Beautiful, Beautiful Beaches

I just had my first official vacation since beginning my PC odyssey. I went with four friends to St. Lucia's Estuary and Kosi Bay for a week and had my first Indian Ocean experience. St. Lucia's is a World Heritage Site, and its estuary hosts hippopatami, which I saw in abundance, and crocodiles, which I saw only one of thanks to the windy August weather. In addition, we went to both the St. Lucia's beach (more hippos!) and the Cape Vidal beach (so, so windy). We should have been able to see whales on the Cape Vidal beach, but I think that the wind kept them offshore. To get to the Cape Vidal beach, we had to drive through a game park, where South African wildlife roamed freely. The highlight were the rhinos, my first SA encounter with one of the big five.

After St. Lucia's we headed north to Kosi Bay, a very non-developed, non-touristy area. The signs to our backpackers (Thobeka, which is a great place and one I recommend heartily to anyone doing this route) had been stolen, so we had to drive a few kilometers down a dirt road without much idea of which turns we should take, causing some amount of worry that we had made a horrible mistake in choosing this site to visit. However, when at last we arrived (convinced it must be late because it was so dark even though it was only about 6), we got a warm welcome at the beautiful backpackers and a host of activities to be arranged. The first day there we were driven along a gorgeous route to an estuary where we punted across the Blackwater Lake and got to see some amazing raffia palm trees. That afternoon we went snorkeling in Kosi Bay--another windy but beautiful beach. The next day we were taken into Moz for the day and had some amazing seafood while overlooking a breathtaking view of lush green hills and sandy roads, which fortunately involved another incredible scenic drive through the open air over rolling untarred roads.

Finally we drove down along the coast of KZN to return the car to Durban, from which I took a bus to Pretoria and then a taxi home. The drive was stunning, and every hour or so the scenery would change. Limpopo is beautiful in a harsh way, but KZN is intensely green and lush even in winter. Dotted by tree farms and sugar cane fields, even staying in the car the whole time, the journey was magnificent. Durban itself yielded little interesting on this trip, as my hours there were too short and I was burdened by my luggage, but I spent the afternoon with a fellow traveler returning to Limpopo overlooking the beach and the evening waiting at the bus station. I arrived back last night, exhausted and dirty but fully convinced that I have had a wonderful vacation and ready to plan my next.

Pictures will be up on Picasa soon, and when other people post theirs, I will direct you to their collections as well.