The Best of Kosi Bay Mouth, iSimangaliso Wetland Park – Kayaking, Fishtraps, Snorkeling, Palm wine and A delicious traditional meal at Kosi Bay Mouth, South Africa.
Best of Kosi Bay Tour Breakdown:
Cost: R1050 per person.
Duration: 6 hours.
Meeting time: To be announced on booking.
Included: All required kayaking and snorkeling gear, lunch and refreshments.
What to bring: Sunblock, swimwear, sandals, some water and happy holiday vibes.
Meeting point: Just passed the wooden bridge on the way down to Kosi Bay Mouth.
Not included: Entrance fees into iSimangaliso Wetland Park and wetsuit hire. Wetsuits available at R50 p/p.
What to expect on your Kosi Bay Mouth Experience?
Vusi, our famous guide and co-owner will meet you just after the wooden bridge on the way down to Kosi Bay Mouth.
On arrival at the estuary shoreline, he will brief you on the Kayaking part of the tour. You will be guided on double sea-kayaks to the southern shoreline of the estuary where you will enter some incredibly surreal mangrove channels. Here at the mangrove islands you will get to see 5 different species of mangrove trees. If lucky, also the local mangrove kingfishers.
From the mangrove islands you will cross over to river Kukalwe. This is a small freshwater stream flowing into the system and is as a beautiful sanctuary for fish and birdlife.
Vusi will guide you back to the northern shoreline of the estuary from where you will have a 10 minute walk to the next part of your adventure.
Snorkeling Kosi Bay Mouth
The Kosi Bay Mouth snorkeling area is referred to as “the aquarium” for very valid reasons.
On the incoming tide when crystal clear water pushes into the estuary from the warm Indian Ocean, the visibility is incredible with amazing amounts of fish. The Kosi Bay ‘Aquarium” is a declared and protected sanctuary where no fishing is allowed, making its calm clear waters perfect for our snorkeling adventures.
Kosi Bay mouth is home to great numbers of parrot fish, morey eels, lionfish, surgeons, wrasse, trigger fish, mullet, grunter, bream, river snapper, butterfly fish, moorish idol, flutemouth, goatfish and pickhandle barracuda.
Here Simon will guide you around and point out all the different species of interest. The clarity of the water and the current tend to be best during the neap tide period.
After snorkeling you will head back to the fishkraals where Mike, a wise Thonga fishkraal owner will be waiting on you..
Traditional Fish Kraal Tour
The local Tembe people have been practicing the art of spearing fish in their traditional fish kraals for the last 700 years. These fish traps are made from 100% natural materials and have been fine-tuned over the decades.
These traps function in a way that hold conservation values high by allowing small fish to use these traps as a refuge to hide from predatory fish. These small fish can escape out of the traps different to recreational fishing nets.
Mike is going to show you how the traps work and are being build and maintained. If the traps were successful, you will have the opportunity to try and spear your own lunch, Thonga style!
Traditional Fishbraai lunch and palm wine tasting
After the fish kraal explanation it is time to go and sit under the shady uMdomi tree.. It is here where the mind starts drifting back to many years ago. A time of pure simplicity..
Vusi and Mike will here amaze you with their traditional cooking skills! Fresh fish will be perfectly prepared on sharpened sticks next to a flaming fire. The fish will be served on wild banana leaves with a delicious helping of maize bread and peanut soup. The amaThonga’s have been eating meals like this on the shoreline of Kosi bay estuary for the last 700 years.
Adding to the rich cultural experience, Mike will show you how he harvest his own traditional Palm wine from a nearby wild date palm. These palms contain internal fluids, very rich in sugars, that aid in protecting them from fire damage. The local Thonga’s over the years learned that this rich source of vitamin c and sugar can also be nutritious for the mind 🙂
You will have the opportunity to taste some freshly harvested juice without fermentation, as well as some well fermented wine.
After your lunch and some time under the shady uMdoni tree it is unfortunately time to return to the modern world..
