Back from a week on the Wild Coast where restaurants have yet to be invented, though the seafood is legendary. Oysters at R15 a dozen, crayfish and fish galore – though alarmingly many that are for sale are orange and red listed by SASSI. On land, the rich earth grows pretty much anything and malnutrition seems to be a factor only where Western culture meets African. Here own-grown is abandoned for store-bought, and poverty, pollution and decay take root. And please tell everyone you know that Coffee Bay is an armpit, a town where they seem to take pride in their litter and begging sadness.
No related posts.
2 Comments
Hello, having lived in Coffee Bay for the last 8 1/2 years, I find that your views are fairly narrow. There are certainly many problems as you allude to, but the solutions are never as simple as you seem to believe and there are generally complicated reasons why they exist. Most often these reasons are beyond the control of most of the local people living in Coffee Bay.
Your views are also very contrary to general opinion, judging by the popularity of Coffee Bay amongst all tourists, young, old, domestic and foreign. Although I have to concede that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and you are entitled to your opinion. Just damning Coffee Bay is unnecessarily negative and will not do anything to solve the problems.
Yours in Coffee Bay, David
Hi David
Thanks for taking the time to respond. It is true that my impression was based on one brief morning’s visit, and is therefore narrow in time scale. However, it was pretty powerfully informed by what I saw. Coffee Bay, does, in my opinion, illustrate the problems of west meets African quite graphically. While it is a naturally beautiful place (leaving the people and their litter out of it), I would not choose to revisit, but I am glad to find it has champions in people that care, like yourself.