December 2011

Christmas in my village is about family. December is the time people come home who otherwise stay elsewhere for work. My shopping town, Thohoyandou, is extra crowded with the influx of people to the surrounding areas. The school year ended in early December and school is closed until mid January when a new school year begins. This is my first Christmas & New Years away from home - only one more to go.

Did not want to be alone and decided to go to a Coffee Bay on the Indian Ocean where a couple of other PCVs from our group were going. During in-service training, at the beginning of December, I did not book my bus and when I went to town the Monday before leaving I found all buses from Pretoria were fully booked until Christmas Day. It was an overnight bus that brought me to Umthatha (aka Mthatha) and then I kept asking about transport until I finally figured out how to get to Coffee Bay. My friends came from Northern Cape with a rented a car and it took them 1 1/2 hours to get to the Coffee Shack Backpackers in Coffee Bay so it was not too bad my getting there about 4 hours after arriving in Umthatha considering we had to wait for a taxi to fill up before it would head out.

Needless to say I did not sleep well on the bus and was pretty tired upon arrival. Very disapointed the internet access could only be accomplished on their computers for 10 Rand per 15 minutes - no Skyping family & friends. And my first night at Coffee Shack there was very loud music until the wee hours of the morning. Almost left, but decided to give it one more night and I am very glad I did. Many of the young people left and a more mellow crowd moved in. I met some very nice PCVs from another group and also met a man who works for the UN who does IT development. Who would have thought that on vacation I would have made such a valuable contact. There are also many very nice things about the place. The white sand beach is amazing.

Coffee Bay Beach

Flying Kites at Coffee Bay Beach

Hiking trails. Free coffee. Beautiful weaver birds that hang upside down on their nests and weave pieces of thatch and dried grass into them. The nests are enclosed with small openings for the bird to enter. They construct their nests high in the trees starting with a small ring they attach to a branch.

Weaver birds

More weaver birds

This local man is a drummer and drum maker. He also gives classes in drum making. He is repairing the top of a drum using a new piece of goat skin.

Replacing drum top using goat skin, string, wood and hoops

My respect for Coffee Shack Backpackers grew as I learn more about the place.  Coffee Shack is environmentally friendly and conscientious. They plant only indigenous plants, recycle and do many things to help the villagers of this remote community. Belinda, who runs Coffee Shack, says they are open all year and visiting is an even better experience in the winter because it does not rain, the warm Indian Ocean moderates the temperature so it is usually between 15 and 20 centigrade day and night and the area is less crowded than during summer break.