Anchorage Hotel - Umtata River Mouth

[krissi]

We were invited to join some friends on a camping trip at  the Anchorage Hotel, situated at the Umtata River Mouth.  As we were not equipped for camping, but they  each had a camping trailer, I set off to PMB to buy a decent tent.

We had been toying with the idea of buying a trailer, but  it was in the future.  I stopped at  Campworld PMB and there it was …. a second hand Conqueror Compact II trailer that  is in excellent condition, with all the bells and whistles, for a very good  price.  Campworld PMB went out of their  way to get the trailer ready for the weekend. It is now the standing joke that  I went to buy a tent and came back with a trailer .  I collected it on Wednesday and we left  Thursday.  I must say that Scotty showed  great trust in my judgement by agreeing to buying the trailer without seeing it  himself.

Anchorage Hotel has camping facilities, self-catering  chalets or one can stay in the hotel.   The owners have spent a lot of money upgrading and it shows.  Angie, the manageress, was so helpful and went  out of her way to make our stay comfortable.   The ablution facilities hot water is from a donkey boiler and at times  the water wasn’t very hot.  She opened a  chalet for us to shower until they had sorted out the boiler.  It is quite far for a weekend but the road from  Vedgiesville to Coffee Bay has had some work done to it – the worst section  (potholes) is only about the last 20km closest to Coffee Bay.  One turns onto a dirt road just before Coffee  Bay but it’s not a bad road.  It took us  5 hours from Underberg.

Thank goodness 1 couple had a Conqueror Comfort, so they  immediately got stuck in and helped us set up as we didn’t have a clue – from  knowing how to open the roof top tent to attaching the awnings.  It wasn’t long and we had our bed made,  kitchen set up, gas bottle connected to the stove and lights plugged in and  working.  Trev helped Scotty set the  fridge to the right temperature and there we were – our own little  self-contained “home on wheels”.  The bed  is really comfortable which made Scotty very happy .
We had got there around 5pm so we spent the evening  catching up over a braai and some .   Then next morning we chilled around camp, had a brunch and set off to  Mdumbi which has a great beach, a small river and some rocks at the point.  This is a recognised launch site.  The others went off to the beach while Scotty  and I took our light rods to play off the rocks.  We were disgusted to come up on some locals  who had literally stripped the rocks of every possible mollusc and red  bait.  I am sorry I never took a photo,  but it was soul destroying to see.  They  took buckets and buckets of cleaned limpets, mussels and red bait – leaving the  smaller limpets and red bait to rot above the high water mark .  The rocks where we fished were bare – no sun  oysters, no limpets, no periwinkles.  We  had no bites and Scotty gave up.  I persevered  with my 5ft and Willie’s little reel.  We  took turns and eventually we started catching small stumpies and blacktails –  but only after almost an hour and half.

Later that afternoon we drove down to the mouth hoping to  catch a cob or 2 for supper and have sundowners.  The wind was blowing, but it was quite  sheltered.  I put out a bigger bait on my  medium rod in a holder, played ghilly to the not-so-serious anglers (who prefer  sitting on the chair with a cold beer and have their rods baited up for them)  and played around with my baby rod.  Next  thing something picked up my bait and took off – that little rod bent double  and the braid was peeling off at speed .  Something broke the surface and pandemonium broke out.  There was just no way I was going to stop  whatever this was before it stripped the reel. nI didn’t want whatever it was swimming off with meters of braid  trailing, so I gently braked the spool with my hand, hoping to slow or turn it.  I was fishing with a 0.2mm trace and it snapped  almost immediately I applied pressure.  I  was pretty disappointed at not being able to know what it was, but that is  fishing     I was busy tying on another  trace when my other rod was pulled out the rod holder.   Well, we had made some homemade spikes and  this particular one wasn’t such a good design.  The aluminium spike we had riveted on just bent like a paper clip.  I managed to grab my rod before it  disappeared into the river.


Yay, finally onto a nice fish - it felt like a decent size flatfish. I managed to  turn it and started bringing it in – as it got closer we saw it was a smallish  turtle that had got foul hooked in the flipper. We had seen one surfacing now and again throughout our time there and  now we got to see it up close and personal.   It was very angry and strong. It  hissed at us as Scotty cut the tip off the hook and we freed it.  It took nearly all my strength to hold it  still but it swam off strongly.  What a  beautiful little creature.  This got us  to wondering if the same thing hadn’t happened with my little rod and what we  saw surfacing was a flipper.   It got  chilly so we packed up and left.

Saturday the wind picked up so we stayed in camp – reading,  snoozing and generally just getting some well-deserved rest. 1 couple went to Mdumbi  for the morning.  Scotty, Pete and I went  to try the beach later that afternoon.   We got a few bites, but generally nothing much was happening.  We met some other anglers from the Free State  who said some cob had come out, but mostly after dusk or in the early  evening.  Scotty doesn’t like fishing in  the dark, so we headed back just on dusk.  Sunday was a beautiful day but everyone just felt like  chilling in camp.  Scotty and the other  couple spent the morning reading but I wanted to fish.  I packed my baby rod and shoulder bag and  went off to explore the rocks in front of the hotel.  It was spring lows and I was pleasantly  surprised to see the amount of red bait on the deeper rocks.  Unfortunately, the locals were out in force  again, so I honestly don’t know how long that will last.  I fished around for a bit, but had no bites  at all.  Trish brought me a frosty towards  midday and all I had to show for my morning was a lonely puffer fish .

1 couple had left that morning, so we headed  back to camp and the men for lunch.  We thought about going back to the river that afternoon,  but decided against it, packed up the fishing kit and had an early braai.

Now for the best part of the story.  We didn’t all arrive at Anchorage together  due to our different schedules. The day couple 1 arrived, a local dog moved  into camp with a pup.  They went and got  dogfood, tick/flea muti and treated them.   The day the second couple arrived, Sox (as the mom became known) arrived  with pup no 2.  It got treated for  fleas/ticks.  The morning of the day we  arrived, she pitched up with pup no 3, who got treated immediately.  They had their bed under a trailer.  Us ladies each earmarked a pup and the men  formed a laager of disapproval – there was NO way these mutts were going  home.  On the Saturday on the beach, Judy  informed us that Trev had put his foot down and they were not taking a  puppy.  Dissension amongst the  ranks! Trish and I were devastated – how  could we leave these little creatures to live a life of misery. The pact was all or none.   Each pup had a name.  Trev felt so bad that he eventually acquiesced  and harmony was restored to camp.  I  think Scotty had put up a front of disapproval, but he knew deep down he had  lost the battle from the very beginning.

We went and spoke to Angie and the hotel staff  to try and find out who the mom belonged to so that we could buy the pups.  We did not want to just take them and run  into problems of a local saying we had stolen the pups.  They said we must take them as they would not  be well treated if left; they would sort out any issues.  2 staff members mentioned that if we did not  take them, they were going to adopt 2.   Sox had already started weaning them and grumped at them often if they  tried to suckle.  The morning we left,  she made a short appearance in camp, ate some cubes and disappeared before we  had finished packing up. 

We hitched the trailers, paid our dues and left.  We were probably 10km from Anchorage, when I  got a whatsapp message from Judy – Sox had pitched up at the hotel with 2 more  pups.  This amazing mother had homed her  litter.  I am still in awe.  Each of our “Transkei Pointers” have a  different father and one would never say they are from the same litter.  I look at my Bella playing with our dogs, her  belly full, her coat shiny (she is lying tucked up in my jacket on my lap,  asleep, as I type) and my heart swells with happiness that she will never know  a life of neglect, nor will her siblings.  Trev is totally devoted to his “Varkie”, who  was the runt of the litter, but was the most spirited.  Rusty, the only male, is a happy member of  the Hampson pack here in Underberg.  We  keep each other updated on our “Transkei Trio” whatsapp group of their  progress.

So the camping bug has bitten us – I would never have  predicted that in a million years.  We  are already planning our next trip to Rocky Bay in 2 weekends time, Struisbaai  and surrounds, Namibia, Botswana, the game parks in the future – all very  exciting. 

I would honestly recommend Anchorage Hotel to anyone – a boys’  fishing trip or a family holiday – there is beach fishing, river fishing,  off-shore and lovely beaches.

[krissi]

The turtle and river mouth

[krissi]

Bella our Transkei Pointer

[krissi]

Lunch time 

[hrogers]

Thanks for the report, enjoy it very much

[SAfish]

  Great report and huge  for taking care of the dogs.

[REEFMAN]

What a great report! Enjoyed reading. 

[MIKE PIKE]

Great stuff Krissi and co , that river looks promising , are there any mud prawns on the banks ..? looks like a good venue for all sorts of angling ..

[Rory mundy]

Have had a few good holidays there watching my brother in law get shocked by a electric Ray was quiet funny

[krissi]

Great stuff Krissi and co , that river looks promising , are there any mud prawns on the banks ..? looks like a good venue for all sorts of angling ..

Thanks guys - I would imagine there are Mike - we didn't actually see any holes where we were fishing, but there were some locals fishing there and they said they had been catching grunter.  They were fishing higher up on the river nearer the mangroves where some okes had launched their boat and left the trailer.


Yes, it has place for the lot - I think a perfect place for a birthday bash in the future as it caters for so many facets.  Hlungwane is close for serious shark fishing, off-shore, river, you can take a boat up the river or launch from Mdumbi, nice beach fishing between the hotel and the mouth, rocks in front of the hotel, a nice point at Mdumbi - we didn't explore the beach from the hotel northwards, but on the drive to Mdumbi there seemed to be some nice fishing spots; Mpunzi (Mpanzi) is also close but I haven't fished there for years. 

[jrahme]

thanks for sharing ur fun with us Krissi.
great report.

[WalkersKiller]

Very nice report Krissi 

[ianf]

Great report Krissi. Enjoyed reading it.

[colin]

  enjoyed your report 

[Ettienne]

   great report. Ek verlang nou so aan die Transkei ek kan sommer huil...

[MIKE PIKE]

  great report. Ek verlang nou so aan die Transkei ek kan sommer huil...

Huil al klaar .. .

[Ettienne]

  great report. Ek verlang nou so aan die Transkei ek kan sommer huil...

Huil al klaar .. .

    and this year i cannot make the annual Transkei trip with Rory and the boys due to work commitments and a leave shortage 

[MIKE PIKE]

Cant seem to find much of a website with info or pics of the place or am i dumb.... .

[krissi]

Cant seem to find much of a website with info or pics of the place or am i dumb.... .

Hi Mike


No, they don't gave a website.  I also battled and all I could find was some Transkei Travel blog thingy with some comments from former guests.  It's a real pity as the owners have done quite a bit of upgrading.  They have just opened a small spa as well.  I can give you Angie's number if you like.

[MIKE PIKE]

Thanks Krissi , thought for a minute there that i had gone dumb ... , ok if you can pm me the number that would be great . Thanks .