Happy 4th of July!

I am spending 4th of July in Warner Beach outside of Durban. The weather isn't so nice right now but it is only about 9 am so I might borrow one of the backpacker's free surfboards later in the afternoon. I tried looking for fireworks but I don't think they sell them so freely here. At least not legally.

Our first day at St. Lucia I woke up at 6:45 am to go kayaking in the river. Angelique and I shared a kayak and I think we got the hang of it by the end of the two hour trip. We only beached on accident in the marsh once. We saw about five crocodiles, and one jumped out at us from the trees on a small island in the middle of the river. Then it went underwater and we couldn't see it until it resurfaced about 3 meters from us. Luckily we were in a group of about six kayaks so I think it was more afraid of us. Then the guide told us that an area of the river is named Honeymoon Bend because a couple went swimming on their honeymoon and the bride got attacked and killed. I asked him if it was a local Zulu legend and he said, "No, this just happened about a year ago." At that point I was regretting getting in the water in the first place. Then he told us that it was the first day of mating season so the male crocodiles would be fighting for dominance. He didn't tell us until we got out of the water that some people think the crocodiles will attack the kayaks because of the shapes of them and the paddles could look like swimming feet.

Then we went for a long drive through the iSimangaliso Wetland Park where we saw herds of zebras, three white rhinos, and some more impalas and springboks. We also went to the beach to look for jumping whales, but the season just started so we didn't have any sightings. We also climbed to a lookout point and saw an amazing purple sunset.

The next morning we drove to Durban and arrived in time to enjoy a few cocktails and a carnival ride on the beach before I said bye to my roommate Sina and her friend Imka. Angelique and I stayed the night at the backpacker and took the Baz Bus this morning to Warner Beach. It feels like we are starting a whole new trip and I know I will be rejuvenated by the time I get back to Port Elizabeth and start a new semester. The area between Durban and PE is known as the "Wild Coast" or the Transkei, so I am excited to see more rural parts of South Africa that are less Westernized.

Oh, and I also found out that I passed my Xhosa classes "with distinction." But I was only tested on writing and spelling- not actually speaking it.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about my trip so far and I will try and answer them as soon as I can!

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