Skankolies...

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Today was a bittersweet day, as we had to bid farewell to Pops (aka Highlight, Keefus, Monkey man, etc.) as he left Africa. We dropped him off at the Durban (or Dooban) airport in the late morning. It was sad to see him go. I hate dropping people off at the airport, especially curbside--unload their luggage, time for a quick hug, and a wave farewell as you're driving away from the sidewalk before your car gets towed. No time to lament. Five minutes prior, it was a regular car ride. It's hard to say everything you want to say, and feel everything you want to (or will) feel in a regular car ride. Enough lamenting. We all had a wonderful time together, and are very happy that Pops was able to come along.

Erin writes:
After dropping off Pops,we had a short 1 1/2 hour drive to our next stop. Our original plan included driving much further but after reading a bit about the crime in KwaZulu-Natal (province) we thought it best to use the daylight hours as much as possible.

As we drove up to our backpackers lodge (i.e. hostel) we immediately noticed the lush beauty of it
Inside of Skankolies Tree House
all - huge leafy trees draped everything making it resemble a jungle. Rather than the electric fence and concertina wire that usually surrounds establishments in SA, Mantis and the Moon was guarded by 3 Bull Mastiffs and 1 Rhodesian Ridgeback - making anyone (criminal or not) think twice about entering.

We toured the facilities which included a bar/restaurant, pool, deck, jacuzzi and bonfire site with a semi-conscious employee of Mantis and Moon we affectionately named 'Stoner.' Aside from seeming utterly confused at our arrival, he had a general idea of how things operated.

We followed Stoner up to our room which was a tree house! And quite a tree house it was, with a toilet and shower. Using the bathroom in a tree with nothing between yourself and the road or train tracks but banana, palm and other tropical trees is quite an experience as the wall in the bathroom was only knee-high.

Our excitement was short lived though, as we noticed several flaws about our little paradise. 1. The sheets had obviously not been washed which led Drew to wrap his pillow in a used (but much better smelling) T-shirt. 2. Critters lived between the makeshift ceiling and roof of our room and left evidence of their inhabitance (weird stains on the sheets covering the ceiling and the constant scratching above us). 3. We didn't think twice about the necessity of wearing shoes in the shower.

Both Drew and I were, to say the very least, 'Absolutely skeeved out' by the place - Drew even going so far as to say (after a night of restless sleep due to the Stoner and his friends having too much fun around the bonfire) 'I can't wait to get out of this skeevy place.'

So we left Skankolies ville (after a nice beach visit though) and headed south to what we hoped was a much cleaner facility in Grahamstown.

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