Protea Hotel Edward Durban

... little bit and the area my grandparents live by the beach. Our guide, Dina, began by giving us this really delicious Afrikans doughnut like thing that is bread dropped into hot oil then soaked in syrup. I have realized that many of you probably don't understand what an Afrikans person is. A person who is Afrikans has descended from the Dutch colonists that settled here in South Africa many years ago ...

... of their dodgy lockers, the receptionist warned me not to take any valuables with me. Great I thought!!! I just wanted to find an internet café and use my laptop.

So I was not in the best of mood with Durban but I must say as soon as I hit the streets and mixed with all the locals, all those bad feelings went away. It just felt great to be walking around with the streets absolutely packed. It very much felt like I was the only white person there - I loved it. It is ...

... added “God is in control so there will be no problems, if you don’t believe in God, ask me to slow down and I will” I was not sure how to take that really J and he finished off by saying that we will arriving in Durban “at 10pm African Time”.


The drive was bumpy at times and I was literally ejected 3-4 inches off my seat. We drove through a village where I saw a guy ...

... that we had sacrificed sleep for no worthwhile payoff, and I regretted that I hadn’t suggested a 7 am departure.

Winter game viewing in Addo was very poor on such a cold morning, and it turned out to be the worst wildlife viewing experience I’d ever had in a game park. We only saw a few animals in the 2+ hours that we were out:

1 hyena

10 kudu, only one or two at a time

6 ostriches

4 warthogs

Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa mebiner

... We were driven to the Valley of 1,000 Hills, which is where there is a large Zulu population. We spent the day with a villager learning about Zulu culture, homes, education, religion, music, dance ~the usual. It was very relaxed but we learned a lot and really enjoyed it. Also our guide taught us how to weave a marriage offer braclet from reeds which was cool (easily pleased). We ate a traditional Zulu meal in a local's house in the traditional Zulu ...

... even the Trafford Centre, you've seen similar and we didn't have the money to enjoy shopping! At least the camera was winging its way to the people at Olympus in Johannesburg, so it was a worth while stop. The next day we went for our walk of discovery. First stop was the botanical garden which was very impressive and a great place to stop for lunch (yes we slept in). After that we wondered into the city centre, skirting the big blob marked "No Go" on ...

... t able to capture them in a photo, we did see a number of Cape fur seals on the rocks and in the water below the cliffs. The Robberg Peninsula was truly breathtaking. We then hopped in the car and drove to Swellendam in the Langeberg Mountains and checked into the Swellendam Backpackers Adventure Lodge for the night. We went to a fish and meat braai that evening at the Lodge. Most of the ...

Walking in a Winter Wonderland Well, this really has been a week of all seasons. I'll begin at my last night in Cape town, where some friends that I had picked up along the way made sure I was sent off in style. We went for a slap up meal at arnolds where we ate kudu, eland and springbok in pletyful amounts, then back to the backpackers for a drink... or two... or three.... Getting up for my 14 hour journey the next day was less than pleasant; but still ...

... so the long journey was quickly forgotten... The next day we got up early and headed off on an absailing adventure. We absailed down a 50m rock face and at the bottom were treated to an amazing view of "The Baby Hole in the Wall" (see the pics). Our guide then cooked us amazing toasties on an open air BBQ, and we enjoyed them in front of a beautiful waterfall ...