After Mozambique and Swaziland I went back into South Africa and stayed in St Lucia for a few days. It was really nice there, the sun was shining and there was a lot going on. I'm now heading into more 'surfer' territory so there are more shops for me to be tempted by!
In St Lucia I went to the beach, hitched a lift to Cape Vidal (the local holiday spot with great snorkelling), saw hippos roaming the streets at night (not something I can say I think I'll ever see again), went to a crocodile show and relaxed a lot by the pool! Not too tiring, felt good to sit back and relax.
After St Lucia we all headed down to Durban. I spent two nights there, whereas the guys are all still there so we've now separated. On the first night we went out to a local late bar. It was Sunday night, but the A1 Grand Prix had just finished in Durban, so town was pretty busy. It was nice to get out and back on the dance floor!
The following day Chris and I went on a Zulu culture tour which was really interesting. It was such a hot day though, and in all the little huts was even hotter. We spent a lot of time interacting with the locals, especially the kids and got to play games with them and join in with their dancing. I had a great day, but I was knackered at the end of it!
That evening we ventured out to the local hotspot for bars and bumped into some guys that run the hostel we stayed at in Swaziland. They recommended a new hostel to stay at in Durban, so the boys are planning on moving there today and I left for Umkomaas – to go diving.
So, this morning I left at 5.00am to get to Warner Beach to be picked up for my diving. I only needed to do one more dive in order to complete my advanced course that I started way back in July in Oz. So that's done now and it was incredible. The place where I dived is one of the top ten dive sites in the world – and rightly so. I saw so many things and it was beautiful. The dive that I was doing was an underwater naturalist one, so that meant that I got to learn what all the different things that I saw were called, but trying to think of them all now is impossible! I saw flute fish, eels, loads of different rays, sand sharks, scorpions, angel fish, octopus, blue box jellyfish, turtles, starfish, crayfish, and loads of other things that I just can't recall right now.
I've got a bruise on my face now though, as when entering the water from the side of the boat somebody went a bit too late and as I was resurfacing, they were entering the water and I got hit in the face by their tank – ouch! Hopefully it'll clear up pretty quick, but I wasn't impressed. At least it's not quite a black eye!
After I had finished diving I got a lift to Port Shepstone, which is where I am now. I came to see the Oribi Gorge, which is a really beautiful spot, but my camera battery had died and I didn't realise, so there are no pictures I'm afraid – you'll just have to take my word for it! The hostel here is empty other than two German girls who are leaving in a couple of hours, so it's very quite. I went for a bit of a swim in the sea and got knocked over quite a lot as it's so rough. I was going to try and surf a bit, but I can't even swim in it without getting dragged under so I think I'll wait until later or tomorrow morning when it might have calmed down.
Tomorrow I am heading to Port St Johns which is another beautiful spot along the Wild Coast here. I can see where it gets its name. After that I plan to meet back up with the guys I've been travelling with for a few days before we all go out separate ways again.
I'm having such a great time, and haven't really had chance to sit down and write any sort of detail to tell you guys back home. I'm hoping that a lot of the photos can speak for themselves so you can see what I've been up to. It's difficult to find the time to sit and write about things, especially when the internet is so slow. I'm sure I won't be able to stop talking about it when I get back anyway, so most of you will get to hear all about it at some point!
For photo highlights of St Lucia and Durban:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1562&l=1e052&id=507899698
Zulu learning in Durban
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
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