Homepage: Willmore Adventures in South Africa
Snorkeling in the beautiful freshwater lakes of Kosi Bay, exploring South Africa’s eastern coastline with the thundering Indian Ocean, experiencing the decay of infrastructure which often leaves many without water, and South Africa suffering the worst floods in decades. All this during a visit from my mum who we had not seen for 2 ½ years. The extremes of beauty and destruction, the celebration and the frustration of living on this southern tip of Africa. Welcome to another instalment of our Willmore Adventures!
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| Seeing my mum for the first time in 2 1/2 years! |
If given the choice between electricity and water, every South African will tell you that, whilst both are vital for 21st century living, water is by far the most frustrating to live without. You can’t wash, drink, flush a toilet, clean…the list goes on… So, when a pipe bursts and the municipality water is turned off, irritation levels are high. Combine it with a bout of no electricity – no traffic lights, no fridge or freezer, no lights, no computer, no Netflix – and South Africans are on the war path! Decaying infrastructure is a daily burden. So, when my mum came to visit us for the first time in 2 ½ years, the simple task of washing bed sheets became a 2-day affair. After hearing the washing machine beep angrily to let me know that the water had been turned off, I rolled my eyes and turned to the taps in the utility room to wash the laundry liquid off my hands. After turning the tap on and being reminded for the second time in a minute that the water had indeed been turned off, I marched into the kitchen feeling a little flustered. To calm my British nerves, I decided that I needed a cup of tea. To the sink in the kitchen I went, shaking my head. I thrust the kettle under the tap and turned it on… and I think we all know what happened next… NOTHING! Nothing is what happened next. Other than the fact that I cursed myself loudly for being so stupid. 3 times in one minute I was reminded that we had no water. It had finally sunk in, I made myself a cup of tea from the emergency bottled water in the cupboard and sat down to gather my thoughts. It’s amazing how we work on autopilot for so many daily tasks. Watching Laurence walk into the kitchen, grab a glass from the cupboard and try and fill it up at the sink was the only redeeming moment in the whole situation. It’s always funny when it happens to someone else.
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| Elowen and the emergency cupboard water in action! |
Two days later, the pipes were finally fixed, and I was at last able to wash the bed sheets. A bird left a present on them in the garden whilst they were drying so it wasn’t plain sailing after that but at least we had water!
The days that followed our water deprivation were a disaster
on a much grander scale…
Just as my mum arrived, South Africa had its worst weather
in decades. It rained so much that the east of the country around Durban experienced
severe flooding and landslides. Homes, health care centres and schools were washed
away, and shipping containers were seen floating down the motorway. 443 people
died and 40,000 were displaced. The Government announced a national state of
disaster and blamed global warming for the flooding, the locals blamed poor
infrastructure citing blocked drains as one of the problems. Either way, it had
caused absolute devastation. So, it was no water followed by floods in South
Africa this April.
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| The devastation in Durban caused by the Autumn floods. |
Despite the bad weather, we headed east with my mum, to a pre-booked holiday at Kosi Bay, on the coast just south of the Mozambique border.
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| Jo'burg to Kosi Bay, on the coast just south of the Mozambique border. |
It is another of South Africa’s gems, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where there is a network of freshwater lakes called the iSimangaliso Wetlands that lead into the Indian Ocean. It is home to some crocodiles and hippos along with some pretty fish and some pretty tasty fish.
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| Kosi Bay's tidal fresh water lake system. |
Being tidal, it has led to a unique way of fishing for the locals and the lakes are littered with wooden fish traps. Most of the lakes are shallow meaning that if you don’t have a boat, you can just walk across, and if the school boat is out of action, the local children will wade across to get to school. They would just have to check where the hippos were hanging out that day to avoid an unwanted confrontation. Hippos can hold their breath for 6 minutes and run along the bed of a lake at 20 kilometres an hour, so it would be foolish to think that a human could in any way outwit one. Thankfully the locals are adept at avoiding the hippo population and there has only been 1 human death in the last 20 years. Humanity and nature living in harmony. None of these facts made me feel safe and relaxed, however, when we were given the opportunity to snorkel in the lakes during a boat ride with one of the locals. One eye on the beautiful fish and one eye on the darker water where I was convinced a hippo or a croc would make a beeline for the silly foreigner. Thankfully the hippos and crocs were otherwise engaged that day and we were left to explore the beautiful waters of Kosi Bay without interruption.
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| The shallow lakes' fish traps |
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| Amelie, Joel and my mum sitting at the front of the boat. |
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| Amelie and Laurence snorkeling/just landed on Earth... |
Like the local Kosi Bay people, we also had to wade across the estuary of the lakes to get to the beach. Tip toeing between the eels and the lionfish, we made it across, and spent a second beautiful day by the Indian Ocean.
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| Mum and me overlooking the lakes on our way down to the beach. |
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| The estuary that we had to cross to get to the beach with the Indian Ocean beyond. |
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| Sending Laurence across first! |
The weather turned once again though and we were back to thunderstorms and torrential rain. So much so that we decided to go home early. Elowen and my mum had fallen ill with what we later found out was covid, and a tent wasn’t the best place to be. Our trip back wasn’t a smooth ride either as we lost a wheel to a pothole highlighting once again the decaying infrastructure and the added challenges that come from living in South Africa. We arrived home safely though, after a pretty gruelling 12 hours on the road, and celebrated that my mum had survived her 2 weeks with us in South Africa.
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| The wheel we lost to a pothole! |
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| Saying goodbye to my mum at OR Tambo airport. |
It was a crazy few weeks, but despite our own dramas without water, with Covid, camping in a storm and losing a wheel to a pothole, we were fortunate not to be involved in the devastating floods that hit South Africa this Autumn. And we were really lucky to experience the beauty and uniqueness of Kosi Bay. Fresh water, salt water, no water, floods! Dramatic and memorable as always.
Happy Platinum Jubilee Celebrations to all the Brits this
weekend, especially to the Queen!
Lots of love,
Jess x
Next Post: Let Loose!
Previous Post: Easter with Shepherd and the Eggs of Limpopo
A few extra pics...
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| Happy Birthday Laurence, in a tent in a storm... |
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| Amelie playing mixed rugby, bear foot (the African way) |
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| Elowen turned 10! |
