Kathy’s Travels

That would be Wildside Backpackers….. Buffalo Bay, found just south of Knysna, this stunning shoreline really does live upto its name of being the Wildside. Superb surfing and swimming and a fantastic natural rockpool where you can go snorkel for fish, crabs and even an octopus or two.

Wildside Backpackers: 9/10 great atmosphere, very friendly staff, delicious food and the beach literally comes in the back door. A definite must. Daily trips into Knysna ensure that you won’t miss out on the little town, but if you are in the area, a stay at Wildside is the thing to do.

Spent my days swimming and lying on the beach and watching my friends surf. Spent the evenings gazing at the stars or visiting the bar.

On the second day a very random thing happened. 2 of the girls and I went to Buffalo Bay, the town, to look at the waves, found it pretty much dead pan. So headed back to Wildside. While I played paprazzi on the beach, the girls attempted to get a few waves. Suddenly out of the setting sun this rather hunky surfer walks up to me and asks if my friends are trying surfing for the first time. When I say “yeah pretty much”, he replies with “I would love to teach them….”, “they would love you to teach them too…” came my answer. So there he went, promptly walking into the waves and taught all afternoon. At the end of the day, the 3 of us are all smiles and trying to buy him a drink. He just declines, says he has to get back, and literally ….. RUNS OFF INTO THE SUNSET! Talk about random…..

November 26th
In Buffalo bay at a hostel where the beach literally comes into the common room.

My first stop was at a backpackers about 30min before this one in a small town by the name of Sedgefield.

Upendi Backpackers: 8.5/10 Here you can go paragliding along with a number of other things. The atmosphere is wonderfully relaxed and the owner, Sancho, is a beautiful person who makes you feel at home immediately.

Upendi is actually so close to Wildside (the hostel in Buffalo Bay) that the BazBus couldn’t figure out how to put me on the bus for such a short trip. Eventually Sancho just gave me a lift.

Wildside Backpackers: 9/10 Stunning beach, fantastic staff and good food. The parties go late into the night and if you are not careful you get caught buying doubles when “the singles run out”….. yup people fell for that line a few times.

While at Bomvu, made friends with a group of hippies, no other terms works better. Wonderful people who taught me how to make string jewellery. Now with my own strings firmly in my hand and beads galore from the bead shop conveniently located right next door to Long Street Backpackers, I began making, selling and even teaching. Its great to make something and have someone actually give you money for it. Certainly helps a little with the bar bill.