Lotus Eaters on the Long Cold Coast

After Jeffrey's Bay we headed for East London, one of the larger coastal towns with a reputation for liveliness and consistent surf. There was absolutely no secure parking to be found, so we set out after two hours of circular driving, for the nearest isolated backpackers, which was in Cintsa Bay-a tough location to find in the dark with the Stingray's laughable headlights. (Despite having about twelve different white lights on its face, the Stingray reveals nighttime passages with as much enthusiasm as a microwave oven with its door ajar.)

The change in our plans proved fortunate since our night blind driving landed us at one of South Africa's finest backpackers. The "backpackers" of this region have nothing in common with the youth hostels of Europe or, from what I've heard, of Australia and New Zealand. Rather than processing visitors with a dormitory totalitarianism or impersonal, time obsessed condescension, the more successful of these establishments create a sense of community, abolish formal divisions between staff and visitor, all while sharing their pride in and knowledge of the region. They are difficult places to leave. I benefited from the patient mentoring of several resident surfers and enjoyed the biggest and best formed waves of my life at places with names like "graveyards" that I would completely have avoided without their pressure and encouragement.

The temptation was certainly to drive about forty kilometers each week, while soaking up the slowly transforming atmosphere of the coast. Many of the most memorable spots along our route from Senegal I would only recommend to a handful of long time friends, owing to their unpredictability and rough edges; this stretch of South Africa, I can recommend whole heartedly to any one of our readers who is not committed to traveling in luxury. It is the only place in the world about which I could currently say this. That does not mean that I love South Africa and it does not mean that these establishments can't prove disappointing when the wrong busload of doe-eyed, inebriated students trample into the common rooms. However, travel between these backpackers is cheap, daily and simple. With adequate time-and you'd need at least two weeks-you would find whatever atmosphere you sought. The backpackers replace the conventional bed time oriented family mood of Bed and Breakfasts with the sense that you are staying with friends of good friends who happen to be on vacation and will match or raise your level of festivity or connect you with their community and let you read in peace.

It was a pleasure to be compelled to stay in such places by the fact that they are the cheapest safe accommodation-we camped, on average, for seven dollars each, per night. After realizing that everyone at one such place was glad to be working and after seeing the waves, I very nearly stayed to work there. The only deterrent—and this is not true of all of them-is their relative distance from African life and the tendency of many guests to dedicate themselves exclusively to the pursuit of adrenaline or predictable, self-inflating accomplishments.

Conrad, a dreadlocked barman in his thirties at the most laid back and under-populated of the backpackers that we visited, shared with us that his mother frequently attacks his choice of work, insisting that he find a conventional job. He gestured out the window, down the hill, over the terraced lawn, palm trees and flowering shrubs towards the ocean, "Every morning when I wake up, I see this. This is how I want to start each day of my life. I could wake up early, jump in a car, drive to a box and sit at a desk uninterested in all of my tasks. I could labor to make small piles of money, sink into a bathtub and slit my wrists. I don't need any of that. I will stay here until I am bored and then I will work somewhere else." A similar philosophy is espoused all along the coastline, sometimes by extremely articulate and politically aware individuals of all ages and sometimes by playtime people, uncriticized in their harmless, meaningless and unconcluded childhood. There is a definite lotus-eaters vibe to this region and that sort of pastime has always brought people together.
* posted by Nathaniel at 6:42 AM