Blogs from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Africa - page 59

Getting ourselves back to Durban and the East Coast meant that we were able to hook up again with The Baz Bus for the final few legs of our ticket between Capetown to Swaziland. It was only a short trip to our next destination, Gingindlovu, but one in which we spent more time than the actual journey waiting for Bazza to turn up and then more time again for a breakfast stop. Inyezane BP was a place that Dani was keen to visit as on previous trip to S.A. six years ago she had stayed at this newly opened spot and loved it. Dani had described Inyezane to me as a workshop come campsite run by an eccentric, mad scientist, budding artist Saffa and his new and equally eccentric French wife who had ridden in on ... read more

My friends and I really had a great time down at the Durban Beach front. It was sort of a surprise for me and I was really taken. It was good to hang out with my Broe Bongs that day - His support and interest in what I do have been overwhelming..... read more

What more could a girl ask for, even surpassing last year's trip to the KGB Museum in Vilnius...a trip to the battlefields of South Africa!!. In view of the difficult transport issues, we retreated back to Durban to take charge of a Toyota Tazz - brand new, but otherwise known as a 1986 Corolla. The battlefields are about 3 hours north of Durban in Natal Province and we chose a tortureous route through the depths of Zululand, ending up in Dundee - apparently once known as the coal capital of South Africa. First stop on the tour was Blood River, the scene of a few of the early Boer settlers holding off a superior force of Zulus in 1838. The place has apparently great significance to the Afrikaaners, who have clearly spent a great deal in ... read more

After PE, South African cities were not on our priority list of places of visit! It probably didn't help arriving at 11 o'clock at night and it certainly didn't help when the map from the hostel was liberally scattered with shaded "no go" areas. We braved our first bit of South African public transport, listened very carefully to all the advice on where not to go and decided after the sum total of 26 minutes to retreat to the safety of the suburb of Berea where the backpacker hostel was located. Berea was a typical upmarket South African suburb, where the "haves" alternate their lives between their high security homes and American style shopping malls. If you can't beat them, join them and so it was off to the shops, cinema, flea market and a fiercely ... read more

“I can’t stand to fly; I’m not that naïve…” Listening to Five for Fighting in front of the old-style convex computer monitor with a dialup internet connection is very strange. “It’s not easy to be me...” Well, I suppose it is all relative. I have been avoiding writing this last blog for 2 days already. It has not been difficult to do so, seeing as I had to fight with the silly modem to even check email never mind bluthering on my blog about being Japan-sick! Yes, I am missing my beautiful islands already, but there was no greater feeling than being able to pick out South Africans waiting to catch the same plane home from Singapore. Unique and rather weird bunch… Ooh! And being offered rooibos on the plane (not that I drink rooibos or ... read more