Coffee Bay and the Dragon Mountains

After you spend 4 days at Bulungula it is hard to compare any other stops to it. We left the shuttle from Bulungula and hopped on a taxi (crammed car with music blasting and apparently no concern for speed limits) which wound through villages and crouded markets until we got to Coffee bay, another surf destination and beach hangout.

The room was interesting and located across a river (via rock jumping when the river is low) from the main hostel building. We weren't that impressed with the place, but coming from paradise I think we were a little jaded. Most other backpackers thought this place was "the Bomb". The main beach was a short hike away from the hostel, and because it was raining (of course) we didn't do a lot of swimming, but I did make a friend who helped me build the best sand castle ever. The kids of the village were so cute and since they are taught to sing and dance instead of beg for change and candy, we got a few amazing songs for a small price. Jared even got a one on one soccer match on the beach.

We took a beautiful hike along the jagged coast to "hole in the wall" where only the crazy ones jump into the hole to be washed out to sea, luckily the surf was to rough to do it when we were there. We were talked into doing the hike with a group (aghh) but it turned out to be quite entertaining as there were two British girls who complained the whole time starting with the first 2 minutes. The scenery was spectacular and the toasties on the beach (flame grilled cheese with onion and tomatoe sauce) were delicious.

Jared and I ended the evening, sitting on the edge of a green cliff, with the ipod playing

and waves crashing all around us as the sun set. So peaceful, so great!

We left the coast and spent a few nights in Durban (big city, not much to say) and then made our way to the Drakkensburg Mountains. The mountains here are amazing, think of a mix between Hawaii's tropical lush green mountains and Zions jagged redrock cliffs and that is what these mountains look like. We took a hike through tropical forest and rivers to a beautiful viewpoint of the second tallest waterfall in the world. It was amazing, and the river had great swimming holes where a few were swimming and I managed to fall in. It was great.

Up next is Johannesburg, apparently one of the scariest cities in the world (or so all of the guide books and locals say). I guess if we manage to escape our hostel, we'll see what all the talk is about.