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Published: June 22nd 2008
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Part three of my catch-up and my penultimate blog! This takes me all along the coast from St Lucia to Capetown.
DAY 85 - SWAZILAND - ST LUCIA We got up early to set off out of the country. We met Ros (a Young Farmer from Lancashire) and James ('Iggins from South London) and we all stayed at Bib's Backpackers in St Lucia - possibly the friendliest place I've stayed at. For the afternoon Dad and I kayaked in crocodile, hippo and shark infested water! We got within feet of some crocs in our little plastic vessels. It was very pretty to on the estuary while the sun set. For dinner we bought some meat and put it on the braai (bbq) - our meal was interrupted as we went just outside to see hippos grazing just across the road. James, Ros and I went next doors to a bar with Philip, the Bib's owner. Apparently you get lots of free shooters when you stay there!
DAY 86 - ST LUCIA We did the morning wildlife walk at 8am. We didn't see too much but learnt a lot and got a close-up of a chameleon. The four of us
went to the beach where we made a sand hippo, a sand crocodile and a big sand castle! James and I tried swimming but we were buffeted too much by the waves to get anywhere. Philip took us to the crocodile centre where we were able to hold a baby. Very cute of course! We had a delicious stew cooked by Philip for dinner before I had an early night for once.
DAY 87 - ST LUCIA - DURBAN I had a sleepy morning just waiting around for the bazbus. We were joined by James and Ros on the long journey to Durban and didn't get there until the evening. We were glad to have all-you-can-eat pizza that night (12 big slices for me) before settling down in our family room! James and I had to share a double bed - he did have a sleeping bag!
DAY 88 - DURBAN We headed to the beach on a glorious day in Durban. It's almost midwinter here and they think it's chilly where in Cornwall it would be seen as the perfect summer's day! We sunbathed for a while then made our way back and realised quite how far
we'd walked - the beaches go on for miles and miles here and seem to be quiet most of the time. I got back and made 5 eggs worth of scrambled eggs. Had a great night out with James and Ros on the waterfront although going out in a big South African city is probably the most dangerous thing I've done since I left England!
DAY 89 - DURBAN - CINSTA Just another day of traveling. We said goodbye to James and Ros as they got off the Bazbus before us and had about 10 hours on the road. We ended up at Cinsta - a beautiful location on the coast. We had a traditional Xhosa meal and met a few cool people before calling it a night.
DAY 90 - CINSTA We went to the beach (again) with a couple of medical students we'd met the night before. I had a good chat with Simu - he's from Zimbabwe but has been educated in the UK for the past few years. This continued over lunch as he gave us an interesting perspective on the Mugabe situation - his Dad is a civil servant there. We all played
beach volleyball which was amazingly good fun despite how rubbish I was. We just had another chilled out evening watching football. I think I'm watching more of Euro 2008 than I would at home!
DAY 91 -CINSTA - PORT ELIZABETH Dad and I took a canoe out on the lake and went as far as we could go before it got too shallow. We had a good chat and saw some interesting bird life. We had pizza before waiting around for the bazbus. It was another long-ish journey and we didn't get into Port Elizabeth until past ten. The hostel seemed nice enough but they insisted on playing thumping music just outside our glass dorm door until 2am which wasn't so good when we had to be up at 6am! No one was even listening to it!
DAY 92 - PORT ELIZABETH - STORMS RIVERS We caught the Bazbus early in the morning to get to Storms River for 10am. For me, the sole point of this stop was to do the highest bungee jump in the world and we got right onto it. Just as with the skydive I was excited rather than nervous even when my
legs had been strapped up and I was looking at the 216m drop beneath me on the bridge. I didn't hesitate in jumping off and it was the most amazing feeling. The only bad bit was hanging upside-down for a couple of minutes. Dad has his adrenaline rush for the day doing a tree-top zip-line course in the afternoon. We did try to find a pub in the evening but failed miserable and ended up watching football again!
DAY 93 - STORMS RIVER - HERMANUS We got on the bus in the morning and only intended to travel for a couple of hours but after an extra long break for lunch at Knysna we changed our mind and went all the way to Hermanus, just a little along the coast from Cape Town. This is one of the best places in the world to see whales just off the cliffs and is in close proximity to Gansbaai from where they do shark cage diving. We stayed at a great place with a free pool table so I was happy but I had an early night to prepare for the next day.
DAY 94 - HERMANUS - CAPE TOWN The bus for the shark diving left at 6.15am and I didn't wake up properly until I had a big breakfast. We had a briefing which tried to convince us that sharks are not merciless killing machines before we set off in the boat. I volunteered to be in the first group in and the Great White Sharks were there straight away just outside the cage. They entice them towards the boat by throwing out "chum" (fish guts) and having bait and a fake seal. I hope I got some good shots on the underwater camera. I got out for a bit while another group went in then was given the chance to re-enter the water. By this time I was feeling very sea-sick since the water was very choppy and I was in the water for a long time shivering like never before. It was well worth the persistence though as one shark grabbed hold of the bait and didn't let go for ages, thrashing about against the cage even. I was just annoyed that I'd already used up all my shots! On the way back we got the bonus of seeing five Southern Right whales and a couple
of Humpbacks. I found Dad back at the hostel after he'd been on a whale-watching boat and we walked around the town and ate some very tasty cake - something I've missed from home! We caught the Bazbus to Cape Town and arrived about 8.30pm rather tired and not feeling like doing anything much at all.
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lara
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hehe how exciting sounds like ya havin a good time. going to all the places ive been! my mums from durban. have ya tried the beef jerky? lol aww i wanna be there, ya better climb table mountain! hehe have fun! hope its all goin well x