A selection of our images from Facebook.
Remember we post a new picture everyday!
You will be pleased to hear that the Christmas and New Year madness is starting to slow down, this means we will soon have bookings available!
But, we are already taking bookings for the next school break, so don’t miss out, enquire soon at info@kosibay.net !
My! What a busyweek it has been, first we have a full lodge, completely packed out!!
Then we get our Kayaking concession from parksboard meaning that we can now explore not only the lovely blue lakes of Kosi Bay, but also the many winding channels amongst the reeds and sand dunes of the Kosi Mouth Estuarine system.
But, we had no photos of these areas! So, as disappointed as we were at pulling ourselves away from work, we went to do some exploring.
Check out the video below – don’t worry, no sound, so it’s safe for work!
Check out the snorkelling at Kosi Bay!
The environment means a lot to us and we know it does to you too, so, as we are situated in the UNESCO World Heritage site of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, we thought that we would do our bit to help preserve it.
So…
What have we changed?
The first thing we have changed is that we now run on solar power!
After a few years of planning we have now gone green!!
This means; no generator needed, no noise pollution, no waste of fossil fuels, no pollution and most importantly, no impact on the environment.
But, there is a downside…
…we do not have our fairy lights at the moment, we are working on a way to make them compatible though!
Each unit now has its own solar panel, this feeds to a USB charging point in each room – perfect for point and shoot cameras, mobile phones and anything else that charges via USB.
This solar battery is good enough to power not only your mobile phones, but also the room lights, all night!
Everything on the camp is now solar – from gate to boma.
We have also settled our Jo Jo (water tank) on a platform 5 metres off the ground – this means that (drum roll please!) we now have continual water pressure to all chalets 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and all without the need for any generators. These gravity fed showers are even better than they were before on generator power!
As if this wasn’t enough, we have been working like beavers to improve the facilities we already have at the camp. So far we have re-reeded most of the chalets to keep out the creepy crawlies and the kitchen has been extended, we also now have a second stove and sink so that our self caterers have more space. And now by the fire pit we have a brick built braai giving us some where to keep the firewood dry and enough room for 2 people to braai at the same time.
Pictures coming soon!
Find us at Responsible Travel.
A beach day at Kosi bay!
Stephanie was more than a little happy at this prospect, although in truth we all were. It was hot, and the mere thought of swimming was making us all eager to get to the beach.
Even Tommy was eager to get to the water!
The visit to the fishtraps is first. this sustainable fishing method is as much a part of conserving the area as preserving the traditional Tsonga culture.
Elmon explained how the fish trap worked to us and gave us spear fishing lessons to show us how hard it is, then it was time to walk/splash out to the fishtraps to take a look for ourselves.
We were in luck, one of Elmons fishtraps had bream, grunter, mullet and even kingfish! So we got to test our wits against that of the fish and try our hand at spearing dinner.
Stephanie speared her fish on the first try… Sleep with one eye open Adrian…!
We all emerged from the handmade cage triumphant. We would have a feast tonight!
But no time for smugly posing with our catches…
…oh, ok then just a little…
Armed with our mask and snorkels (no flippers/fins needed at this reef!) We crossed the estuary feeling the alternating hot and cold currents swirling around us.
The beauty of the snorkelling at Kosi Bay is that you swim across a channel and walk up on to the sand bank that runs parralel to the reef, walk along the sand bank, and lower yourself once more into the balmy waters of Kosi Bay Mouth.
But now is where the hard work comes… Ok, only joking – all you
need to do now is float with the current, cameras at the ready.
Effort free snorkelling gave us plenty of energy for posing under the water and playing with our cameras.
Carry on reading about this trip as Stephanie and Adrian go from place to place on their African holdiay.
Snorkelling is the plan today!
Armed with our goggles, snorkels and flippers we clambered into the Land Cruiser ready for Tommy to drive us down to Kosi Bay mouth estuary. It is possible to walk down, but after a long day snorkelling driving back up the hill is much nicer! when we got down to the water the tide was extremely high, obviously we had over-estimated quite how much time we would need to stop so Jason could take pictures of Cisticolas (only joking Jason, I know they were cormorants really…! 😉 )
The best part about getting down to the estuary when it is still high tide is that as the water recedes across the estuary mouth, islands of sand appear littered with the small sea-life that water birds class as delicacies. This brings water-birds flocking (pardon the pun) for an easy snack. The sand dunes were teeming with birds such as tern as we walked around the edges of the estuary mouth in search of crabs, snakes, birds, lizards and anything thing else that moved!
As quickly as the tide rises, it drops, so we didnt have to wait for long before we could wade across the estuary mouth to the reef.
At first glance the area of water containing the reef raises a few sceptical looks and raised eyebrows from all who have yet to experience it.
The best way to view the reef is to walk to the top and float down across the reef with the current, it is lazy snorkelling, no effort needed, the best kind of snorkelling!
Jason and Adam saw (to name a few – there are so many!);
– Terns
– Cormorants
– Black Mangrove seed pod
– Shoals and shoals of un-identified baby fish
– Pink Clawed fiddler crabs
– Ring Cowrie
– Ramshorn shell
– Coneshell
– Honeycomb moray eel
– Occelated snake eel
– Bandtail cardinal
– Ninestripe cardinal
– Striped grunter
– one spot snapper
– Bream
– Mussel cracker (juvenile)
– Big eye stumpnose (juvenile)
– small scale purse mouth
– old woman (juvenile)
– emperor angelfish (juvenile)
– double sash butterfly fish (juvenile)
– Boomerang trigger fish
– Spotted toby
And most importantly the lesser-spotted reef dwelling snorkel fish (losticus Jasonus).
After hours and hours of floating around in the estuary (it is surprisingly tiring, but well worth it) it was time to retreat back to Amangwane Kosi Bay for a braai (BBQ to us pommies) and bush TV (fire).
Steak and boerewors (sausage), pap n’ sous (local maize meal and sauce – tasty), potato salad (Africa style), coleslaw, fresh bread and salad. Needless to say we all went to bed on exceptionally full stomachs as it was too good to leave any!
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