Bulungula Lodge

This is the Eastern Cape's Wild Coast at its wildest: a roadless, unfenced coastline of green hills that fall straight into the Indian Ocean, cut by river mouths and backed by pockets of dune forest. Cattle graze the headlands, footpaths link scattered homesteads, and the beaches run for kilometres without a building on them. Bulungula Lodge stands on a grassy headland above the Bulungula River mouth. Ten hand-painted Xhosa rondavels look out to sea or into the forest, some en-suite, alongside two forest cabins, mixed and female dorms and a campground.

Every activity here is a separate village-owned business, so days are spent with your neighbours rather than a guide team. Head out to surf at dawn with Nqileni's fishermen, paddle the Xhora River in a canoe, learn about medicinal plants in the dune forest with a herbalist, or spend a day as a local woman with Jabu, helping fetch water, grind maize and cook over a fire. There are also beach horse rides, and coastal hikes to make the most of the unique location.