kosi bay

kosi bay

4:30 a.m. and the coffee pot is already on the coals. the boys are baiting up and 

getting ready for a long morning of fishing. jackets on, we head out to launch the boat.

there is no movement in the air so the water is a reflection of the sky, light pastel colours.

we glide slowly over the crystal clear water, passing the traditional fish kraals that stand 

out of the water. cows stare with blank faces as we drift pass, and still the sound of thousands of birds in the reeds fill your ears.

 The channels can get pretty narrow and we watch warily as we pass hippo paths made in between the reeds. eventually we make it out of the channels and into the wide open lakes where we hope to catch grunter, mullet or kingfish.

 Elegant pink flamingos dance across the water, sending ripples into their reflections as they go. This place is wild and fill of untouched land.

after a few hours of fishing, nothing is taking the bait and our tummies are getting impatiently hungry. we head back to the campsite, back through the channels.

Our campsite is right in the bush, beneath beautiful indigenous trees. the bush surrounding us is dark green and dense and fill of vines, like something out of the jungle book. the coals on the fire are still glowing golden red. we light up the skottle and a line up of bacon, tomato, onions, egg and toast is waiting to be cooked. we sit in camp chairs holding enamel mugs of steaming coffee waiting for the breakie.

Snorkeling at the river mouth was incredible. we waded through the water with our belongings held overhead to reach the side with the small reef. fins and masks on we dive into the warm water. lion-fish hover under rocks with their red, white and black patterned fins swaying in the ebb and flow of the swell. a small sea snake with yellow and black stripes swims in a wavy movement through the clear water.