Mzanzitravel Magazine Issue 10

list, but they include surfing, kayaking, snorkelling, scuba diving, forest hikes, mountain hikes, and cycling.
Some of the most favoured towns along this route are Mossel Bay, Great Brak River, Herold’s Bay, George,
Victoria Bay, Wilderness, Sedgefield, Knysna, Buffels Bay, Plettenberg Bay, Keurboomstrand, Nature’s
Valley, Storms River village and mouth (in the Garden Route National Park), Cape St Francis and Jeffreys
Bay.
Port Elizabeth is also popular, especially the beach front area stretching from the Cape Recife Nature
Reserve, past the Nelson Mandela University along Summerstrand, Humewood, The Boardwalk, Hobie
Beach, South End and into the downtown city area. On the way to East London, the Sunday’s River valley,
Kenton-on-Sea, and Port Alfred are favourite stopovers, as well as the many little coastal hamlets and
traditional villages, and inland areas and towns like the university town of Grahamstown.
Hiking
East London and surrounds too attract many backpackers, with some of the favourite spots being Kaysers
Beach, Christmas Rock, Kidd’s Beach, The Quigny and Esplanade along the city beachfront, and on to
Nahoon Beach, Bonza Bay, Gonubie and all the many seaside hamlets and resorts all the way up to Kei
Mouth.
Legendary Wild Coast
It is here, however, that South Africa’s most popular drawing card for backpackers starts – the legendary Wild
Coast. This unspoilt, stunningly beautiful stretch of coast with its many forests, hill-top villages, bays and
beaches, rivers and lagoons is a firm favourite, and cheap backpackers’ accommodation is found all along the
coast. In many places locals offer their traditional homes in the villages as accommodation for backpacking
tourists – a unique way to experience the local Xhosa culture. Popular spots, with lodges that have become
legendary among the global backpacking community, are located at Mazeppa Bay, around the Kobb Inn
Hotel, at the Mbashe River Mouth, Xhora River Mouth, Bulungula, Wild Lubanzi, Hole in the Wall, Coffee Bay,
Mdumbi, Mtakatyi, Hluleka, Mngazi River Mouth, Port St Johns, Ntafufu, Manteko. Mbotyi, Waterfall Bluff,
and all the way up to KwaZulu-Natal.
KwaZulu-Natal, with all its many attraction s and activities to be enjoyed, is another popular destination.
Backpackers like spending time along the South Coast, in the inland parks and reserves, hiking in the
Drakensberg Mountains, visiting the Valley of a Thousand Hills, going into cultural villages and spending time
in Durban where the Florida Road nightlife and the city markets big are attractions, as are the beaches from
uShaka Marine World up to Umhlanga, and the open-air shebeen restaurants of KwaMashu. Further up the
coast lies the magical iSimangaliso Wetland Park and St Lucia.
Again, venturing inland, there are far too many destinations to list. But places like Johannesburg with its many
attractions and pulsating nightlife, the Cradle of Humankind, the Kruger National Park and other parks, the
Blyde River Canyon area, are among the many popular destinations.
So, there you have it – the world is literally your oyster, especially in South Africa…and it need not cost much.
Have fun, be young…whether you are eighteen or eighty!