Entering through the hole in the wall

by Zandile Bokwana (South Africa)

Making a local connection South Africa

Entering through the hole in the wall Eastern Cape has a naturally beautiful town called Coffee Bay. Coffee Bay is situated in North of Eastern Cape with a population of 258 people. I packed my bags for Coffee Bay because I wanted to see the town with an interesting name. I travelled 540 kilometres from my home town of Port Elizabeth and my travelling was worth every kilometre. The distance from my destination made me see almost every town in the Eastern Cape. I stopped at stops and made connection with the locals and gained friends. Every stop made was for the pictures and making connection. The province has different towns, some are arid and some are very green. The sun set beautifully on the hills as we were still on the road to see the interesting town. As the hills glided and I was getting closer to my destination. I started picturing the town, I pictured a town with coffee farms everywhere and the smell of coffee in the air. I finally arrived in Coffee Bay, the first thing I did was stepping outside the car and took the picture of the beautiful virgin beach in the North EC With old rondavels nearby. The locals were carrying fishes by dishes. For a moment I felt like I was in Zanzibar not in my Eastern Cape. The picture I saw were like of the Zanzibar I saw on travel channel. The locals make a living by fishing and selling fish. The town is so tranquil the only noise you can hear is of the cars rarely passing by, birds singing and ocean waves. The locals don’t trust too much, after admiring the beauty of the town we wanted to go to the lodge we were going to shelter in. I waved at young girls that looked grade 4 age to ask for directions. One girl asked “How can I help you” while standing afar. We decided to walk towards the girls so they can hear us but to our surprise they ran. We bumped again into another bunch of kids who also dispersed when we tried to approach them. We used a map and finally arrived at the lodge ate the freshest sea-food. We stayed and at the lodge for two days and drove around. It’s rare to see people loafing around in Coffee Bay, The bunch of children were the last people we saw. The town’s beach is the most beautiful beach in South Africa with a huge rock that has a hole in the middle. Even though the beach is beautiful it’s rare to see people going to it for leisure, its only fishers that frequent it. On day two on our way back home I went to take a picture at a rondavel and stood at a door, I thought the rondavel owner was going to come out and investigate as we giggled while taking pictures but nobody came out that is how quiet the town is. If you love Zanzibar but do not have a passport take a shot left to Coffee Bay and get the feel of Zanzibar in SA.