Recently, the Active Escapes crew heard rumblings of a revamped bush camp down at Mtentu on the Wild Coast. And when we hear rumblings, well I guess we can’t help but check things out properly…which resulted in 12 excited inlanders heading down to the seaside for a long weekend break.
Arriving at 9am at the Wild Coast Casino, the intrepid group locked up their cars and pedaled off to explore a beautiful stretch of Pondoland on their bicycles. They chose to ride two inland routes as they were pretty keen to check out the Nyameni Waterfall which not many people get to see, and were afforded the opportunity to gain a small insight into the life of the local community, stopping to chat to people from the area. 35km later they pulled into the vibrant Mtentu bush camp and became very busy chilling the heck out.
The beauty about this trip is that all your gear gets transported for you, so on arrival your bags are at the foot of your bed and all is peachy! No matter that the transfer dude arrived in a Toyota Tazz for 12 people’s luggage…and had to tackle a 4×4 route to get the bags to their destination – that’s how they roll in the good ol’ T-skei!
Saturday was a ‘rest day’ where the crew hiked down to Mkambathi Nature Reserve to explore the estuary which leads up to the incredible Horse Shoe Falls. It was a scene straight out of blue lagoon as 12 adults transformed into adventuresome youths and swum up river to find the most spectacular bend in the gorge. Words can’t even describe the scene really, but swimming under the waterfall in a cloud of ozone infused bubbles is pretty darn special. The picture below is compliments of Carlos Gonzales of Spanafrican Adventures, specialists in guided Drakensberg hikes. Carlos is also our trusty guide on the Active Escapes lower Wild Coast mountain bike adventure. Thanks for the pic Carlos!
Sunday’s ride back to the casino was a bit longer with 45km to cover, but the crew chose the beach route for a change of scenery and traversed the Berea Red Sand Dunes (which were under threat from mining plans), a very unique experience. The unfortunate wet weather meant that no-one was keen to dilly dally, and within 5 hours they were back at the cars and even managed to find a very useful bike wash.
If this trip sounds appealing (I am uber bleak I missed this one) feel free to contact Sarah to find out about costs and logistics of the package, but it’s sure to make a brilliant long weekend break!
