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here in the last few years, so be careful when swimming in the sea. But
what this beach may lack in safety and amenities, it certainly makes up
for with some of the most spectacular scenery. Powerful Wild Coast
waves and a river mouth are set off against a backdrop of forests,
green hills and a wide beach where time stands still. Apart from Nguni
cattle you might also encounter groups of village men passing their
days drinking beer and discussing important business on the rocks,
while on the beaches women collect shells in large mounds to burn for
lime-making, or scour the rocks for seafood.
Swimming with cows
Shutterstock
Port St Johns is highly popular with international backpackers who
flock here from all over the world, for the Goa-like ‘beach bum’
trance experience, or are drawn by the excellent Wild Coast hiking
opportunities along this dramatic coastline or in the deep forests that
come right to the sea’s edge. Naturally there are many backpackers’
lodges in the area, all of them very informal, rustic and laid back, with
plenty of hammocks, lapas and braai facilities, and ice cold beers of
course. These are complimented by a number of fine restaurants of
differing price ranges, as well as lively drinking establishments.
Cherry festival
Port St Johns…Jewel of the Wild Coast,
with unspoilt beaches and forests, and
swimming cows too
Discover ‘The Beach’ at the river mouth, surf with sharks and swim
with cattle, wander through the unspoilt forests, mingle with the locals
in the village and dance to some pumping kwaito music over a beer or
two, lounge in a hammock under the trees sipping long cocktails, or
chat to travellers from all over the world in rustic beach and hillside
backpackers’ lodges…or if it’s quiet luxury you seek, you’ll find that too.
Anybody who saw the 2000 cult movie The Beach (or read the book)
starring Leonardo DiCaprio, will take one look at Port St Johns and say,
“This is it!”. While not quite the same as the island-setting of the movie
off Thailand’s coast, Port St Johns and surrounds is every bit as much a
paradise on earth, and even more. Large rivers flowing into the warm
Indian Ocean, unspoilt forests, the unmatched coastline of the Wild
Coast, a friendly and pulsating little village surrounded by forest-clad
hills and cliffs, and more.
River mouth, Port St Johns
Wildestanimal - Shutterstock
Drive out of the village and you enter another world of traditional
Xhosa villages and rondavel huts clinging precariously to the sides of
forested hills. When you get to the popular Second Beach don’t be
surprised if you have to share your place in the sun with a herd of
African Nguni cattle with their typical patchwork white and red hides
and large, menacing horns. But don’t worry, they are quite lazy and
harmless, just passing the sunshine hours on the beach and taking the
occasional knee-deep dip before being herded back to their kraals in
the surrounding villages at sunset. It must be the most popular beach
hangout for cattle in the world.
Far more dangerous here are the sharks. While Second Beach is very
popular with backpackers, swimmers, surfers and locals, and cattle of
course, several shark attacks on surfers have unfortunately taken place
In the more traditional shebeens and pubs in the town, you will be
swept off your feet by pulsating kwaito, hip hop and rap music, as
well as some more traditional African genres. If you join in the fun, the
locals might quickly draw you into a dancing contest, each taking turns
to show off their best moves. You will be expected to show yours.
The town has about 6,500 permanent residents and is situated at the
mouth of the Umzimvubu River, some 70km from Mthatha along a
good tarred road. In former years the river mouth estuary was used
as a port for shipping and, in colonial times, the local tribe and its chief
were heavily embroiled in the politics of the region and fights with
other royals. But that’s all in the past now.
The area truly boasts some of the most dramatic and beautiful
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