Hobbiton in South Africa?!?!

Heading to Hogsback this morning, I was nervous and excited. I felt a bit like I was going on a blind date with someone who my friends swore was my soulmate... What if he was? What if he wasn't? 

Hogsback is a small village nestled in the mountainside in the eastern cape of South Africa. Local urban legend has it that it is one of the places that inspired Middle Earth. Apparently Tolkien vacationed here with his parents as a child. And the town has taken this claim to heart. With guest houses named "Frodo's Rest" and even a place called "Hobbiton". But more than this, it also has an association with fairies and fantasy in general. With a garden walk called "the fairy realm" and a hostel called "Away with the fairies" and a pub called "the wizards sleeve". And besides all this, the place has world class hiking--including 8 hour hikes up mountain sides, and 3 different waterfalls within a days walk.... 

So those are the stakes. Clearly if I do not find this place to be the home of my heart...I am destined to be homeless. 

And the results.... 

As I was a bit afraid of...expectations this high always mean disappointment.... Don't get me wrong. It is beautiful and amazing and wonderful, and very hobbiton. It just wasn't quite as magical as I wanted. The hostel was cute, painted up with fairy murals, but it was also pretty worn/run down. The Wizards Sleeve...while having a cool name...was otherwise indistinguishable from any other backpacker bar i've been to in this country. The forest was beautiful, but again, not that different from the hiking in the Wilderness or in Ksnyna. I suppose I shouldn't pass complete judgment...apparently part of the "magic" of the place is the mist and fog that sets in around the foothills and the beautiful snow that sets in in the winter, and the way everything stays green in the summer despite everything else going brown. 

But I don't think I will have a chance to experience all of this. Rain is supposed to set in tomorrow, and I don't want to be stuck up on the mountainside through the storm. Especially given that I am running out of time. I have to be up in Joberg in a week. So I think its back to the bus for me. Next stop: Coffee Bay. A beach bum/surfing spot along the coast. A day or two laying around there, then onto Durban... 

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p.s. The sad news: I've lost my camera!! It sucks traveling without one. I feel like photo-documentation is my default thing to do when solo-traveling. And sadly, I had not gotten the chance to back up my pics. So all the pics from the last two weeks have been lost. And I don't have any way of capturing visual memories of Hogsback for you to see for yourselves. I haven't decided if I'm going to bother buying a new one. Less than 2 weeks of travel left. But I feel so naked without one. :/