I checked in to camp (R80/night out of season, R170 for dorms) in Jeffrey’s Bay at a really cool place called Island Vibe. The place is really big, with lots of areas to hang out, two kitchens, a bar and restaurant area, and an outdoor area with tables and a little grass space to camp. It’s right on the beach too. The first full day I was there, it was insanely windy and kind of cold, so instead of swimming in the ocean like I’d intended to, I just walked around on the beach. Walking around outside in the same pair of shots wasn’t helping with the 2016 Shorts Tan Fiasco caused by hiking in Coffee Bay all day without sunscreen, but whatever. Maybe later I’d try to strategically put more sunscreen on the tan part and let the white part get a little darker…Anyway. The sea was super foamy and the beach was quite empty. I walked back through town and boredly browsed some of the surf-brand outlet stores. Back at the hostel, I did some writing on my computer as I talked to a guy named George I had met back in Coffee Bay who happened to be at my hostel again. This tends to happen around here. In South Africa, you’re either going from Durban to Cape Town or from Cape Town to Durban with little deviation in the route, so you get to run into the same travelers from place to place. The night ended with some rowdy card games and partying with a really cool group of people in the restaurant/bar. I love nights like that- a group of mostly complete strangers comes together and just has a blast together.
A view from the hostel to the beach
The camping area
A chunk of very smelly whale that washed up on the beach. A bulldozer very shortly carried it down the beach and buried it.
The
next day, it was also super windy, and my tent was acting like it was gonna
blow away. It probably also didn’t help that I had only 3 tent stakes at this
point. So I folded it up and put it in my car, then I was very silly and
decided that I wanted to surf. J Bay is one of the best spots to surf in the
world, so I decided that I didn’t want to miss out. However, after renting the
board and carrying it down to the beach, it got so windy that I had trouble
carrying the board as it acted like a sail trying to carry me away. I got
several waves, but mostly it kinda sucked because of the wind. I got out and
started to go back to the hostel, but I could barely hold on to my board. My
struggling must have been obvious, because a lifeguard out for a run noticed me
stopping every few steps to get a better grip on my board, so he was a doll and
helped me carry it back. Phew!
Surfers
The
last day I was in J Bay, the only thing of substance I did was take a super
long (for me, anyway) run on the beach, taking advantage of the sand to be able
to run barefoot, then I had a conversation with this Afrikaner guy who has been
traveling by bicycle through South Africa and Namibia for a few months. I gave
him some advice about biking through Lesotho, and suggested some bike-friendly
routes he might be able to take through the country.
I
so wish that the weather had been better while I was in Jeffrey’s Bay, because
I would have done a lot more (quality) surfing, but alas, the rain and clouds
have been out to get me this whole time. But it was still really fun and highly
recommended.
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