Exploring Africa on motorbike: Painful visit of Port St. Johns

After Durban I continue my trip on N2 to Port Shepstone. It is Sunday March 18th, 2012. The weather is perfect and the road is nice. Some 15 kms before PSJ I stop at small town called Umzumbe. I stop at backpackers place next to the road. Bianca opens the door and shows me around the extraordinary place called Mantis & Moon. After that I drive to Shelly Beach where I buy new camera (Olympus VG-160) as my previous (Panasonic FT3) was lost and missed forever in otherwise beautiful botanic garden Makaranga in Kloof, Durban. From Shelly beach I start driving all the way down to Port Edward where I stop to see the place and walk around. After PE I hit the road to Bizana, Flagstaff, Lusikisiki and finally Port St. Johns as a destination. This is the road to Wild Coast and is very nice. The villages are full of colours and people are very friendly. But it starts to be very very cold. I put on me all the cloth I have. I think it’s 10C or even 5C. I arrive to PSJ at the dark. I go directly to the place called Jungle Monkey. It is a very nice backpackers place with a lot of facilities and a nice swimming pool. I decide for camping. Later in the evening I see one of the permanent guests is also a big chicken who is always in the bar, close to the stage and music equipment which is ready for jam sessions. Dogs and cats are also nearby. I can’t resist to play guitar. Next morning I pack my stuff on my motorbike and I drive to see so called Air Strip. This is a high latitude view point above PSJ canyon. On the way down I have an accident. My motorbike just slipps at the first curve and I crash on the road. I hardly manage to pick up my motorbike and I return to Jungle Monkey. I have scretches all over my body and I have to take a shower to clean the wounds. I also feel strong pain in both of my knees. The tarmac is extremly rough there. Luckilly the helmet is strong enough. Henny from Berlin who works at JM for many years gives me a Bepanthen cream to put on my wounds. My motorbike is also damaged. Thanks to Mike from Johannesburg who repaired my steel brake pedal and who also works at JM, I can drive my motorbike now to East London. Mike is an ex-biker and has some similar experiences with motorbike accidents than me. I decide to stay one more night at JM to feel a little bit better. At the evening Mike and Henny organize a sundowners trip to Air Strip. I make a peace with the place. We have few drinks with a nice view up there. Port St. Johns is right now the most dangerous place in the world to swim or surf. In last six years there were six deadly shark attacks at PSJ. In these waters the attacker is Zambezi shark, so called Bullshark. After my recent accident I definatelly don't want to go to swim now. Henny tells me that two days ago it was -4C in Johannesburg. I think to myself, so that’s why I was so cold. Next day Mike says, it was probably a cow shit that knocked me off my motorbike. I beleive it so too.