South Africa - Cinsta/Chinsta ad Hogsback

One of Hogsback's many waterfalls

So my latest adventure has been another big surprise. I'm always dumbfounded by the welcoming nature of the South African people and the wide variety of beautiful landscapes to enjoy.

From the jagged multicolored rocks of the tranquil Transkei, I made my way to Cinsta (aka Chinsta) and the Buccaneers backpackers, which is peaceful in its own way and not as dramatic to look at. Cinsta feels a little more developed and is perfect for people who want to kick back, but don't want to forgo hot water and electricity. There I was met by Meg, who was brilliant, really welcoming and the source of all knowledge for my stay. I was only there a night before heading off to Hogsback where I looked forward to washing in a bathtub set on the top of a cliff and taking pictures of Cape Parrots...

Neither of those things happened because, as I soon found out, Hogsback is not so much a place as a community and what makes it truly special are the local people, who are hugely welcoming and a lot of fun. 

On my first night I was determined to make the most of the area and went on a short pre-dinner hike. The map they have and the signs in the forest leave a lot to be desired and I was truly lost gone sun down. Luckily after a few additional hours I found someone to direct me and managed to find my way... At least I got to know the area. Seething I got back, but before I could vent I started chatting to some of the guests and then the one girl party that is Jen came in with a friend and rounded up a group to play kings... If you don't know kings the game goes like this... 1) take a pack of cards 2) drink until you are wrecked. This then became a big night and we went to another bar, the Hogsback inn, where we met more of the local people, Licia, Morgs, Grant, Luca and the Germans (volunteers for a local youth project). A few hours later I found myself on the back of a pickup that had run out of diesel, minus my phone. Undeterred we found our way to a house and went skinny dipping because we were drunk. It was a fun time.

The next day was spent chatting and sitting by the fire.

The day after looked to be much the same, but as I didn't have my phone I had to go back to the Hogsback, where low and behold I was greeted by my new found friends who had all finished a big sporting event. We started drinking and before the night was out I was dancing on a bar and had checked out of my backpackers to go stay at Jen's place. This was not the best preparation for mountain biking and abseiling...

The next day I was at the mountain biking office at 9am - I was very proud of myself. Neels an Candy, the owners of Hogsback Adventures, the company that organizes the activities, then took us biking up to the areas most impressive waterfall Madonna and Child. This waterfall is impressive and fits into the scenery, which inspired J. R. R. Tolkien when writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  With all the recent rain it was touch and go as to whether we could abseil down, but thankfully we were on the right side of the cusp. The abseiling was great and Candy was really good at talking me over the edge. I went down well and the guys said I did it like a pro, which they didn't say to the other guy that was with me!

After that Jen, Grant and I had a movie night at Grant's MASSIVE place. The following morning was my time to go sadly, but I would love to have stayed.

Back in Cinsta I checked into the Buccaneers and within 10 minutes had made friends with a Dutch girl called Sue. We soon became fast friends and hung out the entire time. We went horseback riding along the beach - just like in the Old Spice advert. It was a really good experience as we didn't just do a little walk, but got to trot, canter and take on some more hilly terrain. We also did yoga and spent a day totally chilled. This visit was a bit different as Sue and I found the Crawfords, a fancy hotel, and sat by their pool a lot drinking G&Ts with cucumber and black pepper (something I picked up from Simon in Transkei).

Again I wish I could have stayed longer, but it was the right time to go as I would have just been lying around if I had stayed. The only regret is that I couldn't have stayed one more night as Jen was headed to Cinsta, but I had already ordered my Baz Bus and would have lost my ticket if I had not gotten on. I hope that one day I'll be able to come back and spend time with Jen and my new friends in Hogsback.

On a side note, my new music obsession is Birdie - Shelter (Photek remix)

Field of dandilions outside Hogsback forest

New friends at the Hogsback Inn

View looking out of the Hogsback forest