So now that you know the story about the SA roadlink bus – you know how my trip began. So I guess you could say only uphill from there.. and it was. We got to Pongola about 11:00 on Friday and met the family. We got some food, rest and a shower. Then we went on a game drive where we saw lots of Impala, Giraffe and other African wildlife. We also got a tour of the game lodges and got to see where they were putting in a new swimming pool. It was fun to listen to the kids describe everything and point this out. Beyonca (11) was a little tour guide barbie and Dylan (5) was just running around doing whatever little boys do. Merinda was super sweet and took care of us and introduced us to the people working. We sat around and chatted for a while – they mostly spoke in Afrikaans but sometimes one of them would translate to us so that we would know what was going on! We headed back that night and ate an amazing lamb that Merinda made and hung out with the family. After dinner we got the Implala ready for the braai that would be happening the next night at their hourse. There were two sets of hind legs and tail that we had to inject with marinade and pig fat. We first had to cut a hole into the muscle – then we stuck our finger in to open it up so we could get the fat and marinade in. It was actually a fun but messy process.
We went to bed early and got up the next morning and hung out with the family and went on another game drive with Brian. We didn’t see to much in the morning but after lunch we went back out with the whole family and we got to see much more. We also went into town with Merinda that day and got to see the happenings of Pongola. It was a cute little town where everyone knows everyone. I really enjoyed being in a small town again. It felt like home. On the way home we drove by all the sugar cane fields – which is a huge part of what they farm up that way and apparently Breana and I (along with lots of people) are very allergic to it. Good think I was on my allergy meds but I could still feel it. Funny thing how I am allergic to sugar cane – good think I am not allergic to the product.
That night was the braai for one of their friend’s birthdays. It was so fun to get to meet a lots of people – even though they were much older. We got to try the meat from the back of the Impala, which was very tender and amazing. (almost as good as ostrich steak – which I love way more than beef steaks! Hopefully they have them in the states!) We also tried bacon and cherries – which was great as well. Then we filled up on more meat, veggies, bread, and salads and then came the dessert – rich chocolate balls. I may or may not have eaten about 8. I hadn’t had good rich dessert in so long – it was amazing. The rest of the night was spent sitting around the fire and one of the guys played some songs. We knew a few of them and if we knew them they wanted us to sing out and they thought that we should know all the words and be able to help them out… however they were disappointed because I barely knew any of the words! They even have a version of froggy went a courting in Afrikaans and they were surprised that we had it in English
We got up the next day (Easter actually) and hung our for a little while. It is interesting to me that they don’t really do much for Easter her in SA. They didn’t hide eggs or get candy.. I guess it just shows that we are just crazy, fat Americans who need excuses to eat excesses amounts of candy. We instead got the boat ready and headed out to a nearby lake for the afternoon. I hadn’t been on a boat in a while so it was great to be back on one. We got to see some hippo and lots of different birds but the best was when we got to see the Rhino. We were really lucky to see them I guess and I think we are the only ones out of our group to see them. It was a dad, mom and baby bull who came down to the waters edge to get a drink. They moved so slowly. We just kept getting closer and closer. Bryan said that the wind was just right so they couldn’t smell us and they have such bad eyesight so they couldn’t really see what we were. We just watched and watched as they drank water and sat in the mud hole. Bryan also pointed out that the mother was pregnant. It was funny because at one point the mom got angry with the dad for trying to get into the mud. We all said – don’t mess with a pregnant woman. It was awesome just to watch them and be able to take such awesome pictures. The lighting was perfect and the subjects were amazing and unusual (they are hard to find and see esp for that long). We headed back off the lake and made it home that night for another amazing meal. They fed us so much there I think I gained at least 5 pounds! – but I didn’t care.
It was so fun to hang out with the family and get to know Beyonca and Dylan. They reminded me a lot of my siblings and it was great to be around little kids again – I was kind of missing it. They would teach us how to play games one their DS or they would teach us Afrikaans or watch some T.V. with us. It was such a relaxing vacation. It was like I was at home in a way – just hanging out with family and friends. I was so happy that they let us stay with them and they were so accommodating. They were amazing hosts and they showed us so much of SA and so many different animals.
The final full day there we decided we wanted to go to Mozambique. So we got up early and headed towards the boarder. We paid for our visas (415 Rand) and got them stamped then headed into the country. We quickly found out that there are not many really roads in Mozambique and where we were there were none – only sand roads, which are really hard to drive and maneuver on. We finally made it to the town of Ponto De Oro and we drove right to the beach. The beach was gorgeous – nice sand and nice big waves – which I must say were better to look at then to swim in. The water was so warm – much more comfortable to be in than the water in P.E. (which is frigid). We hung out at the beach, swam with the kids and laid out to get a tan for a bit as well. Then we headed to a restaurant to get some prawns and seafood. Brian and Merianda treated us and it was wonderful. We even got to try the local Mozambique beer (DM), which was actually kind of good – first time I have sort of liked beer. After we walked around the town buying things – I got a wrap and Breana got a shirt, we went to a local bar to try some R & R (rum and raspberry). I tried some and it tasted like cough syrup so I decided to just stick with the raspberry side of it. After hanging around for a bit we hopped back in the truck to head for home. Breana, Beyonca and I sat in the back and Dylan sat on Merinda’s lap. It took us about 2 hours to get home.
We were exhausted so we went to bed early so that we could get up the next morning (Tuesday) and head for Durban. We left around 10 to head to Durban and arrived there in the afternoon. Brian drove us the 4.5 hours down there. He was so nice and I was so glad that they let us stay with them. We tried to give him some money, but of course he wouldn’t take it. We said good-bye and thanks and then headed into the hostel (Anstey’s Backpackers) to get settled. We got into a 4 person room but we were the only two there. As we were checking in we noticed Marie (a Norwegian girl) who was also staying at the hostel. They invited us to go to the mall with them and to the movies. So we grabbed a cap and headed into town. We hung out with Marie and Vivi. We shopped for a bit before the shops closed at 5 (which was really weird to me – so early!) and then caught a movie at 6 – Just Go with It. It was a really funny movie. We headed back to the hostel and mingled a bit with some people at the hostel and then headed to bed.
The next day we decided to go back into town and check out Ushaka (a water park and aquarium) and also the Indian Market. We ended up not going into Ushaka that day – instead we just walked around the beach and the shops down there. Then we headed to the Indian Market where I got a lot of souvenirs and some people got some jewelry and curry spices. Then we headed to get some food – we decided to get some Indian food since Durban has a large population of Indian! I had never tried Indian food before so I had no idea what to order. The waiter recommended some things and I picked something with some chicken and vegetables that wasn’t too spicy. It comes with a large piece of fried bread (which was amazing – I think it was my favorite part!). I immediately fell in love with the food and wanted it again! That night we hung out with some guys at the hostel (Tom and Matius) two guys traveling South Africa from Europe. They were really nice and taught us some new games – jungle speed and a couple other card games. They were a lot of fun – that is why I like hostels – you can meet people from all over the world.
The next day we decided we would just lay around the beach for the day. The waves were huge and the weather was perfect. It wasn’t windy like P.E. and the sun felt so nice. We relaxed most of the day and later in the afternoon we walked into town to head to Spar and the spa that was there. Vivi, Marie and Breana were looking into waxing at the spa and getting pedicures. I am not so into that (although I did my first pedicure done in P.E. down by pick and pay and I have to say it was pretty nice!) We hung out there for a little bit and then decided to grab some food. We found an Indian place and I was all for it – since when I head back to the states (Iowa) I probably won’t be able to find it! So I got something different – chicken and some spices and veggies maybe and it came with the amazing bread again. That night we hung out with Tom and Matius again as well as a few boys from all over who were in SA volunteering at Hands at Work up near Pretoria. Tommy and Dave were from England, ? was from Canada and Josh was from South Africa. They were fun to talk to and we watched them play pool for a while. Then a few of them left but Tommy was still around the hostel. I ran into him later and he was talking about going to UShaka in the morning. I said that I thought we wanted to head back into town that day as well. He said that we might be able to squeeze into their car. So I told him that would be great and that we would meet up with them in the morning.
The next morning they were around packing their things. Tommy came up to me and asked if we still wanted a ride. I said that would be great if they were sure they had room. He came back and said that we could squeeze – it would be 6 people and lots of stuff in a fairly small car. But we did it. So we all headed into town and finally made it there – we might have gotten a little lost but of course the driver, Josh, would never admit that. He is a male, which means he automatically has a sense of direction. Breana and I had planned to maybe go surfing or diving that day – we didn’t really expect to hang out with them all day but when we got there we found out they had different plans for us. We started to walk away and they said. “wait you guys aren’t going to UShaka?” We told them our original plans but they convinced us that it would be more fun to hang out with them and go to the water park. So we changed our plans and headed to UShaka – which was probably the best idea and choice we could make. We got in and headed right for the slides. We went down pretty much every slide (even the ‘biggest slide in Africa’ – which was probably as big as most slides in every water park in America!) We made sure and made fun of that for a while. The guys decided it would be fun to do illegal things on some of the slides. So they would stop themselves and then wait for us to run into them in the middle of the slide. It was awesome – we were playing around like little kids again! We ran round the park all morning – going on the lazy river and slides, and then headed to get some lunch and watch the dolphin show. I love dolphins so I was all for this decision. It was like sea world! After the show we walked around the aquarium a bit and Josh had never seen a penguin in real life so we had to go see them. It is crazy to me that he was 19 years old and had never seen a penguin – I think I have seen them like at least 5 times at many different zoos.
After UShaka we decided to head down towards the beach to chill there for a bit. The guys were supposed to leave early afternoon to head to St. Lucia but we were just so amazing that they decided to stay and hang out with us instead of leaving. We got to the beach and first grabbed some ice cream.. which made my day. Then we started playing some rugby and Frisbee on the beach. Breana went swimming but I just decided to stay dry and play with the guys. After a bit we decided it was time to get going. The guys were like ok well you need to get a cab now because we are heading the opposite way. So we started to say bye when they said just kidding get in the car we are taking you home. The traffic was horrible but the car ride was rather enjoyable. I was sitting on Breana’s lap, sticking my head out of the window and sing to the radio. We finally made it back to the hostel and we got their names so we could add them on facebook! We had such a fun day and were sad that they were leaving and that we hadn’t met them earlier. It was crazy that we had only met them that day – but we just clicked – it was like we had been friends for years! They told me lots about their volunteer program (Hands at work) and I am really looking into doing it sometime in the next couple of years. I know that I will get bored in the states and want to get out again!
That night I hung out, watched some T.V. and chatted with some peeps. Breana and I went to dinner that night at the Green Dolphin and I got some calamari (which is really good and cheap here!) I ended up chatting with some little girls that night for a while because the rest of the people that I knew had either left or went out. Elizabeth and Inez (from Cali and Germany – who are in our program in P.E.) were also staying at our hostel for a few nights. They went into down on Friday night as well. So like I said I talked to some girls who ended up calling me a cereal killer because that is pretty much all I ate. It was quite funny and they were fun to chat with. I went to bed early that night since we had to get up at 5 so we could make it downtown by about 6 for our 6:30 bus ride back to P.E.
The ride home was much better than the ride there. We arrived a bit late into P.E. but we didn’t mind because we had made it. We caught a cab home and went to bed. It was a great vacation. We met some wonderful people and got to see Mozambique as well as a part of South Africa that most of the international students didn’t get to see! I am so glad that Breana and I did our own thing and didn’t follow the crowd to Cape Town. Thanks Breana for the wonderful vacation and thanks to her parents for setting us up with Brian and his family!
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