Journal

“.. little piece of heaven situated in a world heritage site at Mabibi”
We have had an interesting last few days. We left the Transkei and continued north all the way to Thonga Beach Lodge, just beneath Mozambique. En route we spent a night in Amanzimtoti, at a Guest house called Graceland – named because of the owners’ obsession with ‘the King’. Seeing as we were in Durbs, Calvin’s old stomping ground, we decided to put on our blue suede dancing shoes and make a night of it. Motjie kindly volunteered to be the Designated Dave. So we ventured the 30 odd or so km’s into Durbs to see what was potting. We ended up at a bar called The Winston, for us Capies; this plek is sort of like Pirates (Plumstead) not Houtbay, mixed with the bottom bar at Mercury. The venue was tiny, the band was loud and the canes were cheap – Danny, Calvin and I were in heaven.
The next morning we rose early, to miss the Saturday morning rush. I remember thinking that it was nice wake up in a moderate (temperature) place – mandatory long johns and thermals were not required in Durban. So we picked up another Discovery 4 (aptly nicknamed Rudolph) and rendezvoused at an unnamed location, where an “old” mate, Jackie Cameron, jumped in and joined us. We met Jax at the end of season 4, when we shot at Hartford House. She’s a hot chef and we were expecting 3, 5 course gourmet meals a day but with her usually busy schedule, now it was time to relax and she had other plans.
So off we went up the coastline, through a number of small towns before we reached The Thonga Beach Lodge. By the time we arrived, the sun had already set, which was a bit of a disappointment because I had seen beautiful photos of the place on their website. It was all cool though, we were there for 3 days so I got to see the place in all its grandeur, and then some.
The Lodge itself is nestled amongst the trees right on the beach. And there are a series of wooden walk ways that guide you between the rooms. Each bungalow sleeps two, I ‘bunked’ with Johnny a.k.a. the night owl which meant that with abundance of good food, great weather and all the  aquatic based activities constantly on the go, plus Johnny’s tendency to go to bed around the time Darren (bungi) wakes up, sleeping well was inevitable.
The following morning I needed a crow bar to get myself out of bed but we were going snorkeling, something I hadn’t done in years, so I was amped. Anyhow for this episode I would be on camera, behind the scenes, which is possibly the best place to be as you aren’t the shooting crew, you aren’t the main attraction and you still get to experience all the fun stuff.
In the light of day, outside my bungalow was a paradise that looked just as it did in the pictures. We got geared up and wandered along the path towards the sea. The stretch of untouched beach that lay in waiting I can only compare to the beach Leonardo stumbled upon in the Beach; it runs for miles, is completely deserted and in my opinion is one the most beautiful spots we have visited yet.
While on our way to reef we were going to dive along, one of the guides spotted a small school of dolphins, which afforded me the opportunity of yet another first. Swimming with dolphins is truly remarkable, its one of those things that is better than anyone has ever explained to you, which for me, makes it the stand out experiences on this trip so far.
The rest of the time at the lodge was either spent exploring the light blue sea or the land that surrounds the lodge or nibbling on the never ending supply of eats.
Thanks to all the folks at the Lodge for having us – we’ll be back!
Till next time
Smartmart

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