If you didn’t know, Coffee Bay takes it name from a ship that run aground nearby and it was carrying coffee. It seems the area is known for ships running aground because not far from here (5kms only) the Oceanos sank in 1991 (if you were alive then you will remember it). All the passengers and crew survived,

Some of the group went on an early morning run while the rest of us didn’t. I did go out later for a bird walk and managed to add a few birds to the trip list (which for me is now at 68 birds at the end of today).

After breakfast we headed to Hole in the Wall which is a natural arch made by the waves. It is about 9 kms from where we are staying. We had been warned that the locals will offer to guide us to the natural phenomenon and would expect up to R200 payment for being our ‘guide’. If you don’t oblige then they damage your cars. It was recommended that we rather park at the hotel and walk from there (which is what we did). As it turned out, we had someone try to guide us anyway and we rejected his guiding and headed up the road and ended up where we would have if we had driven ourselves to the view. It is a real problem in the area as whenever you set foot out of where we are staying someone is trying to sell you something. Bead work, guiding, crayfish, walking stick, firewood – these were all offered to us at some point today.

If you can put aside the locals badgering you, the views are beautiful. R sent his drone out a few times and eventually plucked up enough courage to send it out past the ‘Hole in the Wall’ and take photos from the other side. The resultant photos were amazing!

We walked back to the hotel and had a drink (to ‘repay’ them for their free parking and protection of our cars) and then headed back to our accommodation for lunch. After lunch, some people rested and some caught up on some work. At 4pm some of us went on a birding walk but the birds were basically absent and we only managed to add one bird to our trip list and that was on a tree right in front of where we are staying.

We did a braai tonight for dinner (chicken skewers and potato bake). We finished at just after 9pm (now almost 10pm) and I am now ready for bed. Doesn’t seem like a full day (if you look at it from the length of the blog) but it certainly felt like one.

Until tomorrow

P, H, O (she is now firmly entrenched in this spot as the compliments keep flowing), A (did the braaiing tonight), R (for his drone footage), B (let us eat his chicken kebabs today), S & J (she took a few digs today!)