35. Nqabara Eco Lodge to Dwesa Reception Offices

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24 July 2025

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​saggies ​

Thursday, 24 July 2025​

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This is part of my last hike from Kob Inn to The Haven Hotel (the 3-day hike of 27 April 2025) which I had to abandon at Shixini River and return to Kob Inn Hotel due to the flooded river I could not cross. Since then, more floods had hit the Transkei and more than 100 people have lost their lives in Mthatha only 4 weeks ago. Many roads and bridges have washed away and some rural areas cannot be reached without 4x4 vehicles.

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I slept over at a Guesthouse in Gonubie last night and left at 05:00 to reach Nqabara Eco Lodge at 09:15 (the last 30 km took 2 hours!).

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“We cannot choose the obstacles, but we can choose the stance with which we meet them.” - Irvin Yalom 

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I met Matt Oberem (manager of the lodge) and he immediately made me feel at ease after the difficult road trip. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I decided to hike as far as possible towards Dwesa Point and back, again, for the rest of the day. Matt made arrangements with an employee and 30 minutes later I was ferried across the wide river mouth on a small paddle ski.

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After taking a few photos I walked towards the boat houses and thought of a childhood song, “Pretty Belinda, she lived in a boat house”, and of my matric farewell function partner whose father had one of those boathouses at the time way back in 1975.

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A steep road led up the hill and I rested a few times looking back and taking photos as the scenery became more breathtaking with each step to the top of the hill. The river below and the long open beach towards Shixini River (which I planned to walk the following day) and the perfect weather filled my heart with gratitude that I could experience such a special place on earth.

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A short walk through a little forest (still on the vehicle road) led to some beautiful beach homes with well-kept lawns. I followed a footpath that led to the beach and passed at least three groups of fishermen on the rocks as I set off towards Dwesa Point.

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A friendly dog (well looked after) started following me and I wondered how far he would walk with me before returning to the Nqabara cottages where he obviously lived. An hour later the dog, now named Babsie by me, was still by my side and chased any cow or bird that came into view.

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At 11:30 I rounded a small bay and Dwesa Point came into vision on the horizon. I immediately realized my planned turning point was far beyond reach. I had been up since 04:30 and was chasing time all day trying to get the most out of every minute.

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Here I sat with a strange dog, my planned destination out of reach and hours away from any civilization, yet completely at peace and happy with my effort and the beauty that surrounded me.​ I sat down and spotted a fisherman in the distance while I ate some energy snacks and decided to stop rushing and rather enjoy the walk. I made a decision to turn back at 13:00 as that would allow me enough time to reach the river by 17:00 (before sunset).

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The terrain had changed and I found myself walking more along grass footpaths just above the rocks with many small “blind” corners ahead. Around each corner a small bay with a little beach would appear and after almost an hour’s walk Dwesa Point still looked the same distance away.

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I spotted a lonely hut on the hill and decided to visit it as a beacon and to keep tally of all the beaches I was passing. I stopped and spoke to a very old black lady who was busy fixing a broken shoe. She had almost 2 kilometers to walk home to collect firewood on the beach and she still had a smile and wished me “hamba kahle” (go well).

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This brief interaction stayed with me for a long while as I felt a deep sense of pity and sorrow for this old lady who had to work so hard to survive. At that moment I wished her a fire that night. Life did not seem fair as I walked for enjoyment, had a rucksack with provisions and a friendly dog as company, a hot shower and warm bed waiting for me—but she returned to camp with driftwood to carry up a hill, and with a broken shoe on one foot.

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At 12:00 I stopped again and looked back at yet another pretty small isolated beach with only a few cows grazing along the grass foothills. I was getting tired and started to worry whether I would have enough energy to walk all the way back if I went any further.

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However, my stubbornness kicked in again and I decided not to turn back into the “middle of nowhere” as that would jeopardize my plan to complete this section of coastline in the future.

I pushed on along the footpaths, looking back every 15 minutes, and could clearly see the house on the hill that had been my beacon earlier. Ahead was another blind foothill, but my GPS showed that the Dwesa Reception Offices were not far from there.

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I pushed on and at 12:23 I rounded the last foothill corner and the Dwesa Offices came into sight about 1 kilometer ahead. I was on time and in line with my earlier plan to turn at 13:00 and now I felt relieved and happy that I did not turn back earlier.

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I pushed on until a fence forced me inland and I had to follow a vehicle track through a sand mining area. Whilst walking along this road a white LDV approached me and three men, each with a quart of beer in hand, stopped to greet me. They were very friendly and openly stated they were illegally collecting sand (plaster for their homes) in the Dwesa Nature Reserve.

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I told them about my hike and that I was only about 500 meters from my turning point at the offices. I jokingly told them I wished they could give me a lift back to Nqabara cottages — and immediately the driver said he would if we could agree on a fee that suited both parties.

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I offered R200, he accepted, and both myself and Babsie (the dog) got on the back of the LDV and were driven through a huge pool of water at 13:00, just before joining the main road to the Dwesa Offices.

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The road was extremely bad with many stops and starts through pools of water and deep sections of road that had washed away. Lots of locals waved and greeted as we passed and it almost seemed as though the driver was proud he had an old white man and his dog on the back of his truck.

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Nearly an hour later we reached the Nqabara cottages and only then did I discover the monies I had on me (for permits and day visitation) was short of the R200 that we had agreed. I immediately thought it would lead to an argument — but the driver just smiled and happily accepted as much as I was able to give. Again, I was surprised by the genuine friendliness and acceptance of their loss, and I truly felt bad that I let the people down who had assisted me.

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Just before 14:00 I slowly walked down the road from the cottages to the river again and was suddenly very grateful that I indeed did get a lift back. My legs — and especially my hips — ached going down the hill and I started to wonder if I would ever have been able to walk the 7 or 8 km back that afternoon.

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“Your body is the place where your past and future most deeply meet.” - John O’Donohue

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I phoned Matt when I reached the boathouses again and noticed that the river's water level was considerably higher as the tide rushed in. Matt crossed the river in a paddle ski and we safely paddled back to the other side.

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Just before 14:30 I sat down on a tree stump and looked back towards the full river mouth, the steep landscape with indigenous forest, the smell of the sea, the quietness, the warmth of the sun on my back… I felt humble and once again with aching stiff joints tackled the steep dirt road back to my cottage.

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I finally relaxed on the balcony and it was time for two hornbill birds and a Knysna loerie to visit me in the late afternoon sun.​​​​