Just a warning before you start to read-you must understand I write just like I talk: random with a lack of transitions. Hehe…oh yes and if you want to get more details you must read Jen and Kelleighs blogs – they put much more time in their blogs…mine is just a rough outline.
Our last long holiday, I guess you would call it ‘Spring break’ has just passed. As usual we went on an African adventure to see the country… We most definitely will have more adventures considering we get to stay for two more months, but probably no more long excursions.
Our first stop was East London-only three hours from PE; that way we could break up our driving and see as much of South Africa as possible. I really liked East London. It seemed crazy though. Tons of people all over and well all the people near the beach/our hostel don’t sleep. When we left at the crack of dawn people were still partying!
The next day was Kelleigh’s 21st birthday! So Aisha, Jen and I decorated the car for the 21 year old! That day we drove on the Wild Coast to Durban. By the time we got to Durban we had to quickly get into our hostel and get ready for Kelleigh’s surprise. We arranged to take Kelleigh sailing! That has been something on her SA bucket list for quite some time. Jen blind folded her to keep the surprise going until we got to the harbor. Kelleigh was soooo excited and taken back by her birthday gift from us. Jen and Aish bought drinks and snacks for us to enjoy on the ride.
Later that night we took Kelleigh out to a pretty nice club…Maybe it was a bit too nice…Durban is a very trendy city, well that is in certain areas. And with our wardrobes that have all been over worn for the last 8 months, we find it a bit challenging to blend in such environments. Nonetheless we managed to rock the dance floor as us Cali girls always manage to do.
The next day we were off to the Victoria Street Market- a market where you can find all the local crafts and arts. It is located in a ‘Caution’ area on the map- but its ok. After a day full of busy street sellers and did I mention cheap Indian food???? We found ourselves playing in a BEAUTIFUL park!
This trip was so nice considering we had very rough plans which left much room for relaxing. One morning we found ourselves sipping tea and reading the local newspapers. And at that very moment I truly felt I was on a ‘holiday’…almost like a day chilling at Starbucks- A feeling none of us have had in quite some time! That day we found ourselves going to the warm (or so they say) beaches of Durban. Wow was it a shock to see how packed the beaches are in Durban…Quite overwhelming considering home to me are the PE beaches. There was sad art and rollerbladers, can’t say I have ever been to a beach so populated aside from Waikiki. That night we found ourselves trying our luck at a HUGE casino in the city. It was my first time gambling, and well yah I’m not a fan, but it was cool as an adventure!
The Valley of a 1,000 Hills a landmark I guess you would say just outside of Durban. So our guide, whom also works at our hostel showed us around a Zulu village in 1,000 hills. It was pretty cool to imagine he grew up there and also intends to grow old there. It was hard for me to grasp onto that with his modern Durban clothing that he now wears. My favorite part of the day was when we saw the natural healer of the village. He was only 22!!! Man that is cool! I was hoping to pick his brain, but he didn’t speak English so it was a bit tough. Very cool to be in his home and see what he does and to hear how he got to become a healer (with stories of his ancestors). One thing that was super crazy --- there was a skate park in this village! Now mind you this village has one road that leads to it, but aside from that there’s no side walks or nothing like that. Our guide told us Tony Hawk came to the park…Hard to believe? Well I never got proof, but I’m going to believe it!
Our last day in Durban was spent seeing the museums: the Natural Sciences, art and their Apartheid museum. Would you believe this- we go to the Apartheid museum… and learn mostly about Brown vs. Board of education!!! They had more information about the US than in SA. Interesting. Pretty cool to see that they learn about our history too. I would say “unexpected” but I have learned to not be taken back by anything here anymore- because the unexpected/unusual always seems to happen. Aisha pointed out to me as all the school children came to this museum to learn about Brown vs. Board of education- all the children who came on field trips to this museum were black children who obviously attend all black schools- interesting to try to grasp onto that.
After we left the city of Durban we were off to Swaziland. Swaziland, just like Lesotho it is a country within a country. So we had to cross the border and get our passports stamped. In Swaziland we actually stayed on a game reserve. I think this part of the trip felt the most like home to me. We were basically in the middle of nowhere. You could hear the birds, smell the blossoms and had to watch out for spider webs. Impala roamed throughout the yard just like we would see deer at home, except impalas are not nearly as scared by humans as deer. Warthogs (Pumba) could be found randomly throughout the reserve. We went on a horseback safari which was REALLY cool! They actually had really nice horses that well fed and full sized unlike Lesotho! Aisha and Kelleigh had their first horseback experiences that day- and they did pretty well! At night we were able to see local Swazi’s do their cultural dance for us.
The last part of our trip and my favorite was Soweto! Soweto is the largest township in the world! Soweto is where the children stood up for their beliefs in 1976 on June 16th. There is a lot of history which was amazing to learn about. We saw Madiba’s home where he stayed before he was put in prison. We rode bike though the township – we got exercise, learned about the history and modern times, played with children and tried local eats. The hostel we stayed at was located within the township and let me tell you I felt VERY safe there. I love Soweto!!!
And that was my holiday in a nutshell! Lots of driving! But we saw and experienced A LOT!!!! Oh yah and I traveled with Kelleigh, Jen, Aisha and Caleb – all Californians…
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