Last weekend I left Durban for the popular vacation spot of St. Lucia with the other Interstudy students. The little town is located about 2.5 hours (or 3 or 4, depending who you ask) north of Durban. We left at around 4:30, but didn't actually leave Durban until around 5:30 because traffic was so slow. Luckily we had a spacious van that allowed for moderate spreading out, so the trip wasn't unbearable. We did finally make it to our destination around 8 pm. Once there, we went to a restaurant for dinner. We had ordered our food before we left, so it was so nice to have it all ready when we got there - no waiting! The meal was great, and I was so stuffed afterward because I couldn't bear to leave any of the good food on my plate.
We soon discovered that there was no water in St. Lucia, though. We couldn't order tap water, and when I went to the bathroom the toilets didn't flush and the sink didn't work. This was no joke! Apparently this happens sometimes in the area, which is unfortunate for such a popular destination! I'm not sure exactly the reason, but I do know this is the dry season, so perhaps that's the reason. (However, it has been raining here for the past three days. Ironic.)
We checked into our rooms at The Boma, which were extremely nice. The "cabanas" had a kitchen, dining area, living room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a deck that looked out over the marshy area surrounding the estuary. I would have been happy living there! Also, they had water reserves so our rooms still had running water. We lucked out!
The next morning, we woke up bright and early to plenty of breakfast food. We were originally supposed to leave at 5:30 am to go to the game reserve, but the time was (thankfully) pushed back to 6 am. It is important to get an early start because the animals are only really out and about in the morning hours. We got in our official-looking safari vehicle, and the guide took us on the hour drive out to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve.
When we got there, I was surprised to see that cars just drove right into the game reserve. Of course there were lots of signs with things that you should avoid, but everything seemed to be mostly at your own risk. Plus, the park was huge. From what the guide was saying, it sounded like you could easily drive an hour or two across the park. Now, we're talking 40 km/h here, folks, but still, that's pretty big.
The park is famous because it is home to all members of the Big 5 - elephant, black rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, lion, and leopard. Unfortunately, we were only able to see two of the five, but we still saw a great variety of animals! We came upon giraffes, Cape buffalo, impalas, wildebeests (the ones who killed Mufasa), rhinos, vultures, warthogs, zebras, and a blue headed iguana. The guide, who had eyes like a hawk, did find some elephant tracks, but we never were able to find them.
We were exhausted by the end, and it was only noon! We came back for naps, more food, and then even more food at our night braai.
The next morning we got up early again (though not as early) for kayaking! We drove just a short distance to the estuary and met up with our guide there. They were two person kayaks, so Jill and I paired up, and I think we made a pretty good team.
Once out on the water, it took no time at all to be faced with a real, live hippopotamus. The guide suggested that we try to go towards the middle and then around, but when we went that way, the hippo popped up again right in our path! We turned back and did eventually make it past the bouncer hippo. There were a number of crocodiles along the shore, and we were able to get really close to them. (I'm not a very good judge of distance, but it was really close. Believe me.) We also saw lots of beautiful birds, including white flamingos. I kind of felt like I was on National Geographic or something. (I'm so American.)
The guide had told us at the start that we'd turn back once we got to "hippo territory," but when Jill and I expressed that we'd like to get closer, he was more than happy to let us! We paddled over to a mass of hippos (again, it was really close) and watched them. They weren't really that entertaining, but one of the baby hippos started to make its way towards us. We thought this was so cool, but the guide had us turn back because the momma hippo was probably following close behind.
After that, we paddled back to our starting point. It was a little cool, but when the sun came out, it couldn't have been a more perfect day.
We ate again (I felt like I was overflowing with food at this point), and packed up to head home.
It was so great that my only complaint is that I wish we'd had more time! There were so many things to do there and just not enough numbers on the clock. Maybe I'll come back someday...
Hope you have a great weekend! I'll be spending mine in a freezing cold pool learning to scuba dive. More about that later!
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