Vacation Part 1: KZN

I was SO excited to leave on Tuesday for the first of my two vacations – it was like Christmas came early! Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to have some down time in the village and hang out a bit more with my family, but mostly I was dodging raindrops, so I was looking forward to traveling to an area with better weather. I was able to make the trip from my village to St Lucia in record time! Four taxi rides and barely any waiting, reinforcing the notion that the holidays are the only time to travel long distances by minibus taxi. Later in the afternoon, I met up with my friend Kelsey and her parents, who drove in from Nelspruit, and our vacation was officially underway.

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater in St Lucia.

On Wednesday, Kelsey and her family wanted to relax and explore a bit of St Lucia on foot. We took a nice walk down to the ocean by way of the boardwalk, and on the way I snapped a few pictures of some birds found in the area. With the help of Kelsey’s mom, I was able to identify them, and I will hopefully print out their pictures to add to the collection I have going at home.

The monkeys that invaded our house!

On Thursday, while hanging out in the house in the late afternoon, two monkeys climbed through the kitchen window to raid our fruit supply. After getting over the shock of seeing them, I chased back out and shut the window, although not before they got away with a banana and a mango. I then had to make sure all the windows in the house were closed because within a few minutes they had found their way to the bathroom window and were starting to climb through.

Birding in St Lucia.

Friday’s weather was picture perfect so I took advantage by taking two walks on the nearby trail (one in the morning by myself and one in the late afternoon with Kelsey and her mom) to try to see some birds. To be honest, I didn’t see a whole lot either time, but it was still a pleasant walk. The time in between was spent reading by the pool and exploring the shops in town.

Kudu, just off the road, in the estuary.

Saturday was another gorgeous day, and a perfect opportunity to see the sites of the nearby iSimangaliso Wetlands. We headed out in the late morning, and not long after we drove past the entrance gate, we began to see wildebeests, warthogs, kudu, and zebras scattered throughout the grasses of the estuary. When we arrived at our destination, the beaches of Cape Vidal, we were taken aback by the strength of the wind. Before we could enjoy the warm Indian Ocean, we had to secure our belongings from blowing away and even make sure all our bags were tightly closed to keep as much sand out as possible. While hanging out on the beach, we ran into three other PCVs from our cohort who were traveling down the coast of KZN with family from the States – a rather small world J. After about two hours splashing around in the surf, we were ready to

The Indian Ocean at Mission Rock Beach.

move on, eager to escape the wind, but also to see some of the other landmarks in the estuary. As we traveled back to St Lucia, we first stopped at Catalina Bay to take in the view of some of the swamp and marshland areas in the estuary. And just a little further down the road, we pulled off to see Mission Rock Beach. Rather than sand, the shore is filled with large rocks and beautiful tide pools that are perfect for relaxing. We arrived home early enough to walk into town and stock up on fruit before the markets closed; and later that evening we enjoyed a delicious sushi dinner. Could not have planned a better day.

The diverse environments of the iSimangaliso Wetlands.