We lived up to the “Africa Unscripted” theme of our trip today. After leaving Jeffrey’s Bay we had planned to drive to the big town of East London but our friend, Torty, recommended we check the surf in Port Alfred and possibly spend the night there instead of driving the very rough and dangerous final stretch of highway into East London at night. So we turned off the main highway and cruised through some splendid dairy country to reach the appealing town of Port Alfred. However, the surf wasn’t any good and the town was a bit TOO charming, having attracted far too many tourists and large second-homes for the wealthy. It just didn’t seem inviting to us. So, we opted to continue north on the country road, hoping to find someplace to stay in one of the tiny towns shown on our map but that weren’t mentioned in any guidebooks.

 

As the sun weakened we decided to quit driving before there was any serious threat of darkness so we turned off on an old paved road that descended through tired pastures and rondavaals (rondavel, not sure how to spell it but it is a round house made of clay with a thatch, or sometimes tin, roof) that were home to the indigenous people of the area, and their livestock. There were no signs on the road to Kidds Beach indicating we might find lodging. We realized it could end up being a town that was just geared for the locals (black Africans with no accommodations or eateries for tourists). But it was only and 8K drive so we figured it was worth a look. Of course it ended up being one of the most quaint, charming, undiscovered bergs of our trip so far. Kidds Beach featured a beautiful crescent shaped, beach, and an old Afrikaner village with a few dozen whitewashed homes built around the turn of the 20th century, and we found a B&B that was reasonably priced right at the end of the road. After settling into our room we walked the sand and sandstone rock beach until near dark then went to the one and only restaurant for fish dinner. For about $15 I got a huge hunk of some white fish called Cop, topped with a nice sauce, a salad and rice, while Bob had the Calamari. We visited with Malcolm and Terri for a bit, and then turned in for the night.