Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

2/19/09

KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

        I woke up verrrrrrry early this morning with a start. It was 3:30 a.m., and I had a nightmare that I missed my safari. I got out of bed, grabbed my bags and headed out. I wasn’t being overly cautious because of the nightmare; our meeting time was 4 a.m. I was wide awake, because I was SO EXCITED. I was bouncing all around waiting for everyone to meet in the Union. I have been dreaming of going on an African safari my entire life… it was at the top of my “Things To Do Before I Die” to-do list. Its something I never thought I would be fortunate enough to do before I retired, but a combination of factors led to my dreams coming true. This is my big excursion for the voyage. The rest of the time I am planning smaller independent trips, but when our itinerary changed to sailing around Africa I knew I wanted a big excursion in South Africa. I have been excited about South Africa since the itinerary changed mid-December. The day had finally come!!! I couldn’t believe it was finally here. I was like a big buzzing ball of energy, radiating excitement even before the sun was up.

        There were 22 of us on the trip, and we all headed to the airport. We flew to Durban, a city northeast of Cape Town about 2 hours flight away. From Durban, we got on a bus and drove another 2 hours to KwaZulu Natal, an area of South Africa that is still very rural. It is populated by the Zulu People and wild animals. We were booked in the Zululand Tree Lodge, and arrived at around 1 o’clock. We went swimming while lunch was prepared. It was HOT HOT. I was sweating while just sitting on a lawn chair. The pool felt wonderful. Lunch was delicious, all food tastes wonderful compared to the food we get on the ship. The food isn’t terrible, but I am getting incredibly tired of how bland it is. At the lodge we had delicious succulent pineapples and watermelon. We were eating our lunch when suddenly a monkey jumped out of a nearby tree and grabbed a bread roll from my friend’s plate! It was my first taste of what an exotic place KwaZulu Natal is.

        Our rooms were ready after lunch, so my roommate and I grabbed our key and walked to our room. My roommate for the trip is Faith, a girl who goes to University of San Francisco, originally from Connecticut. We have a lot in common and made a pact to hang out in the Bay Area. When I saw our room, I was shocked by how nice it was. I was expecting to rough it on the safari, but instead we had our own little beautiful bungalow. The cabin was raised on stilts, and although only one room, it was definitely the sweetest little bungalow. There were doors to a patio with two chairs that overlooked a forest and a river. It was beautiful. We were allowed about an hour to settle in and rest before going out for an afternoon game drive. I was too excited to nap, so I went back to the pool and watched the monkeys race around the pool umbrellas.

        Around 4:30 we took of for my first SAFARI! It had started to cool down and I could barely contain myself. Zululand has their own small game reserve, about 150 acres. As we took off, we were greeted by a few dozen impalas, which are small deer-like animals. They call them the “McDonalds” of South Africa, because they are ubiquitous and have white markings on their butts in the shape of an M. Another animal we saw was the njalas, which are similar. They are also deer-like, but a little bigger. The males have large, twisted horns. As we continued our game drive, I saw what a beautiful country South Africa is. The landscape was hilly with low, very green brush. A few tall trees stuck out in groves, and the landscape was much greener than I expected. We drove into a grove of trees and found some giraffes!
        Giraffes are my favorite animal, they are so tall and regal. They are absolutely beautiful animals, I love to watch them walk. In the grove of trees, there were three male giraffes. The trees had a yellow powdery coating on them, because they don’t have any bark. It made the yellow in the giraffes stand out even more, and it was breathtaking. I was so excited!! I’ve seen giraffes at the San Francisco Zoo, but there is something so exciting about seeing them in the wild. They are free to roam as opposed to being stifled in a cage. It gives them an ethereal quality, as if I’m catching a glimpse of another world. It’s a wild world, and we are passing through to capture the feeling of these majestic animals.
        After watching the giraffes for awhile, we went in search of rhino. The park at Zululand does not have any elephants, but they have plenty of other animals. We came across some zebras, which have the sweetest faces. They are much smaller than horses, which I was a little surprised by, but they look like the sweetest things. A bunch of zebras is called a dazzle of zebras. In South Africa they call them zeh-brahs, instead of zee-bras. The zebras were pretty common as well.
        As we were driving along, a girl in my vehicle looked left and somehow saw a kudu hiding in the shadow of a tree. Kudus are amazing animals, I loved them. They are huge, about the size of a moose. They are also deer-like with gigantic horns that can reach up to 1 meter in length. The horns are used to make Shofars, the horn blown at the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. It’s amazing that the girl saw the kudu, because they can hold absolutely still and it makes them very hard to see.
        We stopped for snacks at around sunset, and then slowly drove back to the lodge. The animals were everywhere, it was very fun. We didn’t see rhino on this drive, but we saw plenty of other animals. I was ecstatic seeing the giraffes. We returned to the lodge and sated our hunger with a delicious dinner and some South African wine. I had great dinnertime conversation with the people on my trip, none of whom I was friends with before this adventure. I fell asleep around 9 oclock because I was so exhausted, and the next day was sure to bring more adventures!