Coffee Bay under the stars...

Okay, I'm just playing a little with a fun filter to see what would Coffee Bay look like if it was covered in stars... Pretty hey?

I sometimes think of Coffee Bay, this Paradise Lost, this little rural traditional Xhosa place that has the Western world crashing into it with giant yellow noisy machines wiping out everything in it's path to build a highway straight through it. Backpackers, tourists from all over the world visiting every day, as neglected people struggle to make a living from sunrise to sunset, as a place somehow similar to Bethlehem, where perhaps a baby could be born someday unsuspected, Messiah, born on the floor of a humble mud hut - stars bright in the sky, to grow up in simple surroundings, with the sole purpose of saving the world from darkness.  That's just my imagination running wild.

12 day visit to Coffee Bay 2015. Day 1: Thursday 130815

19:30pm 

I’ve just had my evening warm water bucket bath and I’m clean and happy sitting on my bed in my little caravan.  Music from my ipod and mini speaker & kettle boiling for some tea.  I am slightly hungry but all is good really.  God is good! Gypsy girl is back! (Even though only for 12 days)

Arrived yesterday about 5pm after 18 hours on the Intercape and another 1.5 on Coffee Shack shuttle.  Yes, I was super lucky as the shuttle arrived in Umtata the same time as me and they had one seat open because of a cancellation!  So I didn’t have to do the dodgy taxi mission (involving standing next to the highway holding a paper with XAE  for Mqanduli and changing there to another taxi) Good start! 

Arrived at the campsite to find my caravan in the exact same condition as I left it a year ago (apart from a little bit of dust and some gecko poo)  I have electricity (brought a long extension cable with me) and my lamp is working, yay! 

Had a bucket wash before Gavin fetched me for dinner at Noen and Tuppy’s house.  It was a bit of a festive occasion, celebrating Linda’s 50^th birthday.  I am by 12 years the youngest in this crowd but it’s cool, they’re always interested in what I have to say.  So awesome to see Robin again after a bit more than 2 years. 

This morning I caught a taxi to Ngcwanguba (the general dealers close to Coffee Bay) and the driver charged me only R10 instead of R14 just out of being nice.  Thanks man!  When I got into that taxi the memories came back to me of why I love this little part of Africa so much. To see the people, hear the taxi music, I felt so real and alive.  I felt myself and happy.  As we drove the 20km to the shop I felt like I wanted to cry.  Not for joy then, but for compassion for the people sitting in the taxi and walking on the road.  They are so rich in their suffering.  I don’t know how else to explain it.

Got all the supplies I needed for the 12 days (tomatoes, onions, cucumber, broccoli, spinach, milk, cheese, yoghurt eggs etc. for under R300 (and that included a bit of a luxury item I couldn’t resist – a mokha coffee pot for just R69!!! I’ve always wanted one…)  Transkei avos from Ngcwanguba’s own tree are just 79cents…. For real!!!  Only thing I forgot to get was flour for chapatis and toilet paper.

Met Robin later and we walked to the backpacker side to meet some people.  Robin handed out reading glasses to the bead mamas.  I regret not bringing more as well.  There are never enough.  Or Xhosa Bibles, not to mention the beads.  I only brought wooden beads and wires that some mamas specifically requested a year ago.  My budget kind of ran out and I didn’t get them any other regular beads which would’ve helped them a lot right now.  I’ll have to buy beads from every single mama to support them equally.  Robin only packed one jean and one skirt for herself, for her whole trip from America.  The rest of her suitcase held items for the people, from clothing, baby blankets, glasses and Bibles.  I was a bit more selfish I admit, I only brought one bag of beads.  I would love to come next year with my car and bring a whole lot more stuff.  The mamas also need bags to carry their beads in.  Even their plastic bags are disintegrating.

We went to 'Friends Cafe' up the road to say hi to Linda and had some delicious meringue and coffee with a awesome Coffee Bay view...

Last night I was surprised by a familiar voice outside my caravan.  It was Ace, my night security guard.  Met him way back in 2011 when I first parked my caravan in this campsite.  He has a golden bear love aura.  It was so sad last year when there was another security guard here to replace him, because he was sick from having to spend every night outside in the cold.  Today we agreed that when I leave I’ll give him the key of my caravan so he can use it as his shelter at night.  I should’ve done it long ago but I am so precious about my special little space.  Now I really don’t mind, I would just love for him to be healthy and have some comfort.  I know that he would give his life to me in a given situation.  We are family.

Me and Ace and mama Gloria

Saw so many people in the day (Apart from about 8 of the bead mamas,Linda, Jo, Michael, Sarah and Capri, Kevin Nomonde, Ninti, Ayanda). Saw Afekile, Sinevuyo and Alithemba on my way home, they ran down the hill to greet me, I feel bad that I’m spending my time with too many other people while they wait for me to go to the Reading Hut.  Soon!  Mama Gloria and Mavis waited for me by the gate when I got back, and it's great to see Joe, the faithful garden man of Villa La Bay and also of course Brandy the dog.

Mama Grace, Michael and Robin

The weather was slightly windy at some point but still much warmer than Cape Town, yay for sandal weather!  Approximate date of returning to Cape Town 24 Aug.

MAKHELWANE (MY NEIGHBOUR)

A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION

FRIDAY 16 AUGUST 18:30

@ EC LANGUAGE SCHOOL

CAPE TOWN

75 CHURCH STREET 

(Opp. Christiaan Barnard Hospital) - (Park your car @ Heritage square)

050713 Friday, photos in a forest

For only the second time in a whole year of staying at this campsite in Coffee Bay, I have a camping buddy for a few days who happens to make the best coffee I've possibly ever had.  Donald is doing a couple months road trip with his big dog Luka and I've been lucky enough to have them join me on a little area exploration today at Umtata river mouth and Umdumbi.

Since the April flood this year, the sea is coming up much higher than before at the Umtata river mouth and much of the forest area has been under water.  Quite a surreal landscape...

A dead mule along the way.

A small section of the view at Umdumbi, my own little serengeti.

150513, New Montessori School Coffee Bay

Last week I had the privilege to help out for two days at the new Montessori School (Ikhaya Labantwana) in Coffee Bay, while some of the other teachers were receiving their training. Previously the Montessori school was much smaller but the new school which opened its doors just a few weeks ago, already has about 30 kids attending. 

I had loads of fun and was happy to spend time with my little friends, some of whom I've already known for a while from around Coffee Bay and the Reading Hut.  Personally I think this school is one of the best things that exist around here.  These kids are learning so much and already have such a high step up in an otherwise very sad educational system.  There are four year olds here who can already put letters together to form words whilst I daily spend time with 9 year olds from the regular public schools around, who still don't know the complete alphabet!  

I really believe that to make a change in the education of a nation (that has lagged behind for too long because of apartheid, poverty etc.) the best place to start is with the little ones and laying for them a solid foundation.  This is what's being done here.

Well done to the magnificently passionate Dawn Brochenin and all her hard work together with those who helped her make this school a possibility!  May the futures of these little ones be blessed.

250413, Mama Gloria 's hut

Mama Gloria and her grandchildren in front of the fallen hut

Well, I certainly didn't come off the worst in the flood.  There were many people whose houses collapsed and my good friend, Mama Gloria was one of them.  I didn't know until this morning when I saw two of her friends and asked them where she was.  Her hut collapsed Sunday afternoon during the heavy rain fall and she had to go and dig out and rescue what clothes and other belongings she could find.  Thankfully she was not inside at the time and there is another hut next door where she can stay.

She seemed in good spirits today when I visited but complained of body and head aches.  She probably has the flu and must be exhausted. I really hope she can get herself some rest...

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us."  Romans 8:18

Tea with mama Gloria

The kids in and out

Another neighbor coming to call

230213, A river ran through it

This picture was taken on Sunday morning, after possibly the most crazy flood night I've experienced up to date.  The river started to flood at about 1am on Sunday morning, the sound woke me and I was not sure what it was since it had been raining quite hard and non-stop for a long long time.  But I was awake and occasionally tried to look out the window to see if it's getting higher.  I could see Ace, the night guard with his torch, walking around and checking the water levels. I also packed a little bag with the most essential things and went out to put it in my car and move my car higher up.

   I heard Aquila (the Boerboel, sleeping in my tent) give a whimper at some point in answer to a frog croaking.  That's when I thought that if the animals are worried it's probably time for me to also start worrying.  It had flooded before but didn't come as high as where I am currently parked, so I did not expect it to get that bad.

By 3am it got serious.  Suddenly the water was inside my tent and I had to wake Aquila (the Boerboel)  to get her out of there. . .  All the time it's pouring down.  From then on it all happened pretty fast.  Ace and Dewald (the camp manager) came to help me carry everything out of my tent.  By this time the water was suddenly much higher and a lot of things just floated off.  I was standing knee deep in water inside my tent looking around at these waves washing through, not knowing what to grab and what to let go, yet feeling strangely calm through it all, knowing Jesus is right there with me in the storm .

 I had to go back and and pack more things from my caravan cause now it looked like there is no stopping to the rising of the water. I then went to take shelter in Dewald's house and found I was not the only one packing even though the other people were much higher than me.  I must say at that stage I was mostly just histerically laughing at the reality of everything.  We were making jokes about packing up and going.   The water rose up to the caravan's entrance and there it stopped and went down.  It's amazing how quickly it goes down again once it's reached the peak.  

It was not the end though.  I was just starting to relax a bit when Dewald told me to come quick. A tree had fallen over on top of my car!  Luckily just the branches, so I moved it out without any damage.  But what I was shocked to see then was that the wind had come up and ripped my whole complete tent of the ground and  all the poles were out.   That has never happened before.  At least there was nothing left inside the tent.  As if that was not enough the wind also broke my caravan's window out.  That is a bit of a problem that is going to be hard to fix.  And the rain pours in...

From there I went over to stay at some kind people's house and got dry and tried to have some sleep.  The rain still didn't stop.  The rain measured on Saturday was 160mm.  The rain measured for Sunday was 300mm.  I anticipated another flooding.    

The water went all the way right up to the little fence you can see on the right.  

To my horror I was right.  On Monday morning when I went back, I was faced with the aftermath of a small natural disaster.  The previous evening at about 7pm, that river flooded again and this time went even much higher.  The whole campsite had to evacuate.  Everything on my side was in shambles.  I was still hopeful that my seedlings were going to survive, because some were still standing on top of the braai after the first flood, but when I got back, there was not even a single braai left standing.  The water went into and through my caravan.    I am soooo thankful I was not there to experience that. 

Mama Grace came around and helped me get the caravan floor cleaned of all the mud that washed through it.  Funny how she's always helping me with mud on my floors.  Previously she had to put it on (The Reading Hut floor) and now she had to take it off.  Anyway I am so thankful for that because it made me a bit despondent to see that and she just took care of it for me in no time.  Thank the Lord for Grace...

 The campsite after the storm

Here you can see exactly where the water went through the caravan