Bulungula, located on the Wild Coast of South Africa near Coffee Bay, sits in an isolated location right on the Indian Ocean.  Eco-friendly, wind and solar power is used as it’s source of electricity, and unique to Bulungula are their “rocket showers”(more on that later).  The local Xhosa people are part owners of Bulungula and organize activities from the lodge.

We stayed in a rondavel which is a circular mud hut with a cow dung- washed floor and a wheat stalk thatched roof.  In the mornings, we found cows, goats, mules and horses grazing outside our door.

One morning we walked on the beach and found the Xhosa women on the rocks collecting mussels for lunch.  Even young children bore a large 4inch knife and bowl collecting other mollusks in the shallow water.  A young man caught 4 octopi and one crayfish using a stick.  Mike gathered 3 sticks, and waded into the water in hunt of the same, but lacked success regardless of being well armed. In the evening we walked along the beach to see the jumping fish and  to go crab hunting.

As remote and difficult as it was to get to Bulungula, it was well worth the effort.  It is un-spoilt, tranquil, charming and beautiful.  It ranks up there as one of our favorite places.

In order to get to Bulungula, you have to be serious and verging on hard core, if you drive yourself out there. From the main road, it takes about 3 hours. As you get closer to Bulungula, each turn onto the next road deteriorates just a bit more than the last. The main highway, the N2 is a tar road. The next road you turn off onto is also tar, only with potholes littering the road and making it impossible to drive more than 25 miles per hour. The next turn puts you on a gravel road with pot holes. The last stretch can only be driven by a 4×4 vehicle. There is a shuttle available for those without a 4×4, but we figured, we could handle it.

On the last 2 miles, we stopped to “lock” the wheels and read the directions on how to engage the 4×4. While we were doing this, we somehow picked up a local woman looking for a ride home towards Bulungula. Some stretches of the drive, I couldn’t believe it was considered a road. About an hour in using the 4×4, we got stuck in a mud puddle, and, wow, was that great fun. Mike and I were yelling at each other, and I was swearing, and this Xhosa woman was just sitting in the back seat. She kept saying something, but we weren’t sure what. Eventually our Sani, powered its way out of the jam. We started up again and the woman started waving her arms. We figured out that she wanted to get out of the truck. She’d been trying to get out, but didn’t know how to open the door. oops!