East Coast Tour - Part 2 - Bulungula to Chintsa via Umkomaas

After 2 Glorious days at Bulungula, we jumped into the car and headed for Umkomaas where my Mum lives. This was quite a trek as it was 466km (the first 2 hours on a dirt road) and then on the N2 clogged with taxis and slow moving traffic. Once back on the N2, the next big town was Umtata which used to be the capital of what was called the Ciskei. Past Umtata was a slog, as it was mostly single carriageway. Once we got through Kokstad, the road turned into dual carriageway and we could pick up speed. Our nerves were frayed by this time as we were tired and hungry. Pressing on, we came to Port Shepstone and the coastal road heading towards Durban.

After spending 3 days visiting my Mum Umkomaas, we jumped back on the N2 Southcoast road down to Chintsa just outside East London. We arrived in the late afternoon after a few detours and found a small pub and seeing as we were famished, we stopped in for a pint and something to eat. In the pub, we met the owner of a small holiday resort and within 15 mins, we had found somewhere to put our heads down for the night.

The next morning, we took a long walk along the beautiful beach. Man, this is also a beautiful part of South Africa. Miles and miles of pristine coastline that is hardly inhabited.

Something rang true to Ruth about this place as she kept saying how much at peace she felt. Oh, well, this probably means we will be coming back this way one day.....

There is something about walking along miles of deserted coastline. Nothing but you, the wind, the seagulls and the crashing surf.....

At midday, we packed our stuff and headed south-west again via East London. East London was founded in 1847 by the Britis settlers. It played a big role in the British - Xhosa frontier wars as a supply port.

Above is a photo of the East London Town Hall.

Ruth and the statue of Steve Biko, the Apartheid activist murdered in 1977 by South African police whilst in detention.