Wild Coast (South Africa)

Get away from the "Garden Route" where tourists flock like hippos to a pond and enter the "Wild Coast" and the Transkei, the original homeland. It' s worth it, I promise. You need your own car which is frustrating, but I got lucky and joined up with 2 Germans and a Dutch girl and we were able to explore the area, which, true to its name is wild.
Endless beaches are interrupted only by jungle and cliffs and the occasional cow enjoying the view of the surf. Proper villages with colorful huts speckle the rolling green hills and lush mountains. Woman paint their faces white and people speak with clicks. Electricity is scarce and cows, horses, goats and sheep are constant road hazards, wondering in the way of our oncoming car, forcing us to drive slowly and stop often. But it's worth is to get away from the commercialism that runs rampant on other parts of the coast. Instead of feeling like I'm in California, I once again feel like I am back in Africa.
I camped or stayed without electricity along postcard perfect beaches. Driving through chaotic cities with vendors spilling into the streets and a jumble of minibuses honking as the only white person in the area cruised through made me feel right at home.
One day we heard about a hidden waterfall. We drove down a back road and 12 naked children ran up to see our car. They beckoned for us to follow them. We slid down a steep, muddy and rocky jungle path and found the waterfall. It was really just a trickle going into a chocolate milk colored river in a gorge but it was worth it to see the kids catapult themselves off staggering heighths, plummeting down into the water. They laughed at our fear and jumped again but higher this time.
If I were 5 years younger and less concerned about the shambles of the U.S. health care insurance system I would have plunged in after them. It's sad to see how much we change.