At 6am we wandered along the beach to a sand dune and watched a lovely sunrise:
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After much waiting we were fed banana pancakes. In the mean time I constructed a big sandcastle with a German guy called Keijo "don't listen to her, she's Dutch!"
After, the group wandered along the beach back to the lodge:
Here are my final pictures of Bulungula:
We were picked up by the shuttle bus back to Mthatha. 8 of us crammed into a 4x4 car and a second bus connected us to Mthatha half way through. My job on the 4x4 was to open the various gates for the driver as he had a bad toe, bless. Most of the gates were actually just pieces of wood connected by wire. We arrived in Mthatha again to find the BazBus waiting and set off for Port Elizabeth. We passed Qunu and saw Mandela's relatively new house...he wasn't in!
We then left the Transkei and travelled into the remainder of the Eastern Cape.
I have enjoyed my brief time in the Transkei. Bulungula was spectacularly beautiful and I found the Xhosa people to be happy, friendly and peaceful. The kids wave at you in your car and many of the adults call "molo" as they walk past you (meaning "hello").Their language also interested me.'K' sounds are made with a 'click' sound produced by putting your tongue against your teeth and sucking. I can't do it but it occurs commonly when Xhosa is spoken. In fact, the very word 'Xhosa' sounds like 'kosa' phonetically, with a click at the start of the word. Standing at the busy Mthatha petrol station two days ago I could hear clicking all around me.
After a long drive we arrived at Langile Lodge in Port Elizabeth at 10:30pm. The lodge seems to be more impersonal than others I've stayed at but is built within at attractive A-frame structure.
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