The Drive Down
We woke up early one hot December morning, and got ready for a very long day of driving. Down the N3 from South Africa’s cosmopolitan metropolis of Johannesburg, to the barely tamed eastern coast of KwaZulu-Natal. We were 4 – Tayla and I in the back, Tayla’s grandma, Abbie in the passenger seat, and her partner David, the resolute driver. We were in for a solid 10 hours of driving.
The cityscape of Gauteng soon gave way to nigh endless pasture and farmland, which in turn gave way to solitary hills. Before we knew it, we reached our first stop. Accidents along the N3 meant we were redirected through trafficked towns, which did no good for our long arrival time. Along the way, the solitary mountains of the South African Midlands gave way to the misty jungle of KwaZulu-Natal. We were finally closing in on our destination.
As the sun edged ever closer to the horizon, we finally made it to the Indian Ocean. Jungle met sand met large, uncaring waves, as we drove south along the N2 until we reached our destination – the resort town of Shelly Beach.
Our arrival in was inaugurated with a stark reminder that we were travelling in a third world country. The block on which our hotel was built on had no power, despite all our neighbours having electricity. An angry phone call got us no further in the pursuit of electricity, so we were forced to eat takeaway fish and chips with our hands (cutlery was impossible to find in the darkness), lit only by the somewhat-unromantic white light from a phone torch.
Beaches and Jungle
Our first task next morning was to find a new place to live. Our power bank had ran out charging our phones on the drive and overnight, so we were certainly on a timeline. Though first, David and I walked down to the beach, where we watched few boats launch (mostly successfully, though David assured me it’s very entertaining when they fail). A quick stop for coffee, and then off we went to a nearby hotel that supposedly had availability.
The guard at the gate informed us that the hotel had no availability for that day. We insisted the internet showed that it did, and she eventually let us through. The room we ended up in was all we could ask for – separate bedrooms, nice small kitchen, and, most importantly, working air con.
Naturally, we couldn’t move in straight away, so we decided to do a little drive down the coast, once we grabbed our stuff, along with Abbie and Tayla. We drove straight down the R61. This drive made me realise just how much I loved the landscape of KwaZulu-Natal: the dense jungle encroaching on sandy beaches battered by huge oceanic waves, with numerous lagoons feeding into the Indian Ocean was an amazing sight.
We turned around in the town of Palm Beach, from which we would visit a few landmarks that crossed our eyes. Our first stop was beneath a somewhat random tree. My interest was piqued when David stepped out of the car to inspect the foliage. He returned, a small bright red seed in his hand. As he explained, this was a lucky bean tree, and the little seed was the eponymous bean. These bean-shaped seeds were said to bring good luck, and it was a common game amongst South African children to find these. I didn’t get much of a chance to test out it’s powers though, as it slipped out of my hands, and fell between the cracks of the car seat. David dryly exclaimed, “No one had ever lost a lucky bean I gave them so quickly,”.
Our next stop would be Uvongo Beach with it’s waterfall. David and Abbie remained in the car whilst Tayla and I made our way down to the stunning little waterfall that fed Uvongo Beach’s lagoon. We snapped a few pictures, then made our way back to the car. On the way, however, we spotted an ice cream shop, which we couldn’t resist. Soft serve with nuts for myself, an ice lolly for Tayla, and a couple of plain soft serves for Abbie and David. When we made it back to the car, we found out that they had already got ice creams for themselves!
It was past the check-in time by now, so we intended to get back to the hotel, to enjoy the ocean. On the way though, a sign caught our eye – “Handmade African Crafts”. We stopped by the entrance, and made our way through the jungle, a cacophonic concert of insects pretty much drowning out all other sounds. After a few minutes of walking, we reached the shop itself – sandals, wallets, belts, and other such goods line their shelves. I purchased a handmade leather belt, and we promptly left for our hotel.
The hotel was all that was promised – electricity and aircon were the main things we were looking out for. Tayla and I had gotten quite hungry by this point, so we ventured out to the beach bar, where we could watch people playing in the ocean.
This was one of the best eateries we went to during our stay in South Africa. We ordered a big sharer plate (pictured above), which stuffed both of us. Chips, prawns, fried fish, ribs, deep fried pepper rings (imagine onion rings, but with bell peppers), and the tastiest calamari I’ve ever had made for a fantastic lunch (and we had trouble eating for dinner later). Watching people playing in the sea made us quite jealous, so we headed back to the room to get our swimming costumes.
Beachgoing in the Indian Ocean doesn’t work quite like in Europe. The Indian Ocean is far warmer then even the summer Mediterranean, but it is much angrier. The waves are tall – they easily go above your head even on a normal day. Thus, playing ball in the water, or even recreational swimming is borderline impossible. Instead, people stand in front of the waves, and either jump up to ride the waves, or kneel down to avoid them. There’s an art to it – they come in patterns, and if you’re not good at predicting them, you’ll end up flushing your sinuses with ocean water.
I spent a good long while in the water (and went back on day two), but we could only stay there for so long. Soon we were back in the room, getting washed and dressed for a light meal in the evening.
The next day would bring us to the Riverbend Crocodile Farm – as it turns out crocodiles are domestically farmed in South Africa – mainly for their skin and meat. It was weird to think of crocodiles in the same vein as cows and pigs, but here we were.
There’s little to say about our experience – it was interesting and enlightening to learn about the life of crocodiles. The highlight of the visit was watching the crocodiles be fed. For an animal with such a ferocious reputation, they are actually quite calm, and even lazy. They ate the food at an incredibly leisurely pace, barely making any effort to grab it. Aside from a dip in the ocean again, that was the extent of our activities for day two in Shelly Beach. Next, we would begin in the KwaZulu-Natal interior, up the Drakensberg, and into the mountain kingdom of Lesotho…
We May Roam 