Sometimes plan B has more to offer

I’m off to collect my long-time adventure partner Lionel Williams, better known as Tau (Setswana for lion), from Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in Gqeberha. Having started in Bot River, this is an airport pickup of note (674km), but, then again, I once collected him in Upington.

Then, as now, we’re on a madcap mission to tick off some adventurous back road routes in the wilds. Based in a Jeffreys Bay timeshare resort, our plan is to drive the sumptuous SUV I’ve borrowed via the gravel Elands River Road from Patensie to the Antoniesberg Pass, en route to the Grootrivierspoort, across the river of the same name, and then to make our way along the “T2” scenic route (outside Steytlerville) into the western side of the Baviaanskloof.

But when we get to the river and I walk through it to estimate the depth, it’s too deep and flowing too strongly for our borrowed car to cross. We’ve no choice but to turn around and rock and roll the tortuous 18km (two hours) back to the Elands River Road.

With a night in the renowned Makkedaat’s Caves in the Baviaanskloof no longer feasible, we take a slow and circuitous route home — east towards Thornhill via the bucolic Elands River Valley — with a stop at the Gamtoos River Mouth along the way. It’s in this serene setting (a must-visit) that a Plan B for the next two days unfolds: Spend the next day exploring the greater Jeffreys Bay area (it’s our first time here and there’s much to see and do) and then use the last day to visit Addo Elephant National Park — also a first for us.

After breakfast on the seafront, we take a walk down the Dolphin Beach promenade. Even though the swells run bigger in winter, the closed tourist kiosks and adjacent amusement park indicate their reliance on seasonal holiday crowds, though this doesn’t prevent the surf shops’ bleached-hair salesmen from touting for business from us.

We also make a turn at the local tourism bureau where a helpful official plies us with brochures. One in particular lists more than 50 things tourists can do in Jeffreys Bay; from scuba diving to skydiving for the active, waterslides to game drives for the family and from craft beer tastings to birding for those with a taste for the finer things in life.

Jeffreys Bay was named after an eponymous captain who plied his trade along this coastline before opening a trading store in about 1849 behind what is today the town’s main beach. No two sources seem to agree on his earlier profession (trader, fisherman or whaler), origin (St Helena or elsewhere) or why he traded his life at sea for that of a landlubber, though one source tells us his crew was suffering from scurvy and he had to put ashore for assistance.

What’s not disputed, however, is that Jeffreys Bay (aka J-Bay or Jeffreys) serves up some of the best waves in the country. There are various spots along the coastline with atmospheric names such as Supertubes, the Boneyard, Kitchen Windows and Magnatubes. This surfing mecca was first “discovered” by the freewheeling hippy generation of the 1960s (their iconic surfer kombis are one of J-Bay’s treasured tourism symbols) and Supertubes has held the reputation of being the best right-hand point break in the world since.

The region is also known for the variety and quantity of shells washed up on its beaches, a phenomenon that first spawned an industry in shell collecting for doilies and shell-grit for poultry, which later morphed into sought-after tourist trinkets and ornaments.

We spend most of the day driving around the southern suburbs of Aston Bay and Paradise Beach. Our main aim is to try to tick off as many water birds as we can from various vantage points around the estuary that separates these two attractive neighbourhoods.

We round off the day with a few long cool drinks at the laid-back and superbly sited Walskipper beach restaurant. Tau and I slake our thirsts, take in the beautiful views and declare it the highlight of the day.

On the way into the restaurant earlier we passed a dedicated fishing jetty and it reminded me that Jeffreys is also a fisherman’s paradise.

Robbie Hift, author of Legends of Jeffreys Bay, quotes long-time J-Bay resident Ken Reilly on the early catches in these parts, performed in double-ender rowing boats (with sails, a similar concept to old navy “whalers”) that were apparently prevalent here until the 1960s.

“We used to see the boats coming in so heavily laden with fish,” said Reilly, “that there was no more room on board. They had to tie the extra fish to the draglines and tow them behind the boats. Man! It was hard to row a boat with all that weight, even with 10 people at the oars.”

Tau and I hit the road to Addo Elephant National Park early the next morning. It’s 140km to the southern gate (Matyholweni is the closest and safest entrance/exit point) and we start our journey on the chilled R102, joining the N2 only after the wild old Van Stadens Pass.

My assumption that the landscape in this national park will be easily recognisable as old farmlands is thankfully disproved the minute we start our northward pilgrimage. The elephant dung is so thick and fresh on the road and the bush (Albany thicket) so dense that a frisson of excitement fills the cab of our SUV as we expect an elephant may burst through the foliage and loom over us at any moment.

It doesn’t happen, but as we meander off the main drag onto the Mbotyi loop we soon see Burchell’s zebra, red hartebeest, kudu and warthog families snuffling through the undergrowth. The African safari tableau is set off against the azure shimmer of Algoa Bay to the south.

As his nickname suggests, Tau has a knack of drawing lions to us whenever we are in a reserve together. In wild camping spots, such as Mabuasehube in Botswana, this talent can be unnerving, but today, barricaded in our vehicle, we’re hoping it will work its usual magic.

We get our first news of where the pride is at the Ngulube waterhole.

“I saw two lions and an old lioness making their way up the hill from the other side of this mountain, about 20 minutes ago, and I figure they have to come out over there,” the grizzled veteran tells us, pointing to a well-worn game trail on a ridge to the north.

We hang around for half an hour, and when the lions don’t appear we go looking for them near Arizona Dam, where they purportedly started their trek. It’s an inspired decision. Not only do we see one of the male lions and a female in the long grass some distance away, but we bag our first elephant sighting around the next corner.

It’s the first of 60 (there are about 700 elephant in Addo) we see by the time we leave the park — many at close quarters — you can’t really ask for more, especially from a plan B. 

Travel notes

Jeffreys Bay is easily accessible off the N2 — 78km west of Gqeberha and 164km east of Plettenberg Bay. If you have time, get off the busy N2 before Van Stadens Bridge and follow the R102 west (from Gqeberha) to Jeffreys Bay; and from Plett, exit the N2 after Thornham and follow the R102 east through Humansdorp and Paradise Beach.

What to see in and around Jeffreys Bay:

• Beautiful beaches, most good for swimming, surfing, fishing and shell collecting — these stretch from the Kabeljouws estuary in the west to Paradise Beach in the east;
• Birdwatching (including flamingos and swans) on both the Seekoei and Kabeljouws estuaries;
• Eat out at a number of good restaurants, the most novel and scenic we visited was Die Walskipper in Aston Bay;
• Tour the Simbonga Game Farm and Sanctuary (booking required — 060 342 9131);
• Visit the shell museum and shell shop;
• Have a picnic and/or go fishing at the beautiful Gamtoos River Mouth Municipal campsite;
• Take a day drive through Hankey to Patensie and visit the Kouga Dam;
• Venture up the Elands River Road or directly into the wilds of the Baviaanskloof, but only if you have an all-wheel drive SUV or 4x4;
• Make a full day of visiting Addo Elephant National Park, just ensure you don’t go through Addo town (there’s often unrest, as we discovered); or
• Take a scenic drive through St Francis to Seal Point Lighthouse.

Best time of year to go:

April and May, and September, October and November.

Useful contact numbers and websites:

Jeffreys Bay Tourism — 064 966 9933 (WhatsApp); jeffreysbaytourism.org;

Gamtoos River Mouth campsite (contact Mabuti on 067 108 8738 to reserve a spot — holiday season only)

Tolbos Shop and Restaurant (recommended) in Patensie on 071 124 3427

Kudu Kaya (lovely chalet and camping venue near Cambria) on 087 700 8195, if you’re stuck for information on local conditions.