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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
|
Weather |
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Mlilwane NP, Swaziland |
05 November, 2004 |
Sondzela Backpackers |
Not Recorded |
Odometer: 41840km |
Sunny, 89F)
degrees |
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We walked to the main
campground early this morning where we picked up two mountain bikes and a
guide. We spent a couple of hours riding around the park, spotting some
nyalas, bushbucks (with babies!), hippos, warthogs, and various birds. In
the afternoon Witt worked on website updates while Jen read and lounged by
the pool, and later we went for a short game drive, heading up to a
lookout point. It started to rain, and we sipped our beers while watching
a dramatic thunderstorm roll in. |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
356km |
Meals
Peri-peri chicken |
Weather |
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Mkuzi NP, South Africa |
06 November, 2004 |
Campground |
Not Recorded |
Odometer: 42196km |
Sunny, 95(F) Degrees |
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We left the park this morning
and stopped at a candle factory before heading for the South African
border. It was a beautiful drive -- the mountains were quite impressive
while the jacarandas were fully in bloom with their bluish-purple flowers.
The border formalities went smoothly so we were quickly on the road to
Mkuzi National Park.
We explored the park by car
seeing buffalo and elephant before enjoying sundowners at one of the
hides. There we saw groups of black and white rhino (sparring together),
zebra, giraffe, malachite kingfishers, and loads of Vervet monkeys. On our
way back to the campground we signed up for a guided nature walk for
tomorrow morning.
We cooked and enjoyed a great
braai dinner and fortunately got cleaned up in time to watch another
fantastic electrical storm. We slept soundly with the cooler temperatures
that followed. |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
135km |
Meals
Leftover beef stir-fry |
Weather |
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Sodwana Bay, South Africa |
07 November, 2004 |
KwaZulu-Natal Parks
Campground |
Not Recorded |
Odometer: 42331km |
Sunny, 92(F)
degrees |
|
We awoke early to be on time for our nature
walk. Had a wonderful walk in the woods with our group and guide and saw
lots of beautiful birds, including a black cuckoo and a Natal robin.
On our way out of the park we came across a
couple, Lyn and Dudley, who were having car problems (hole in oil pan). We
were unable to find a suitable tow point on their Audi, so we offered to
give Lyn a ride to the nearest town to find a mechanic. On the way, Lyn
told us that they were retired grape farmers from Hermanus (near Cape
Town), South Africa, and were in the Mkuzi area for the purposes of a
short, 3-week holiday. We very much enjoyed talking with her and we were
really impressed at how calmly both she and Dudley handled their car
crisis.
Once we found a suitable mechanic (which
actually went very smoothly), Lyn thanked us, gave us her business card,
and invited us to visit them when we drive through Hermanus in a few
weeks. We happily accepted and wished her well before driving towards
Sodwana Bay.
The drive to Sodwana Bay was a bit of an
adventure since we opted to take one of the secondary roads (which
might’ve been graded during the WWII era), so Rafiki’s suspension got a
bit of a workout during that stretch. Upon arriving in Sodwana Bay, we
chose a camp site just outside the Coral Divers resort so we could use
their facilities while we were there.
We talked with someone about dives for the
following day, and were shown a promotional video of some of the local
dive sites. We got so excited that we decided to sign up for the Advanced
Open Water course.
While ordering some lunch we ran into Andy,
who we last saw at Bamboozi Backpackers in Tofu, Mozambique. He quickly
brought us up to speed about his adventures over the past few weeks and we
discussed some of the dives that we wanted to do while in Sodwana Bay.
Andy is a very energetic and entertaining fellow and we found ourselves
laughing until our sides hurt when talking with him.
In the evening we had a meeting with our
instructor, Yvette, where she gave us our reading assignments for the next
few days. We also met another couple, Phillipe and Uta from Germany, who
will be taking the course with us. After the meeting, we had a few drinks
with Andy, Phillipe and Uta before heading to our tent to do some reading
before our morning dive. |
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A trophy from a fishing
competition at Sodwana Bay |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
|
Weather |
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Sodwana Bay, South Africa |
08 November, 2004 |
KwaZulu-Natal Parks
Campground |
Not Recorded |
Odometer:
42331km |
Sunny, 92(F) Degrees |
|
Woke up early and met with Yvette and the
Coral Divers staff (including “Black Magic”) to get fitted for proper dive
gear. We took the tram to the beach and there received our pre-dive
briefing for our “multi-level” dive. The dive was fun, and we spent the
afternoon relaxing at Coral Divers’ bar. |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
|
Weather |
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Sodwana Bay, South
Africa |
09 November, 2004 |
KwaZulu-Natal Parks
Campground |
Not Recorded |
Odometer:
42331km |
Sunny, 94F) Degrees |
|
We did a “Drift” dive with phillipe and Uta
this morning. The dive was fun but not great. In the afternoon, our
“Underwater Navigation” dive was a bit of a joke, but still fun. |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals |
Weather |
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Sodwana Bay, South
Africa |
10 November, 2004 |
KwaZulu-Natal Parks
Campground |
Not Recorded |
Odometer:
42331km |
Sunny, 96(F) Degrees |
|
We did a “Deep” dive with Phillipe and Uta
this morning, which was fun but not spectacular with somewhat poor
visibility. For our Underwater Naturalist dive, we had along a slate and a
pencil and we were supposed to name four vertebrates (fish), four
invertebrates (eels and stuff) and two types of plants (harder than it
sounds). No sooner had we reached the reef than I tapped on Jen’s shoulder
and pointed to a ragged toothed shark. The “raggies” are famous in this
area, but they aren’t expected to show up for another couple of weeks. He
didn’t stick around for long, but it was very cool to see her swimming
past. Not knowing what kind of shark it was at the time, I wrote “big
f—king shark” on the slate. The rest of the dive was very enjoyable and
even though we wrote down “green slimy thing” for our plants, Yvette
passed us anyway and gave us our certification |
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Ragged toothed shark (photo
taken in Durban aquarium) |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
265km |
Meals
|
Weather |
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Near Umflozi NP, South
Africa |
11 November, 2004 |
Backpackers |
Not Recorded |
Odometer:
42596km |
Rainy 78(F) Degrees |
|
Witt wanted to try out
kiteboarding and had arranged a meeting with a local instructor this
morning. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t cooperating and we decided to
skip it. We headed for Uhmflozi National Park and spent the rest of the
day on a game drive in the park. There is no camping allowed in the park,
so we drove 60km to a backpackers to stay instead. It was pretty late when
we arrived, so we elected to get a room and have dinner at the restaurant,
which was excellent. |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
421km |
Meals
|
Weather |
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Pennington, South
Africa |
12 November, 2004 |
Slade's dad's back yard |
Not Recorded |
Odometer:
43017km |
Sunny, 96(F) Degrees |
|
We awoke early this morning to
be in the park by six am. We explored the southern part of the park and
saw loads of baby impala running around. At around noon we headed south
for Durban. Just as we entered the city, Rafiki sputtered and died. The
fuel gauge still showed nearly a quarter of a tank, but I suspected and
hoped that we had just ran out of fuel. We coasted to an off ramp from the
freeway, and managed to park on a median. Witt unstrapped a jerry can and
walked a couple of bocks to fill it. The car started up again and we
filled up the tank, verifying that the tank holds exactly 120 liters. Back
on the road, we headed further South and found Slade’s Dad’s house, where
Krissy and Slade are staying, about 60km south of the city. It was really
good to see them again and we had a great time catching up with them. By
coincidence, Didi and Heike, a German couple whom Krissy and Slade
traveled with early in their trip, are visiting on holiday from Germany.
We had a braai, drank some beer and wine, and spend a wonderful evening
talking and swapping stories. |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
|
Weather |
|
Pennington, South Africa |
13 November, 2004 |
Slade's dad's back yard |
Not Recorded |
Odometer:
43017km |
Sunny, 88(F) Degrees |
|
Krissy took us along with Didi
and Heike to the new aquarium in Durban today. It’s theme is a shipwreck
and it’s very well done. There are shark and ray tanks, as well as a tank
containing several species of fish from “finding Nemo.” There’s also a
water park there and we had a great time splashing around in the sun. |
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November 14 --->. |
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