seem to paddle right around you. But if you truly love it, give it time and you will soon be right back up to your rightful position in the pack, albeit a bit off to the shoulder because the boards have zero rocker.

Louise told me that this is me on the Alaia, I’ll take it!

My pops rode a paipo back when he was my age and younger. I remember seeing that piece of wood when I was really young and pretty much just disregarding it. Now I wish it was still around because I bet its a ton of fun. It makes you open your eyes to other things in the past that you may have disregarded as ancient or useless due to todays technological advances. But there are some things that will be timeless or at least as good as the expensive remake now.

Although we are now planning a road trip to Mozambique, we currently have no motivation to go anywhere else and I think thats ok.

EXTRA:

We got a new toy the other day and have just started reaping the benefits. Its a camera that mounts onto your board, either the front or back and takes pictures or videos. I accidentally erased a bunch of the vids but still have this one, along with these cool pics. I know the wave isn’t fabulous, just wanted you to get a snapshot of whats possible. My style is FUNKY.

Here’s a little video that I took. Its the only wave we have that came out so far. I’ll post a good one later.

Some of these other miscellaneous pictures are explained in their captions.

These are Kurts youngest kids Majdi and Malik, they were our counterparts for while until they had to leave. Such a bummer, we had so much more to teach them. Like how to light your fart on fire.

You might have seen it in the news, how South African labourers were striking. Here in Jbay they striked by throwing trash in the streets and lighting tires on fire. I though it was a pretty stupid way to make a statement. They ended up having to clean it up anyways. One step forward, two steps back.

Louise got punched by her board and wore a shiner for a few days.

Toms concert, this kids 17 and has a lot going for him. Great musician, greater promoter.

Louise at the concert, she was trying to set the record for least matching outfit in history. She had the sweatshirt from Duke, the beanie she made, a striped scarf from my parents for xmas, and an asian glow from 1 glass of wine.

Another Braii (African BBQ), they use wood instead of coals. I got to be the Braii-master this night.

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME AWESOME PICS I FOUND ON THE WEB.

Heres Derek Hynde Finless in Jbay. I haven’t met him, but hopefully I’ll get to see him in the water one of these days. I guess we missed him by a week. Guy kills it.

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