It wasn't a lot of mileage to cover from Underberg in Kaw Zulu Natal to Coffee Bay in the Eastern Cape Province, but I'm one worn out driver at this point. It was about 240 miles and took about 6.5 hours. Some of the route was pretty good. Much of it was covered with beachball sized potholes. In addition to the potholes a driver has to deal with goats, sheep, cattle and pedistrians on the roadway. It's a bit like dodging laser fire from the alien fighters in the classic video game, Galaga.
A few miles past the city of Umthatha, we first too a rural highway which turned to washed out gravel for the last 12 miles. It was slow, but less tiring than the constant weaving and bobing around obstacles and slow moving traffic on the larger roads.
Transkei is very different than Kwa Zulz Natal (KZN). The area has received less rain and is brown. Gone are the large, corporate and price farms, mostly owned by white South Africans. Unemployment is over 60% as is the poverty rate. The largest city, Mthatha is one of the most crime ridden cities in South Africa. We passes through and found it to be gritty and congested, but it was mostly orderly.
There are many nice, new homes in the villages along the highway, and they seem to go on forever. There seemed to be far fewer indigenous housing areas near Underberg in KZN. In Underberg, we walked through town with drawing a glance or any special attention, except maybe a shy smile from a young child. The moment I stepped out of the car in Transkei, the hands came out asking for money. I can't blame those asking, their economy is in horrible shape. It is just an observation on my part as to the difference in a short 240 miles.
The people in KSN are predominantly Zulu. The people of Transkei are predominantly Xhosa.
The Wild Coast is a bit like the Oregon Coast. It is rocky with pounding surf. Sandy beaches exists where streams and rivers run into the ocean. Hole in the Wall is such a place.
Xhosa legend holds that this is the gateway to the world of their ancestors. The local Xhosa call this place "esiKhaleni", which means "place of sound". During certain seasons and water conditions the waves clap in such a fashion that the concussion can be heard throughout the valley.
Hole-in-the-Wall and the tragedy of the prophetess:
A young girl called Nongqawuse had seen a messenger from the realm of the ancestors at a waterhole. She told her uncle Mhlakaza about her vision. As he was an important Xhosa priest, his social rank granted a great impact to the prophecy he derived from his niece's vision.
He announced that soldiers who were incarnations of the souls of dead Xhosa warriors, would arrive on the 18th of February over the sea, come onto land through the "Hole in the Wall" and defeat the hated British. But, he continued, the Xhosa had to make a sacrifice to help the warriors by destroying all their cereals and killing all their cattle. After the victory, there would be food in abundance for everybody.
The Xhosa followed the instructions in his prophecy and killed their whole stock of cattle. The catastrophe took its course and thousands of Xhosa perished from famine. (See: http://www.wildcoast.com/nongqawuse for the western version of the story, with fascinating comments about a conspiracy surrounding the possible genocide.
The rain is moving in. I'll get a photo tomorrow.
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