Blogs from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Africa - page 2

Friday was never going to be a great day. We had to drive to Port Elizabeth airport, drop off the car, fly to Durban then drive to our overnight hotel. The only good bit of the day was straight after breakfast, when we returned to the whale lookout point in front of the hotel and saw a pod of at least five or maybe six whales, who moved ever closer to us until they were only about 200 yards away. We never saw one jump out of the water, but we saw plenty of tail fins and backs, and blows. A local resident who was there with his binoculars told us they were humpbacks with at least one calf. The drive to Port Elizabeth airport was dreary, with constant rain obscuring the views and making driving ... read more

Dear All Yay! As mentioned in my last, I was so glad to be driving on decent roads again in the South African state of KwaZulu-Natal, after my time in the Eastern Cape. On a Sunday morning, I checked out of my little cottage accommodation in the coastal town of Port Edward, and drove on to Durban. This would be the final point on my coastal journey for this summer. I had been hugging the stunning and extremely varied South African coastline for two weeks now, from Cape Town to Durban, and from there my journey would take me inland for the rest of my time on this trip. I had the feeling at this time that my travel adventures would take a different turn from there on, and I was looking forward to it very ... read more

Turtles have a tough start in life. First, they must break-out of their soft egg and then start digging - turtle eggs are buried deep in soft sand, as much as a metre down. Once the baby turtle makes it to the surface, it must use its flippers to move down the beach and into the sea, up to 100 metres away and only the moonlight reflecting on the waves to guide it. And, on the way, waiting predatory crabs must be avoided, baby turtles are their favourite snack. We're on Sodwana beach and the first of the baby turtles have already made it into the sea, leaving tiny flipper tracks across the sand. Dotted about on the sand are the less sucessful ones, exhausted or disorientated or both and about to become crab fodder. Not ... read more

Before sunrise, we mounted the open vehicles that took us to nearby Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park for our first game drive of the trip. It was surprisingly cold, but that feeling of discomfort was overturned by the view of my first sunrise out in the bush in Africa. Spectacular! Also spectacular was the topography of the park, the trails surrounded by hills and deep valleys. The Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, although small, is the oldest nature reserve in Africa. The park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be found. The area was originally a royal hunting ground for the Zulu kingdom, but was established as a park in 1895. Here, as in other parks in South Africa, rhinoceros remain an endangered species because of poaching. The price of the horn ... read more

Here we are, a cute little week of staycation in our own province of KZN. The province being pretty huge, the drive to Thanda Tented Camp is a 400kms North. International tourists have for most deserted South Africa. So all the top attractions have had to over super discounts to the locals to simply keep going. So this week, we are experiencing a top safari camp, at a 60% discount...topped with a complimentary upgrade to the "honeymoon tent". Not sure those discounts will continue for many more months, so we are packing what we can of those for as long as we can...and more is to come soon! Thanda is a private reserve north of Hluhluwe National Park. We have self-drived on numerous occasions into Hluhluwe. But this is the first time we'll experience together a ... read more