In the early days of the century I was hiking the Amadiba Trail on what is known as South Africa’s Wild Coast, in the eastern Cape province. It’s so named because it’s very different to the rest of the country; extremely tribal, where chiefs rule in the name of community and individuals essentially can’t own land. Unemployment is rife, clinics and schools are scattered far apart. This wasn’t holiday per se, I was commissioned to find what had happened to European Union money that was meant for tourism development. I found corruption and personal interest to be ugly spots on the lush landscape. Often I came across friendly faces, a feature of this continent. The ‘couches’ had seen better times as seats in a microbus / mini-van.
Quite far to the south as the crow flies (they’re quite a few of them) is Bulungula, a stylish, rustic, environmentally and socially conscious holiday destination not too far from Umtata. Staring at the ocean.
http://www.bulungula.com/
