Friespirit: Andre Frieslaar’s take on freeing our spirits with an escape to the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape. Also what he does at Friespirit

Having grown up in the Eastern Cape – sort of – our final destination of Morgan Bay was a place well known to me, but in name only. The opportunity to at last visit my namesake town was fulfilling the ambition of a little boy. Andre’s itinerary sounded perfect – four hiking days of between 10 and 14km from Wavecrest Hotel down to Morgan Bay ending at the eponymous Morgan Bay Hotel. Writing this now, on the way back to the airport, I can confirm it was a perfect trip.

But that is a few days into the future of our story…

The minibus journey from KuGompa’s airport, previously East London’s airport, to the Wavecrest Hotel was part of the adventure. The ferry across the Kei River mouth, dodging potholes and rattling over gravel made for an interesting journey.

No cows, goats or pigs were harmed in the making of this trip!

Arriving at Wavecrest was stepping back through time by about 30 years. Remote location, unspoiled coastline and a magical sunset.

Hike day 1: A 10km Wavecrest loop

It was windy. Sand sifting across the beach could have stung the calves but we were walking on the firmer sand near the water edge so no issues.

Today was Norman vs Technology. We had Norman (from Wavecrest) leading our 10km walk down the beach and looping back through the forests adjacent. Andre had mapped out a GPS route too. We didn’t get lost so there were no losers in that competition!

The loop format also meant we didn’t have to carry all our gear with us – as minimal as that was, given the slackpacking-plus arrangements. Slackpacking-plus being hotel to hotel. As Laura’s sister, Hazel, has been known to quip, “Roughing it means bad room service!”.

Hike day 2: 14km to Seagulls

There is a penalty to be paid when you sign up for a walking tour guided by a trail runner. By the second day it was clear that I would have to focus on keeping up with Andre and Jen’s walking pace. It could also have been that I was stopping to take video footage and photos. Let’s go with the latter.

What an enjoyable day. Navigation was relatively easy – keep the sea on your left and the bush on your right! Mostly. Beach trekking, rock hopping, river crossing and forest trails made for engaging hiking.

Hike day 3: 14km to Morgan Bay

14km is not a “big” hiking day. Maybe medium at best. However, on the wild coast the beach complicates the distance. The firm going near the water’s edge can be illusive and walking in soft sand is rather dispiriting. Unless you are Jen – and I quote – “I love it”.

Hike day 4: A “9km” Morgan Bay loop

Ok, it was only 7km, but the strong breeze made cliff top walking rather exciting!

Too soon homeward bound

As noted at the outset – this was a perfect trip. But why, you may ask? The company, the route, the hiking, the scenery, the hotels, the weather and the Friespirited arrangements, and even the Safair flights weren’t bad! The only thing that could have made it better was an extra night or two. Always better to leave wanting more…