Mpenjati Nature Reserve - Natal South Coast

While our expeditions have been taking place in and around Jo’burg and Pretoria, we have recently had the privilege of expanding our horizons. Our adventure took place at Mpenjati, a twenty minute drive from my hometown of Port Shepstone during a weekend trip to visit the folks.

So, I come from this big traditional Indian family where weekends are planned for large numbers including aunts, uncles and grandparents. Louis is not so comfortable with these sort of set-ups but finds himself having no choice but to go along for the ride. This Saturday was no different. Plans were made for a braai at the Mpenjati River and although the weather didn’t pan out as planned we kept our spirits up and hoped that the wind would die down.

To my surprise they talked the man down to half his price and reminded him of a previous visit when they had bribed him with a bunch of banana’s

Expecting to pay a set fee on entering and having an entourage of three cars I was quite embarrassed when instead of paying the entrance my dad and aunt started to bargain with the guard. “Can’t you give us a discount?” they kept asking and in my mind I could even hear the Indian accent. To my surprise they talked the man down to half his price and reminded him of a previous visit when they had bribed him with a bunch of banana’s. I had never seen Indian bargaining power like this in action before. I was speechless.

The Mpenjati river, as we found out on arrival, flows into the Indian ocean. Many people find this a good spot for the family to braai as there are excellent facilities available. Also, perfect fishing spots as I was informed by my expert fisherman brothers. I did note that they were using squid for bait and trying to catch river fish but I was assured that this was not the reason that they caught nothing but leaves this day. They told me many exaggerated stories of when they did get the big ones. My little sister taught me how to cast and after getting her line caught in some plants I was relieved of my fishing rod.

When we realized that the elders in the family had wasted no time in getting the fire ready for the braai we decided that we would take the trail to the beach. My little siblings had been there before and they raved on and on about it being just like the Island that Jack… sorry Captain Jack Sparrow found himself stranded on in Pirates of the Carribean.

We even had to cross a shaky bridge that was very unstable and gave me the feeling that I was still on it after I had gotten off

 It had rained somewhat before our visit and a lot of the marked trail which ran through coastal bush and wilderness had been flooded. This did not deter us and we trekked on through the bush often having to go off the path to keep our feet dry. We even had to cross a shaky bridge that was very unstable and gave me the feeling that I was still on it after I had gotten off.

We eventually reached the end of the trail and white sand lay on the beach before us. A wooden walk led us over a mountain of sand, having been laid there to preserve the natural dunes. The surroundings were just like Krystil, Krielen and Felecia (My siblings) had described. As I walked over the dune to the water I stopped and did a little Jack Sparrow pose. The setting was perfect. I was in Paradise.

We found a wooden staircase that climbed up between beautiful tropical trees...

On our trip back from the beach we noticed that there was another trail that had been barricaded off. Krielen and I were feeling rebellious so despite Louis’ voice of reason that slowly faded out in the backround we started the new trail. We found a wooden staircase that climbed up between beautiful tropical trees and greenery to a platform with a view of the beach that we had just left behind. Luckily Louis had decided to follow us up and got a picture of the breathtaking scenery.

We got back to the picnic sight in time for lunch and due to the wind that would not let up we ended up leaving a little earlier than we would have liked to. As we said goodbye to Mpenjati I marveled at the fact that this little piece of Paradise had been under our noses all along and we had only just gotten a chance to experience its beauty.

You can view a slideshow of all Mpenjati photos here (Opens in a new window)

Directions: Mpenjati is situated only twenty kilometres south of Margate, near to the Wild Coast Sun just off the main south coast highway.

Tariffs:

A highly negotiable R10 per adult.

For more information:

http://southcoast.kzn.org.za/south_coast/about/176.xml
http://www.kznwildlife.com/site/ecotourism/accommodation/allaccommodation/Mpenjati
http://hibiscuscoast.kzn.org.za/hibiscuscoast/about/1.xml

Words By Kathy Beetge
Photos By Louis Beetge