The road to Bulungula

OK, here’s the deal. I spoke with Tim and Mark and we agreed that Bulungula was such a sensory overload that we’ll post two blogs. The first is about the experience of Bulungula itself and the second will be specifically about the Essential Oils project that the Old Mutual Foundation supports.

Ever since we’ve started planning this road trip, Tim and I (who’ve both had the privilege of visiting Bulungula before) have been regaling Mark with tales of its beauty and especially of its bathrooms! He’s been so excited that he’s practically wriggled in his chair in anticipation...

Finally, after visiting the traditional mama’s in Willowvale, we are on our way to much awaited Bulungula, situated on the mouth of the Xhora River on the Transkei coast. By now its late afternoon and the sunlight is low and fat and golden. The last thing we want is to arrive in the dark as the roads are really bad. (In fact, this project is the reason why we had to hire a 4x4). We turn off towards Coffee Bay, pass through Mqanduli (check out the isiXhosa click guide at the end of this post) and turn off the tar road. The last 20km takes approximately 1½ hours and we crawl along at a kidney-jarring pace.  But what makes it worth it, is that each kilometer deeper into the wild coast grows more rural and more beautiful.

A young herd-boy with his oxen

 

Life is easier holding hands



The road to Bulungula, with evening mist forming over the Indian Ocean. (For those observant blog-readers, the last 5km of the road had been recently upgraded much to our delight). 



Bulungula situated on the Wild Coast at the mouth of the Xhora River, Transkei



The end of the road, we're here - space to breathe, space to relax, space to think

The land of the Eastern Cape is soft and rounded, with high green-grassed ridges rolling down into wooded valleys. It’s easy to imagine a giant person lying under a heavy blanket outlining the indentations of a body. Scattered all over this land-body are traditional homesteads, round huts painted in vivid pink, blue, green or lime yellow, each connected with myriad paths worn smooth by bare feet. Sheep and cattle roam free (hopefully under the watchful eye of young herd-boy) but very often wander onto the road, hence Cynthia’s comment earlier about the ‘Transkei robots’. Children wave from the side of the roads, and women walk in file balancing bundles of firewood on their heads. Time slows down and becomes more rural so that ‘I’ll meet you at 9.15am’ becomes instead ‘I’ll meet you after I’ve collected water for the household and walked to your village.’ 

Sometimes when I write, a word/s will simply drop into my mind. One such phrase appeared and was jotted down in my scribble book, but I didn’t write it into our blog originally thinking it might sound a bit too 'wafty'. But the next day Mark used the exact phrase to describe an image as we were selecting photos for the blog. Strange how we both felt the same thing, except I saw these words, he saw the picture below...

"The land grows bigger as we grow smaller."

Here communities are born and knitted into each other, there’s a strong sense of identity and belonging in this traditional lifestyle where each person knows their neighbour’s children and grandchildren, customs are more conservative and respectful, and roles for men and women are clearly delineated. But despite this pastoral beauty, poverty is not pretty and the Eastern Cape battles with some of the most severe problems in the country, particularly health and education support in rural areas such as Bulungula.
 

Given the natural beauty of this region, tourism has certainly bolstered the local economy and helped in some areas, but in my view, it too can have its downside - instead of tourism working for the benefit of local people, all too often it can become the local people who end up working for the benefit of tourism (either as serving or cleaning staff). The Bulungula Lodge is different in that it is run and 40%-owned by the community (it's Fair Trade certified). Because of buy-in and support by local authority, the lodge is well-integrated into community life, with foreign and local visitors being able to experience home stays in local houses, a day in the forest with the local sangoma collecting herbs or even experiencing a day as a Xhosa women collecting water, working in the fields etc.



Transkei magic reveals itself in moonlight and starry night!



A family moment in moonlight, Bulungula, Transkei.

There’s a laid-back, chilled vibe that we found energizing – check our Mark’s gallery and you’ll see. (But for some people the slow pace, dusty corners, faded cushions and simple rooms aren’t going to work and heaven forbid if you have to drink out of an enamel cup!) The entire establishment runs on an honesty basis and you’re able to leave your bag, your laptop and your cell-phone lying around for hours and it will not be touched. You can sleep with your windows wide open, and in the morning open your door onto one of the beautiful views in the world. Best of all it’s completely eco-friendly with waterless, non-flush compost latrines, solar-powered electricity and the most fun-filled, fantasy-induced, fire-powered rocket showers!      

Tim enticed by the late afternoon sunlight

 

A toilet to liven up any day!



Showering amongst jelly-fish and star-fish like a Transkei mermaid

And not to forget, the whole reason why we’re staying here is that the Old Mutual Foundation is a primary funder of the Bulungula Incubator. No, this hasn’t anything to do with premature babies, well not of the human kind at least. It’s a term used for the development of LME (Local Micro Enterprises) within a supportive and protected environment. The Bulugula Incubator, or BI, as it’s referred to by the locals, spans a number of initiatives which create sustainable livelihoods, of which the Essential Oils Project is one of its most successful.  Watch this space for our next blog, The Lemon Grass Ladies of Bulungula…

Have fun in the office, make your Xhosa-speaking friends laugh (!), get them to help you practice your click sounds!
C = the C-sound, tongue against palate, as you’re impatient or exasperated such ‘tsk’, represented by 'c' 'incala' = trouble.
X = the X-sound is made with the sides of the tongue, ('baxabene oxamu'), such as when you’re urging a horse to ride faster (to ‘gee’ up!).
Q = the Q-sound is made by pulling your tongue away/clicking your tongue against the roof your mouth, like the sound of a champagne cork popping. (iqaqa)

Mark and Tim loved Bulungula, on the first night they were both like Duracell bunnies hustling around using moonlight and prolonged exposures to get some totally creative shots! Check out the uber-extra-sized gallery for today ...



Throughout this trip we've staunchly resisted any kind of branding in our photographs, wanting them to be utterly authentic - if it was there, it was there, if it wasn't, it wasn't. So Tim and Mark created a Totally Branded photograph especially for Old Mutual, using a delayed exposure with Tim running around writing the letters backwards with his headlamp. Isn't it utterly awesome!! I laughed out loud with delight at their efforts :) 



They both came in from the night, pleased as punch to show me their trophy photograph above, puffing and blowing from the exertion of running around. I'm wrestling with posting another late night blog...



Children in silhouette carry water as evening falls on the Wild Coast.



"That's the most creative picture of a urinal that I have ever shot!" says Mark.



A lonely cow grazes as early morning lights the sky.

Fireside under a clear night sky, full moon rising...