South Africa to Zimbabwe Days 5 & 6

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Long day

Friday, August 20. We fly to Durbin this morning then take a short tour of the city before driving to Hluhluwe in Zululand. Before arriving at our hotel, we stop at a Zulu collective market to buy native goods. The market is run largely by women who make and sell their products, drums, jewelry, wooden bowls. We don't get into the hotel till 6 pm, twelve hours after we left the Cape Town hotel. Very long day. Unfortunately the beautiful brightly colored, beaded bracelet I bought, started ripping apart before I even got to the hotel. Oh, well. I think of it as a tiny bit of support for their economy.
Tomorrow our day starts at 5 am again, but this time we're going out for our first game drive. We're really excited.

The adventure begins

Saturday, August 21. What a day. Awake at 5 and on our way by 6 in an open-air jeep to a nature reserve. It is literally freezing cold, about 32 degrees F, 0 degrees C; there is frost on the ground. I am so glad I brought a warm jacket, scarf, and gloves. But we huddle under blankets just the same. And when the jeep is in motion the temperature seems to plummet.

At a distance, we spot a lone bull elephant, huge storks, and buffalo herds. And close up we view giraffes, rhinos, rare wild dogs, a wart hog, antelope, and zebras. This is just an amazing, breathtaking experience. We actually watch the wild dogs stalking their prey. They are so focused we don’t seem to exist for them. And we are really lucky to see the dogs. They are the 2nd most rare predator in Africa. Only about a 1000 remain.

About noon we drive to Damazulu Village, watch Zulu dancers, learn some of the traditions, and enjoy a Zulu buffet. Ahren and I both try the fermented liquid the Zulus call beer. A woman dressed in what may at one time have been traditional Zulu costume dips a ladle into a batch of the drink, passes it to the “king”, who looks bored, then takes it to each of the tour in turn. Some refuse. I really don’t like the idea of sipping out of the same ladle as 40 other mouths, but curiosity and the need to participate in the ceremony get the best of me. It tastes like sour milk. But the Zulu buffet is quite good. Beans, vegetables, stew, maize and a tomato sauce that’s delicious. But the whole thing is very staged and the performers often looked bored.

Back at the hotel we spend a delightful afternoon with Ahren’s stepmother’s South African family Shirley and Dirk. Shirley’s brought us each a set of placemats that she’s made with African prints of birds and women in native costumes. I am so touched.

In the evening we watch Zulu dancers at the hotel. Unlike the dancers at the village earlier, these dancers are terrific; it’s quite a show. When they call on audience members to join them, Ahren gets up and dances with them. Really funny. A simply great day!

Tomorrow we go to Swaziland, which is a tiny separate country completely within S Africa. We're really just spending the night there as a short cut to get to Kruger National Park. Hopefully we'll see a lot of elephants close up there and maybe a lion.

It's rather incredible here.

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