The last few days have been amazing! We made a stop in Shakaland, which is like a cultural center for the Zulu tribe…yes, the people who have clicking sounds as part of their language! We just learned about how their villages were set up, King Shaka, how they cooked food….and they loved their beer…it was home brewed. Then we drove to the St. Lucia river where we saw hippos and alligators! From there, we drove over two hours to the Bayala Game Lodge in Hluelue (pronounced shoo-shoo-eeee). This morning we departed bright and early at 6am to go out on the game reserve. We saw warthogs (Pumba from Lion King), baboons, a small monkey that I can’t remember the name of, water bucks (like a deer), water buffalo, zebras, giraffes, rhinos and elephants….we saw HERDS of the zebras, giraffes and elephants. We were upclose to elephants playing in the waterhole and a couple different little herds came at the same time. The giraffes, zebras and rhinos were just hanging out by the road and we were able to pull up right next to them and take pictures. Giraffes and zebras generally travel together. Our guide, Sbu (pronounced “Boo”),told us that they are best friends. A giraffe can easily kill a lion with one kick. The water buffalo are dangerous animals because they can get up to a speed of 53km when they are charging. At first, I thought we were going to see things from a distance, then we drive up to zebras and giraffes and rhinos, and even the elephants right there by the roads! Its quite an amazing sight. Last night we enjoyed dinner out on the patio of the lodge as well as a dance show by zulu dancers….I took pictures, but due to the topless girls (which is totally normal in their culture. It lets the men in the tribe know that they are available), I chose not to use them. ☺
We have met some great people on this trip. Most everyone is from Utah, there are two couples from Arizona, two ladies from Colorado, a couple Californians (including my mom), and a couple from Idaho. On one of our long drives we got to go up and tell a little bit about ourselves. It’s amazing to hear about some of the hardships people have had, but at the same time to hear about the things they have done in their lives. Everyone is really down to earth and fun to talk to. Mom and I have made friends with a couple from Idaho, a mom and daughter from Salt Lake (the daughter is just a couple years younger than me), and a couple from Bountiful…but if you know my mom, you know she talks to everyone! All in all, its been a great experience so far.
We are now in the kingdom of Swaziland. We stopped at a place that had a candle factory, hand weaving place, etc….as well as a small street market. I bought two drums (one for me and one for my friend who teaches music) along with some tiny little things. We are now at our hotel with a free afternoon and evening…we are definitely resting. There’s not much to do around here, but it sure is pretty! ☺ Tomorrow we head to Kruger National Park, which is one of the largest national parks in Africa.
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