Exploring the Qolora River on the Wild Coast

If there is an area I'm definitely planning to get to know better then it's the Wild Coast.  Earlier in the year while on a roadtrip to Durban, I spent a night at Trennerys Hotel at the mouth of the Qolora River, not far north of the Great Kei River Mouth.  As I pulled in fairly latish in the afternoon, it meant that I had limited time to explore before sunset and had to make a choice between heading down the coast towards the famous wreck of the Jacaranda or inland to The Gates on the Qolora River.  These are two of the main attractions in the area but more importantly for me, there is a Geocache at each location and I couldn't leave without finding at least one.  After getting some more info from the hotel staff I decided that the walk to the Jacaranda may just be a tad to far for the time on hand.  The Gates it was then.  But how to get there if you don't book a tour with Trevor's Tours starting at the hotel?  Again I chatted to hotel staff who advised me that if I really wanted to go there I should park up the road at the village and walk along the dirt road across from the little shop there.  

Arriving at the village I was immediately mobbed by a group of kids looking for sweets.  A young man called Lizo (sorry but I think that was what he said.  I seem to have misplaced my notes I took while chatting to him) came to my rescue - not that I really need to be rescued from a bunch of kids.  After chasing them off he asked me what I was looking for.  I told him I wanted to go to The Gates.  He cocked his head and asked, "Why?"  I explained that I wanted to go and see what it looked like and take some photos. "Why," he asked again.  This time I explained that I have a travel website and that I wanted to post about it on there.  He still looked at me funny and suddenly said that he would take me.  That was kinda unexpected and afterwards somebody asked me if I wasn't scared that he would rob me or something.  I just felt like I could trust him. 

After asking me to park my car in front of his grandmother's house, we headed down the two track road full of holes and dongas on foot (there was no way my car was going to navigate that) and down into the forest around the river.  Lizo told me about the area, the river, the village and it's people and about himself.  He is unemployed and came back to the village after finishing school in Cape Town.  He actually worked for Trevor's Tours at some stage and really wanted to do guiding in the area again to take people to The Gates and the Jacaranda.  Once down by the river he pointed out The Gates and some of the other interesting formations.  The Gates is a narrow gorge with steep cliffs rising on either side (the remnants of a geological fault and water erosion).  The water at The Gates is said to be 7m deep.  From here he took me downstream a bit to the weir from where water gets pumped and a low water bridge.  As you can see in the photos the light was unfortunately fading fast and I wanted to get back to the car before dark.  When we got back to the village Lizo wished me well for the rest of my travels.  He didn't try to solicit a tip from me (which so many official tour guides often do) but I decided to give him something for his effort anyway.  He truly deserved it and without him I would probably have gotten lost and stuck down there in the dark.  I wish there was more people like him around willing to go out their way for visitors even if they don't work in the tourism industry.

Ronnie and his Sex Shop

I have passed Ronnie's Sex Shop on Route 62 close to Barrydale so often but *sticks head in a hole* have never pulled over for a look.  Yes, shame on me.  But if you don't know what Ronnie's Sex Shop is, don't think it was a case of wanting to stop there to have a look at kinky toys and lingerie.  Because that's not what Ronnie's Sex Shop is about.  So what is it about?  Let me tell you the story in a nutshell.  Some years ago a guy called Ronnie decided to fix up an old building next to the popular Route 62 to turn it into a farm stall and sell fresh fruit, produce and perhaps a couple of odd souvenirs to passing motorists . Nearing completion Ronnie painted the name Ronnie's Shop on the wall, but a couple of his friends decided to pull a prank on good ol' Ronnie. They added the word SEX next to the name and thus changing it to Ronnie's Sex Shop. Ronnie was shocked and angry, but as he had more urgent work to do he never got around to changing the name again. Passers by would stop and ask after the name and an interest in it started before he was even open.   One night over a braai and a couple of drinks one of his friends suggested that he drop the whole farm stall idea and just open a pub. The rest, as they say, is history.

My eyes popped open when I walked in because the decor in the pub at Ronnie's is somewhat... uhm... well, different.  The walls are covered in graffiti and messages, business cards and money from all over the world while the ceiling isn't visible because of all the shirts and bras (yes, yes, there is lingerie contrary to what I said earlier) hanging from it.  All pieces "donated" and signed by visitors.

In the room next to the bar there is just about no space left on the walls because of all the messages.  Its enough to make one's eyes cross and head spin.  But Ronnie's isn't just a pub.  There is a little restaurant, called Roadkill, as well where you can grap a pizza or hamburger while enjoying a drink from the pub.

 

The highlight for me wasn't just finally seeing what Ronnie's was about, but actually meeting the man himself.  Ronnie even agreed to pose for a picture when I asked him.  And again with Chaos Boy and later again with Drama Princess.  The two of them was just fascinated with him.

So next time you drive through the Klein Karoo down Route 67, make sure you you pull over and say hi to Ronnie and his Sex Shop.

Check out Avril's post about Ronnie's on Mom's Meanderings for some more pictures

Waiting for a bite

Fishermen on the beach at Dana Bay outside Mossel Bay during the late afternoon

Clay animal boys

All over the Drakensberg area where ever the holiday makers go are people selling either traditional Zulu design woven items or little clay animals.  These boys were sitting at one of the lookout points and asked if I wanted to buy something from them.  I asked them if they made the animal figures and the one said that his brother did and they were just selling it during the school holidays.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough money on me, but they did allow me to take a couple of pictures of them to use on the blog.  I have to add that these three were very keen models, posing in a different way for each photo.

Cattle herder

Another one of those moments in the berg I couldn't resist.  A young Zulu man minding his herd of cattle on a rainy day.  Pity though you can't see the peaks of the mountains in the background, but it was in a valley so you can just see the hill side. 

Umbrella man

I found this old man standing in the rain with his umbrella studying the landscape during our Drakensberg holiday.  The scene just caught my eye and I had to pull over and take a photo of him.

Baby hands

Today is Youth Day here in South Africa. Youth Day commemorates the start of the Soweto riots of 1976. The iconic picture of Hector Pieterson, a black schoolchild shot by the police, brought home to many people within and outside South Africa the brutalities of the Apartheid regime. I have done a post on the Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto, Johannesburg before which can be seen by clicking on the link above.

I didn't have anything youthy to post today, so I decided to show a couple of pictures of my baby nephew's hands I took the other day.

Golden stroll

On Sunday afternoon I joined a group of photographers for a photo walk on the Sacramento Trail in Schoenmakerskop here in Port Elizabeth. (And no, I wasn't intimidated by all the big cameras. Size doesn't matter.) We went as far as the Sacramento wreck monument and then headed back to Schoenies to get some sunset photos. It is amazing how everybody came up with different angles and compositions for their photos. Here is one of my favorites from the walk. If you want to see more of the pictures taken by the photographers on the walk, visit the Friends of Schoenmakerskop page on Facebook.

Reflection

I was down in Govan Mbeki Street (Main Street) with the film crew the other day and we found these four Nigerian dudes chilling by the traders' stalls. What made the scene even better was that there was a brilliant reflection of them in the shoe shop window. At first they were a bit suspicious of us, but when people hear "FIFA" they play along very quickly.

Township kiddies

If you ever go on a proper Township Tour the guide will probably take you to one of the local schools or creches that their company supports. One of the tours I went on a little while ago took us to a community project that started as a feeding scheme for small children and developed into a day care and pre-school. Although the tour company gives the project a percentage of the fee that tourists pay for the tour, visitors always make some donations to the school or take along stationary and the like. Through the help of tourists many such projects are run throughout the townships of Port Elizabeth.

The kids always love it when the visitors take pictures of them during the visits. After the photos is taken they all line up to see the image on the camera's screen. The photo may not be a artistic picture of any kind, but I love the emotion from the kids. It doesn't matter what kind of circumstances these kids live in, they are always happy, laughing and playing. Enjoying life, even if they are being short changed. I often think that kids in rich neighbourhoods can learn something from these kids on how to enjoy childhood.

Enthralled by the waves

This is one of my favourite photos taken of my kids. It is of my son standing on the rocks in the Tsitsikamma National Park totally enthralled by the waves hitting the rocks. I wanted him to pose like that and struggled to get him to stand just the way I wanted to. I think after a while he got bored with me and started concentrating on the waves. Just what I wanted.