Blogs from Saint Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Africa - page 3

Tuesday and it was time to leave again. The caravan park was a very nice one but I was really looking forward to getting out in the bush a bit more, and hopefully some more birds and animals. We stopped next at St Lucia campsite. One we've camped at many times before so it was going to be interesting to see what had changed. Well first we were told that we had to camp on the area near the gate for safety reasons. Not a good start. The camp was still lovely though and there was plenty of bird life around us. The monkeys were around and we had been warned that they are very troublesome so we went to great lengths to make sure they couldn't steal our food, locking away everything inside the caravan, ... read more

We got across the border and it is quite bit nicer than the crossing before. We had a long and boring drive to St. Lucia. We slept and played games for the time to pass. We eventually got there but were all tired by that time so we settled in. There was only a little time before we went on a search for crocodiles and hippos. We were going down the river when a hippo popped up and we took some pictures then as we started to leave it charged us. No one had their cameras out because we were leaving the hippo and going up the river. But you guys believe me right??? The guide explained why it went under the water then came back up. It is because hippos run on the bottom then ... read more

Went for a day trip up to St Lucia and ended up staying overnight. It was such a beautiful little town and there was so much to see. We went on a cruise up the river and saw so many hippos. Then found a 3 bedroom house that we could stay in for only 750 rand. So we caught up with Boomerang who had also come up (but who had planned on staying away for a few days) and we all decided to stay in the house together. The next day we went to iSimangaliso Wetland park which was just up the road and saw heaps of animals including a rhino up close.... read more

St.Lucia was my next destination after Durban. St. Lucia is a small beachside town, which is situated by an extremely unique estuary where crocodiles, hippos and sharks all live. It is also at the southern tip of the iSimangaliso National Park and is close to Cape Vidal, inside the NP, which is an incredible stretch of coastline. However, getting out of Durban proved to be quite a challenge. After getting some wrong information from my hostel (Happy Hippo – to be avoided) about, which bus station to go to, it took me 3 minibus-taxis and about an hour and a half to find a bus going to the wonderfully named Mthubathuba. From here I got another minibus (one of the worst and most packed I had been on in all of Africa) the short distance to ... read more

I’ve had a fantastic and particularly rewarding week on projects. I had asked if I could be more involved in the HIV education, instead of working at a crèche in the mornings, so from Monday to Wednesday I’ve been teaching at Ubuhle Bemvelo Primary School with some of my fellow volunteers! The girls (and a few boys) we’ve been teaching are aged between 11 and 14, which may seem scarily young to be teaching about HIV, but it’s really important that the younger generation here are educated on the risks, how to protect themselves, and know that they can still live a healthy life even if they have the virus. Our days started at Snenhlanhla Crèche, where we were dropped off with the volunteers who were teaching at that crèche for the morning. We then spent ... read more