Mkhuze to Durban via the Elephant Coast and St. Lucia, Saturday November 26th 2016

We had an early start from Ghost Mountain Inn after a really good breakfast. The staff presented us all with Padkos - food for the road - as we got into the coach. En route there were lots of stalls selling pineapples. There were also street restaurants - women with big pots over a fire. It's a feature of the weekends. The food is generally meat from the head and feet of the cow. Only men eat this. Women are not allowed to eat it because the men fear they (the women) will get more brains than them or that they will be able to run away from their men.

There were people in white robes gathered in an open space. Lutendo told us that they were members of the Shembe Church. The Shembe Church is a blind of Old-Testament based Christianity and African Zulu beliefs. Its stronghold is in Kwazulu-Natal. Shembe claim the vuvuzela - the plastic trumpet made famous by the 2010 World Cup - as their own.

Interesting toilet signs on the cruise boat!















The Elephant Coast of Kwazulu-Natal has two of South Africa's great natural institutions - the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi National Park (where we were yesterday) and iSimangaliso Wetland Park. We were departing from St. Lucia, located at the southern extremity of the Park, on an  estuarine boat trip.

Our guide told us that it is the nesting season for crocodiles and she did not hold out much hope of seeing any. She was quite confident, however, that we would see hippos. And we did! We also saw lots of birds and their nests and were informed in great detail about the flora of the region. However, I did not retain enough of that.

These hippos are called "townies". They are closest to St. Lucia and at night they wander through the town eating on the lawns and drinking water. I would love to see that.

This is a Fish Eagle - a male.

This is swamp hibiscus. It has 3 colours on one plant. Yellow when the blossom appears first, then peach and then red. It is really lovely.

And, contrary to the Captain's prediction, we saw our first crocodile. Seemingly a male - but I wasn't  sure how to check that out.


Jim got some snaps!

I have my eye on you!

A white mangrove forest. Mangroves are a valuable resource for building.

And a second crocodile. This is smaller than the first one we saw. The Captain called it the Crazy Croc - she didn't exactly say why.

He could do with some tooth whitener! 

A rear view! 

A bit of a traffic jam!

We saw a female hippo that the captain called Captain Jack. She has only one eye because at the age of 5 1/2 she was attacked by a shark which bit out one of her eyes and her tail.

Our very knowledgeable captain. She is holding a Hippo's stabbing  tooth. Hippos have 10 fighting teeth - only 1/3 is visible, the rest is inside the gum. Between 2,500 and 3,000 people are killed by hippos every year.

And a third crocodile! 

After lunch in St. Lucia we had a chance to browse shops and stalls.

Obviously something hilarious here!

I could have had my very own crocodile!

These were all piled into the bed of the pick-up truck. It took ages for the coach to get past them.

This was a crocodile farm that we passed.

Our destination for overnight was The Benjamin in Durban. This is a small hotel on Florida Road, Durban. Lutendo told us that it didn't have a bar but there was a drinks "wardrobe" with the key on top of it from which we could help ourselves. And that we duly did - some people several and many times. Jim and Garth even decided that a nightcap would be necessary after dinner out and so helped themselves to a tumbler of brandy! The receptionist was later heard to apologise to another person who booked in for the emptiness of the drinks "wardrobe" - "I'm afraid a tour group has depleted our supplies!" OOPS!

Some of our group by the pool enjoying their "wardrobe" drinks!

There were quite a few restaurants on Florida Road so we went to have a look and opted for Butcher Boys which had been recommended by Lutendo. And a good recommendation it was! We had a lovely meal of ostrich (delicious!) and waterbuck (a bit tough but tasty). We shared a selection of desserts between the three of us and particularly enjoyed one that is special in South Africa - made with tennis biscuits, peppermint crisp and cream. Will try to recreate that at Christmas.