The new Hippo Gate and Hluhluwe Umfolozi National Park

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After another brief sojourn in Durban to drop the car off, we've headed north up the Dolphin Coast. The northern suburbs of Durban make it very obvious to where the former residents of the city have escaped, before the secenery changes to sugar cane and more sugar cane for the next 3 hours.

We are now temporary residents of St Lucia - not the island in the West Indies but the town in north east Natal, as even the super efficient Baz Bus doesn't travel that far in 3 hours. However as we 'd only met one other French person in 8 weeks and this place is jumping with them, it makes you wonder if some sneaky Paris travel agent is pulling the wool over the eyes of a few unsuspecting punters.

St Lucia is a one street town, unashamedly geared towards the tourists - still it's nowhere near as commercial as somewhere like JBay and you can actually walk around day and night without fear of your life. The major thing to watch out for here on a night is wandering hippo syndrome! Yes, the animal that is responsible for more human deaths in Africa than any other is prone to wander down the main street after dark before devouring random residents prize gardens. The other night two casually wandered past the minimarket next to the hostel, down the side road and through the vegetation at the back of the hostel - for an animal that spends all day in a bath, they don't smell too good!

The backpacker hostel is pretty good with loads of freebie activities - guided walks and evening drives into the wetlands with plenty of zebra, reed bucks, warthogs, wildebeest and the obligatory hippos to see, not forgetting the 2000 crocs that cruise the estuary in search of stray backpackers, fisherman or preferably small dogs.

It was our wedding anniversary yesterday - an early start for a game drive in the Hluhluwe Umfolozi National Park, a free meal in the backpacker hostel (sweet not included) and time to watch Holland v Argentina on the TV - well it's too late to change now!

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Photos

Hluhluwe National Park
Rhino

St Lucia Beach
Fancy a spot of sunbathing?

John & Nicholson
Anybody want a dog? - the BIBS hostel dog

Zulu Dancers
Saturday Night Fever?

Hluhluwe National Park
Giraffes

Hluhluwe National Park
Wild Dogs

Hluhluwe National Park
Rhinos

Comments

[Brian]

Pretty jealous
Looks amazing!! Really jealous of all your wildlife exploits especially the Great Whites and now seeing the wandering hippos!! Take it easy!! Im sure you are!!

[alex waring]

St Lucia
Yes, there must be something about travel agencies on the continent - every French, Italian, Spanish and German traveller I met in South Africa seemed to have been to St Lucia, yet I knew nothing about it prior to my trip. Glad you got to see some wildlife. And you saw wild dogs - amazing!

[John Miranda]

St Lucia
It was without doubt, the place where we felt safest on the whole South Africa trip. However it isn't everywhere, that you can meet a hippo on the way to the corner shop after dark .... they might be the most dangerous animal on the continent, but you can smell them before any encounter. Let's face it, how many other places would you even think of going to the corner shop after dark? The Hluhluwe Imfolzei Park was up there with the places that will always be special to us.