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Published: March 6th 2012
Sleeping hippos
He looks like he's smiling!Traveling on, we arrived at Isimangaliso Wetland Park. It is here that we had our first view of the Indian Ocean. The park is bordered on one side by Lake St. Lucia, the largest inland body of water in South Africa, and the Indian Ocean on the other side. There are 200 meter high dunes- that have vegetation on them. While walking on the beach, we were amazed to watch a big- 35 ft power catamaran drive at full speed, straight up on to the beach in order to be dragged onto it's trailer. No idea what the driver did with the props- but it all seemed to be in order. They brought in a big tractor/trailer, and proceeded to winch the boat on. Of course, us trailer “people” found this all very intriguing!
WE had our first swim in the Indian ocean- which proved to be much warmer than the Atlantic on the west coast.
While in the campground, we met our first Canadian friends- Brent and Brenda from Nanaimo B.C.
They were traveling in a camper with the same outside- different layout inside. It was fun to compare. They had also done a camper “trade”- the
South African owners had borrowed the Nanaimo camper this past summer. Hhhmmmmmm- food for thought........
Moving south, we entered tourist territory. The towns along the coast here, are very touristy, even tho most of the visitors are South African. There's lots of shops, hotels and restaurants- all bordered with stunning beaches.
WE visited Durban briefly- which is a very big city. We took a tour of the Moses Mabhida soccer stadium, which hosted some of the world cup soccer games. There is a tram that takes you up over the top of the stadium, and then we toured inside. The [pictures of the African flag and the country of Africa, are all done in beads. The country one is done with the tiny little beads- in many different sections, like a quilt. Some amazing artwork! They said it took only 3 weeks to make as they had many women involved. Although the pictures don't show this, the country art was about 25 feet tall by 15 feet wide. Our most amazing moment was in viewing the change rooms for the players- check out the jacuzzi room- can't believe each of the players gets his own jacuzzi!
Next stop- Rocky Bay Caravan park- at the start of the “Wild Coast”. Check out the ocean view campsite! Doesn't get any better than this!
We took a day trip to the Oribi Gorge and Lake Eland Game Reserve. Here , there is a suspension bridge over the gorge, and better yet- we suspended ourselves by doing a zip line tour of the gorge.
There were 14 zip line stations , each one a different length and height. AS you can see by the picture of the information sign, you can expect to fly across the zip line at very high speeds! It was cool!
We tried to give you some idea of how far the 14 lines stretched across the canyon- you'll have to examine the picture carefully to try and see. One of the lines went so low across the water, we had to lift our feet! The whole trip took about 2 hours- and only cost us $50. each. Anywhere else in the world we feel it would have been closer to $100.!
Take a look at the pics!
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Jane V
non-member comment
Still astounding
I had never thought of a vacation in South Africa before. As a continent Africa sure gets a bad rating... Looks like you are finding some spectacular places to visit. I'm sitting at my desk at work having lunch and enjoying your trip. Were there any great white sharks in the area? Not something I'd like to dive with. Thanks again for posting.