Coffee Shops and Beach Trips in DanaBay!

Well hello, stranger

And fellow adventurers, beach lovers and travellers

It's finally holiday season and one can take time to relax and enjoy doing nothing again. After year end functions at work and finishing up al the necessary things at home, @technicalside and I made the long journey to Mossle bay. You can read all about it in his post!

Since it was our first official day we had to make a trip to the beach. Not just a quike visit, but a beach trip! And off course that included snacks, a walk, tanning and reading! But before we could have a sunny beach day, we had to go do some last minute Christmas shopping. No matter how hard I try to finish Christmas shopping early, I always end up needing things a few days before Christmas 😅. So we headed to the busy shopping centre semi early along with half op the world population. Well it felt like have the world population.

The Merchant Coffee Shop

We made our way to the craft store to collect a few items, ventured to the perfume store, on to a hunt for biltong 😎 (South African snack, basically dried meat. Way better than beef jerky 😅) and lastly we made a stop at the fruit market to pick up some fresh peaches and plums.

Our shopping adventures left us hangry and we decided to seek out something to eat. We ended up going to a coffee shop the Merchant. The coffee shop has a business vibe to it, with some people having business calls while others enjoy a much needed vacation coffee. All of us ordered yummy iced coffee and a delicious meal.

The Merchant Coffee Shop. I did enjoy the vibe of the coffee shop, even tho some of the people acted like we didn't belong there 😂. Maybe it's because I talk to much and to loud. You can see some of the spots are more casual seating while others are close to outlets with some people working on laptops while enjoying a fresh cup of coffee.

The shop also has take away coffee and a selection of cakes available. If one would like to buy fresh roasted beans, they offer a selection of roasts and flavours. If you're one for almond milk, oat milk and so on, they have a selection of milk alternatives that are not available at local grocery stores. I myself are not a fan of alternative milk, but oat milk seems to be the most popular. I've tried oat milk before and from all the others, I think I like it best as well.

The coffee shop use fresh coffee beans that are roasted at a coffee roastary a few towns away. We have visited the coffee roastary before and are planning on going back this year to buy more beans and their famous hot chocolate! @technicalside ordered an egg benadict, while I ordered the Merchant Special, bacon and bannana with seryp on ciabatta 😍. I know plenty of people who judge me for ordering bacon and banana toasties, but I enjoy the sweet and salty combination. And YES, we both ordered breakfast for lunch! It was worth it! The Merchant Special (top right) may not look like much, but is was the best bacon and banana sandwich I've ever had.

Some of the art piece in the coffee shop. I've been eyeing the world map for a while, but last time I checked it was way out of my budget!

Sunny Beach Trip

After our shopping spree and delicious lunch we made pur way home. I was extremely happy to leave all the people behind in the shops!

At the start of our vacation we decided to go to the beach each and every day. Both of us loves the outdoors, the ocean and walks, what better way to spend a few hours a day. And we are only able to go on vacation once a year 😅, so we are trying to make the best of our time and visit the beach as often as possible.

We changed into something more comfortable when we arrived home, packed a few snacks and towels and headed down to Second Beach in Danabay. The wind was a bit to much, but we endured it, after all were at the beach. It didn't take long for us to find a spot on the white sandy beach seeing as Danabay is somewhat a "private" local beach. It's not often that someone from "out of town" visit the beaches in Danabay, unless it's for fishing.

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You can see the white waves. It seems like we are far from the water, but in reality there is a steep drop where the waves are eating away at the beach.

It's not just a sandy beach, for there are many rocks where one can go on adventures in search of sea shells, tiny rocks, critters and plants.

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I completely forgot to pack my book... And I also forgot my phone... So I had the best time doing absolutely nothing. We went to splash in the waves after settling in to our spot. I say splash seeing as Second beach is a bit to unsafe form swimming. We have a lot of rip currents, giant waves, lateral currents and sand banks. If you survive the water, you enter shark territory. I've always known that the water around Mossle bay was shark territory, especially Hartenbos and Danabay. Growing up we would always buy the weekly Danabay news containing sky photos of the beaches. In these photos you could see groups of sharks swimming just behind the waves, while the unknowing swimmers enjoyed the water. During a discussion with @technicalside he informed me that we are currently ranked as number 3 in the world with shark invested waters. A few of the beaches have been closed for the holidays as the waters are to unsave.

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We picked a spot next to some of the rocks. You can see all the tiny holes in the rocks from years and years of erosion.

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After our "swim" the two of us enjoyed the bright sun, hoping to leave a little less pale 😅. I'm not a fan of tanning seeing as I get bored easily, but I needed the sun today. @technicalside enjoy his Game of Thrones book while I pondered on the ever changing coast lines. As a Geographer I have a few answers to my questions, but some I'm still not convinced with.

You are obligated to take a picture when your at the beach, even if you hate photos. So yes I did ask @technicalside to take a photo and from the 10 I was only happy with one 😂.

Upon the Rocks

I did however get bored and decided to venture onto the rocks. There is plenty of interesting plant live on beaches and many traces of history that one tend to miss.

This little plant looked a lot like colourfully broccoli, changing from yellow to green to red at the ends. The bright colours catches ones eye from afar easily.

I found this old sea shell inbedded into one of the rocks. It must have gotten buried years ago and fossilised into the rocks, as the sand hardend.

Another one of the broccoli plants.

You can see from this photo that the wind was crazy. If you look closely you will be able to see tiny speck. This is the sand blowing in the wind. Beach sand + wind = PAIN!

I enjoyed my little adventure upon the rocks but it was time to head home!

Thank you for stopping by and reading all about our adventures! Beach trips and vacation adventures are always more interesting to the ones experiencing it, but I'm happy to share some of the fun memories with you! Until next time, stay save and enjoy the holidays!

Image used for the cover photo 📸!