Day 98: Bulawu to Hluleke

I woke up early to say cheers to the guys as they were all leaving to go through to Mthatha along with Chester. It was awesome to have met them and after saying cheers I went back to sleep for a little while. When I finally did get up, and was ready to go I was also given a plate of lekker porridge from Chesters wife before saying cheers to her family.

Bulawu. What a view.

Vroom vroom

Thanks for the pleasant stay and good memories.

I was now back on my way to the beach I at arrived at yesterday. I had another swim before carrying on. I reached the place I met the guys yesterday and pushed my bike up to the road that was just up ahead. This took me to the beginning of the Hluleke Nature Reserve which is a small little reserve on the coast. Didn’t see any animals but it was a nice short  ride through the trees and such. I rested at the one area they use for conferences or training or whatever. Neraby were also some chalets and it was all in a very nice place quite close to the shore.

Back on the beach I was at yesterday.

Another lekker beach ride.

Looking back at where I came from.

Mooooove.

Inside Hluleka Nature Reserve.

Fairly pleasant though only thing I saw was vegetation.

And water.

View from the one outpost I stopped at.

I exited the reserve and headed inland towards the one shop nearby and after getting some stuff I was suggested to head back down to the coast by this one guy who was sitting outside. I told him I was on my way to Coffee Bay and he told me I could go along the coast as it was much quicker and less hilly and that there was a ferry or boat of some kind at the one river. Cool I thought. What’s not to like? So I headed back.

The proper entrance. I went through some gate which I think was supposed to stay closed.

This next section turned out to be quite something. It was a nice downhill getting to the beach, then 2 big up hills to get up that lead down to a wonderful beach. There was lots of slow bike pushing. Once at the beach I decided to rest and swim a bit. This little beach was superb and I was stoked to be there. Then it was time to try and teach this river. The problem was that there were 2 or 3 paths somewhat leading there. Shit which one? I chose the one that looked like the most direct route. This quickly became so narrow that I had to push my bike. The path also had a little drop to the right of it, where if I fell or lost my bike balance, I’m sure I would have broken my bike. There were also many tree roots that made going over a hell of a mission. I decided this is stupid and too much effort, so I left my bike so that I could run ahead and actually see if this path would actually lead me anywhere. I came to the river but I couldn’t see where this boat might be. The only place it could have been was the house that was way on the other side but there was no one there and I couldn’t see any boat for starters. I also met a couple of boys fishing who said there was no boat. Great I thought. So I went back, got my bike and pushed back to where the paths started. I decided I would take the road I originally wanted. It was a slow tedious trek making my way up all the hills I had already done but luckily some other guys were returning from a little bit of fishing and they helped me out a bit.

Right, lets hit those down hills. At this point I was very stoked and optimistic.

Still feeling good though I had to push up the next hill.

Priceless.

Gotta take it slow on these one.

This is all mine!!!

Nope, you gotta share it with us cows.

Word.

Part of the  path I had to navigate. Big waste of time.

I thought at the time I had just wasted 3 hours with that little back and forth stint that just happened. I was in no mood to carry on so I needed to find a place to stay. After trying a few houses with no luck, I tried the Hluleke Nature Reserve. I was denied permission to just camp inside at the gate but was told I could just camp on the hillside. I was a bit hesitant at first with regards to my safety but I was told there was nothing to worry about. I eventually relented and pitched my tent. Once it was up, I realized this was one of the best views I had ever had for a camp spot.

Gave in and pitched my tent. Looking back, it had one of the best views out of the entire trip.  Priceless.

I also noticed that the one house had people in it now so I decided to check it out with the hopes that I could charge my phone a bit. I was met by 4 guys from Queenstown who were here for a little holiday. They had been out fishing when I had tried their house earlier. They didn’t have electricity to charge my phone but said I could cook and bath if I wanted which I accepted. I quickly popped out to get my things and I also lucked out by leaving my phone at the hluleke security gate to charge a bit. So I went back to bath, cook and had a lekker time chilling with the boys from Queenstown. I was also totally lucky when they offered me this one map that had all the roads in the area. It was exactly what I needed as I was winging it over the last 2 days. I cannot emphasize how much this map rules. If anyone is even thinking about doing a tour of the wild coast, this is the map to get. It was now time to sleep as everyone was lekker tired so I headed out to my tent.

This map is Fucking Awesome!!!!!

Shot okies for the map.

And the laughs. Hahaha.

Once I was actually in my tent, the wind decided to howl like a banshee. I thought my tent cables were going to snap. Shit I thought. This really sucks as I am totally in the open taking the full brunt of this wind. Many times I had to lie holding the one section up. I wondered if I would even get any sleep at night. Luckily I did and my tent did hold. But it was something to take into consideration next time I set it up.

Distance 10kms