Pack For Pondo

Not even stormy weather can stop FIONA McINTOSH from having a blast on a five-day hike along the Wild Coast

Stripping down to our bathing costumes, we stuff our backpacks into waterproof bags and stand on the edge of the 100-metre-wide Mkweni River. A group of local kids eyes us quizzically. “We waded through last time,” apologises our guide Garth Robinson, after reconnoitring the crossing. “It was only waist deep.” The water is deep, brown and swirling, but at least we are here on an incoming tide, and will be swept upstream to Mthatha rather than out to Mozambique.

“Don’t Zambezi sharks breed in these river estuaries?” asks Matthew Holt unhelpfully. While some of us debate the breeding habits of sharks, Theo Calitz plunges in and practises his butterfly. Our supposedly mild slackpacking trail along the Pondoland coast is becoming wet and wild.

Just getting to this remote, inaccessible, northern part of the Wild Coast has been an adventure. Recent heavy rains have scoured deep dongas in the road, testing the skill of the local bakkie driver that transferred us from the N2 to Mtentu Lodge, a quaint, rustic abode on the bank of the same-named river.

The next morning we were due to set off on the first leg of the four-day trail, a seemingly modest 14-kilometre hike from Mtentu to Msikaba. The weather forecast was reasonably good, but as we sheltered from lashing rain, big waves rolled into the estuary. The crossing was going to be interesting.

“That’s the Wild Coast for you,” said lodge manager Allan Hein. “The weatherman often gets it horribly wrong. This coastline is known for its freak waves.”

We spent the next couple of hours studying maps and literature on the area, popping out between squalls to check the conditions – white horses still evident – and to inspect the Pondoland coconut (aka the Mkambati Palm Tree) that grows only on northern banks of the Mtentu and Msikaba rivers.