The Kosi Bay Trail is never boring: The vegetation changes all the time, from open veld to dense forest that would keep Indiana Jones happy.
Kosi Bay is only five hours’ drive from Durban – and it’s where you’ll find a piece of pristine, subtropical Africa.
Willie Labuschagne, who manages the Kosi Bay Trail, quit his job as computer programmer in Pretoria and moved to Kosi Bay with his Belgian wife Isabelle a few years ago.
After the old trail was closed because the facilities had fallen into disrepair, Willie and members of the local community set up this new trail. The idea is that everyone involved should share in the benefits.
The hike is tailored to each group. You walk for two or three days, over distances ranging from 8 km to 15 km a day, through coastal and dune forest, past vleis and lakes, over rivers and on beaches.
Each night you sleep in a proper guest house, with other non-hiking tourists. And whereas the previous Kosi Bay Trail was more hard-core, says Willie, it’s now a slackpacking trail, so you don’t have to carry your bags.
12 kmDay 1Black Water
Wake-up call
We start hiking at 8.30 am. We hike mainly along grassy plains, punctuated by palms. After an hour on the trail we arrive at a settlement with about five huts. We rest for a while and drink some water. Ten minutes later we enter the forest. It’s lush, dense, hot and green, and makes me think of the Knysna forest. After the good rains the path is muddy. The trees close in above us, and it feels like the inside of a sauna. And then the Siyadla River lies before us. Thankfully, it's more of a stream than a river, with two logs forming a bridge that we have to shuffle across.
Knee-deep in mud
On the other side of the river things get really rough. The mud is so deep you risk ending up knee-deep in it, so we walk next to the path. Sticky leaves of lantana, a noxious weed, cling to our clothes. We struggle for about 40 minutes to get through the forest, and then we walk all along its fringe. An hour later we enter the aManzamnyama Forest, which means “black water”, named after the river that is a good 30 m wide. We cross the river on a raft made of raffia palms. You either pull yourself across with a rope or someone on the opposite bank has to pull you. And you have to balance carefully or you could end up in the water.
Good people and good fun
We arrive at the aManzamnyama Camp in time for a hearty lunch of lasagne. After lunch, we head back to the river. At every place there’s some or other fun activity you can do, and here it’s paddling. We set off in four kayaks to explore. I admire the palm trees, the breeding ground of the rare palm nut vulture. It’s also in this river where baby crocodiles come to turn into grown-up crocodiles. We paddle to deeper water. A trumpeter hornbill shouts its plaintive waaaa-weeee-waa and the rest of the group sees a 2 m-long crocodile.
And then it’s back to the camp, where our host Arie is cooking a few chickens over the braai...
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8km Day 2Enter John Wayne
Lagoons and turtles
We’re not walking very far today. That’s good news, as I’ve got a rash. I’m beginning to walk a bit like John Wayne before entering Dodge City. A little Johnson & Johnson baby powder helps.
Just before 11 am we set off, walking along Fourth Lake. Kosi Bay’s four lagoons are connected to one another like a string of beads, and then there’s the mouth too. The first two are salty and shallow. The third is the largest – about 3 000 hectares – and the water is fresh. Fourth Lake is small and surrounded by thick bush. In places, Simanga has to hack open a path using a panga.
Everybody battles to get out of bed after the late night searching for turtles, but a cold shower helps.
I booked for only two days and have to head back today. The others have planned to hike for another day. We drive to the Maputaland Lodge with Willie to get our baggage, and then we say goodbye and head for Durban.
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