ROADS

Butterworth | Idutywa | Viedgesville/Jojweni | Umtata | The Northern N2

Travellers have mixed feelings about the condition of the roads on the Wild Coast. On one hand, the gung-ho visitor regards the dirt roads and potholes as part of the unspoiled charm of the region and a wonderful chance to get his 4x4 muddy. It also increases the inaccessibility of many places, which suits this kind of traveler just fine. However, to tourists in ordinary cars the bad roads are something which must be endured, and for the locals it is a constant impediment to development.

There is as yet no coastal highway, and the seaside resorts are reached by roads that branch off the main N2 highway. This makes distances very deceptive, as places that are only a few kilometers apart of the map may require several hours of driving. The N2 is tarred for all of its length and is in excellent condition. This road runs parallel to the coast, about 100 kms inland, from the Kei River in the south, through Butterworth, Viedgesville, Idutya, Umtata, Mount Frere, Mount Ayliff and on to Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal. From each of these towns a few roads radiate out towards the coast:

Butterworth

Just before Butterworth there is a sign to Bawa Falls, which is a new tourism development based around a spectacular waterfall. The 15-km road is gravel and is rather bad in places, but it can be travelled in an ordinary car.

From Butterworth there is a tarred road that leads 35km to Kentani. From Kentani the road changes to gravel and forks to Qolora Mouth and Nxaxo Mouth. From the Nxaxo Mouth road there is a further fork that leads north to Mazeppa Bay. These roads are in passable condition, but watch out for sudden rough patches. The resorts (Seagulls) and (Trenneries) are on the Qolora Mouth, while (Wavecrest) is on the Nxaxo Mouth.

Despite what some maps may tell you, there is no road from Mazeppa to Qora Mouth, unless you have a sophisticated four-wheel drive and plenty of people to drag you out of the mud. The sleigh-track that is marked on some maps is a road by rumour only! From this bay you must retrace your steps to the N2.

Idutywa

From Idutywa the road to Qora Mouth and the resort of Kob Inn leads off beguilingly. It is actually in rather poor condition for most of its length and is bedeviled by sudden gullies across the road that lead to a few teeth-rattling experiences. Just before Kob Inn is the turn-off to the north to Dwesa Nature Reserve . Most frustratingly, Dwesa’s companion nature reserve, Cwebe, is only a few score kilometres up the coast on the map, but to get from one resort to the other requires a 10-hour round trip: back to the N2, up to Jojweni (Viedgesville), through Elliotdale and back down to the coast. The fly in the ointment here is the winding Mbashe River, which is uncrossable for most of its length and requires the lengthy detour. Once again, there is a road marked on some maps between Dwesa and Cwebe, but even a crew of adventurers with state-of-the-art, space-age-type transport recently had to admit defeat. Granted, it was the rainy season and the Mbashe specializes in a sticky black mud that offers no traction. Even pedestrians on this mud will slide downhill!

Viedgesville/Jojweni

This is one of those towns that has two names according to which language you speak, so you might find either or both on the map. The N2 branches off from here to the famous resort of Coffee Bay . This is a very well-travelled road and tarred all the way. There is a turn-off with a tarred road to Elliotdale. From Elliotdale the road reverts to gravel for the final leg to Cwebe Nature Reserve. From Coffee Bay there is a very pleasant gravel road that traverses the eight kilometers between Coffee Bay and Hole in the Wall. There is also a very unpleasant gravel road leading north for 14 kilometres to the Umtata river Mouth and the Anchorage resort.

Umtata

Many roads lead from Umtata, the best-traversed being the tarred one to Port St Johns. By Wild Coast standards this road is a joy – easy to drive and through some delightful countryside. There is also a less-traversed road to the Umtata River Mouth, which is not so good. Just after the hamlet of Libode on the Umtata/Port St Johns road there is an untarred turn-off to the Hluleka Nature Reserve (57 kilometres) which is in good condition. There are several other gravel turn-offs from the Port St Johns road. One leads to Umngazi River Bungalows. Others lead to some of the many little resorts that surround the town. All of these will be well- signposted.

The Northern N2

The area between Port St Johns and Port Edward east of the N2 is criss-crossed with roads in varying degrees of accessability. The road between the port and Lusikisiki is untarred and the further 74 kilometres to the Mkambati Nature Reserve is extremely variable depending on whether it has been raining or not. It is possible to get from Port St Johns to Mkambati – count on the trip taking between four and five hours. From Lusikisiki the road becomes the R61 and is tarred for all of its length up to Port Edward. It goes through the towns of Flagstaff and Bizana, which are busy commercial centres serving the thickly populated hillsides around. On the upside, this is an interesting journey through a typical rural landscape with stunning countryside. On the down-side, the roads winds and undulates quite extremely, making the journey rather slow. The area is also subject to misty and drizzly conditions which make sightseeing a bit difficult and slows you down even further. Additionally, the sign-posting is not always reliable (recently the sign-post to Flagstaff was removed by a prankster) so it will be necessary to keep your map at hand and measure distances carefully. This is probably the most densely population area of the Wild Coast, so there are usually plenty of people to ask for directions although the language barrier – not many locals will speak English – might make for some interesting answers! The N2 continues between Umtata and Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal. The traffic on this part of the road is almost exclusively commuter and business traffic.

Wild Coast Community Tourism Initiative

Postal Address: PO Box 18171, Quigney 5211, South Africa

Physical Address: Tourism Centre, Eastern Cape Tourist Board, Quigney, East London 5211, South Africa

Telephone: +27 43 7222203
Fax: +27 43 7222219
info@wildcoast.org.za