“Molo Wethu” – Good Morning from Bulungula Lodge!

What’s the best way to begin your day? With pancakes and a gorgeous backdrop of course! With sleepy eyes, we walked faaaaar down the beach and climbed a sand dune to watch the sunrise over the ocean. We sat watching the whales breach in the distance while one of Bulungula’s cooks made us nutella crepes for an early breakfast.

An hour later, we journeyed back to Bulungula and decided to make the most of our thoroughly sunny day (rather than pass out, which is what our bodies would have preferred). It was our first relaxing day since the beginning of our trip, and we so enjoyed spending it on the beach…and burning (Hey Nick, have the tops of your feet recovered yet?).

After spending hours on the beach, we decided to shower off the sand before our next activity. Fun Fact: Bulungula doesn’t have flush toilets or easily obtained hot water. In order to have a hot shower at Bulungula, you have to pour a bottle of paraffin into a small hole at the bottom of a furnace-like shower pole. Then, you grab a wad of toilet paper and shove it in the hole on top of the paraffin. The final step? You take a lighter, light the toilet paper, and hope that you don’t blow up the building. Luckily, my shower stall did not light up in flames, and successfully managed to have warm water for five minutes.

That afternoon, we went on a village tour. Who knew how many hills were in the Nqileni Village?! Forced exercise at its finest…

Some highlights of the tour:

Village Party: We watched part of the last soccer game of the year. The village had a big tent and food for the championship, and much of the village was gathered around to cheer on their friends.

The Local Bar: The local “bar” is far from a bar. It was a room of loud, older women sitting on milk crates and drinking Umqombothi beer. They motioned for us to sit down and pretty much shouted at us in Xhosa for 45 minutes, as we nodded in agreement. We learned that the women speak so loudly so that no one could accuse them of gossip. I can’t say that it was the most comfortable experience, but it was definitely the most cultural. Eventually, the women loosened up and wanted to pose for our cameras. They sang and danced into our lenses, and it was priceless.

Head of the Village: We went into the home of the Head of the Village and learned that he resolves conflict within the community. There is an old head and a young head, which come from different families. We were then shown the spear that they use to kill the sacrifice during weddings and funerals; if the animal doesn’t scream, it is no good and they have to kill another.

The Local School: There are three classrooms that have 14-16 students per class, ages 3-6 (split into classrooms ages 3-4 years old, 4-5 years old, and 5-6 years old). We spoke with the teachers and found out that pre-school is mandatory so that every child in the village attends. The rooms were very well-kept, albeit small. At that level, they only teach Xhosa; it isn’t until primary school that the children start learning basic English. A little boy walked into one of the classrooms that we were in and wanted to play, so we ended up in a full-blown tickle fight. He was absolutely adorable, full of smiles and laughs. The joy in his face warmed my heart – most definitely the highlight of my day. Who knew how exhausting children were?!

Bulungula is an absolute must for anyone traveling to South Africa that’s looking for an authentic, fulfilling cultural experience.

Woman Power: A day as a Nqileni Woman

A bit shaken from our difficult drive to Bulungula, we were thrilled to have arrived safely. From the parking area, we didn’t realize that we would have to walk half a mile in the dark with our heavy bags before actually reaching Bulungula. Note: there is no electricity in the village, so I’m not exaggerating when I say that we couldn’t see a thing; please walk carefully. I actually ended up coming face to face with a horse in the darkness!

At last, we made it to Bulungula Lodge. After chowing down on some much needed dinner (delicious, traditional African fare), we were given a thatch-roofed hut that was to be our home for the following three nights.

When we awoke the next morning, we were surprised to find that Bulungula was located beside a beautiful, secluded beach. I jumped right into the many activities offered at Bulungula and decided to tap into my “woman power.” I was met by a 23 year old local from the village, Philiswa, who led us through the village to her home which, like every other home, was a one-roomed hut with no beds, nor materialistic goods. There were some pots, some bins, and some mats spread across the floor. That’s it. When we asked where she slept, she said that they rolled out the mats. Three people slept in that one home – Philiswa, her daughter, and her mother (the rest of her five siblings were at school in Mthatha).

Philiswa then started grinding a wet rock over a larger rock to make white face paint – they use the face paint as a means of sun protection.

She then tied a head wrap around our heads and we went to fetch water. One of the other guests, Patricia, and I filled up a small container of water and Philiswa told us that we were to carry it back to her home, naturally while balancing it on our heads. At first I thought that it’d be really difficult, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought and quickly got the hang of it. Granted, it was only a quart of water… I guess I still have some practicing to do.

It was then time to go to the forest and collect sticks for fire. We were told to grab any stick we could that didn’t have leaves and to stack them up. Once gathered, Philiswa tied them up for us with tree bark, showed us how to wrap a towel to fit atop our heads, and then put the bundle of branches on our heads to balance and carry up the hill to her home. Not half as hard as it looked! It’s funny, you don’t actually realize how heavy they are until you take them off your head – it felt like a weight had been lifted.

With the branches, we made a fire from scratch (and it kept, despite the rain). Once the fire was going, we boiled water, poured in some maize, and made “pap.” Philiswa’s mother was out in the garden picking spinach and onions and we sat on the ground finely chopping them up. In the end, our meal of spinach and pap was delicious. After lunch, we walked back to Bulungula in the rain while slipping and sliding down the muddy paths.

Spending the afternoon as a Nqileni woman is an exceptional cultural immersion. I can’t stress enough how much you’ll get out of spending the day with Philiswa 🙂 A truly eye-opening experience.

Foggy & Dodgy Port St. Johns

After a shower with spiders and a tasty breakfast, we packed up at Sani Lodge and headed to Port St. Johns. It was a horribly foggy drive, and for a while we couldn’t see more than ten feet in front of our car. We finally reached Port St. Johns after driving 132 bends around a mountain to find that the city was under construction, to be put nicely. We were rerouted around the town, and far from impressed. Once we finally found our supposed hostel for the night, we decided it was too dodgy and decided to continue driving to our next destination: Bulungula Lodge.

Travelers Tip: Don’t waste your time with Port St. Johns – just suck it up and do the full day drive from Drakensberg (near Underberg) to Bulungula.

The drive from Port St. Johns to Bulungula was supposed to take four hours. Needless to say, it took us about six and a half hours. The fog was so dense that we had to inch down the road with our hazard lights on because we honestly couldn’t see the road. As nightfall was approaching, Google Maps was saying we were still an hour and a half from the Lodge. By the time it turned dark, the clouds finally began to lift so that we could actually see the road again after six hours of driving with zero visibility. The directions to Bulungula were both extremely specific and extraordinarily vague. If you make one wrong turn on the dirt roads leading to Bulungula (in the dark), you’re pretty much screwed since there’s not a soul in sight and no street signs. Amazingly, after an entirely stressful day of driving, we conquered the fog and dirt roads and arrived at Bulungula! All thanks to my co-piloting, of course…

Drinking in the Clouds: Africa’s Highest Pub

If you’re going to Lesotho, you absolutely must go to the highest pub in Africa. It is technically located in Lesotho (atop the Sani Pass), but on the border of South Africa. It is legitimately a bar in the clouds. So, we drank a beer high in the sky.

Travelers Tip: Bring a small amount of your national currency to leave on the wall of the pub.

Driving down the Sani Pass was quite cool because there was zero visibility the clouds. We could see about five feet in front of our car going down the narrow, winding dirt roads that make up the Sani Pass. I was just happy that I wasn’t the one driving!

Entering Lesotho via the Sani Pass

When researching South Africa, I stumbled upon Rough Guide’s “Things Not To Miss” in South Africa. The Sani Pass was one of the only places on their list that I hadn’t planned on hitting. After reading about it and seeing the photos, I realized that I had to squeeze this quick detour into our itinerary. We were greeted by Paul, our guide, at 9am for our full day tour of the Sani Pass and Lesotho. The top of the narrow, winding Sani Pass measures at 2874m. Before the 1990s, the Pass was used for the transport of goods – the UN would transport goods to Lesotho via the Sani Pass, as it is the only way to enter Lesotho via car from the East. It wasn’t until the 1900s that it was used for tourism purposes. The first road up the Sani Pass crossing from South Africa into Lesotho was built in 1958, and the government built a second, safer road in 1968. People are afraid that in the next few years the road will be paved over, which will take away from the experience of the Sani Pass. The gradient of the Pass is 25% once it starts to zig-zag near the top; to do the Sani Pass in the winter time isn’t such a good idea (yes, parts of Africa do get cold enough for ice!). While the Pass is technically part of South Africa, at the top, you immediately cross the border into Lesotho (the Continental Divide is the official border between the two countries).

A bit about Lesotho (pronounced le-sue-two): Lesotho used to be one of the poorest countries in Africa and asked for help from the United Nations. In the mid-1990s, they got a big loan and built two dams (the highest in South Africa), which they were able to use to generate electricity for the country. Lesotho does okay economically because South Africa imports water from Lesotho, and Lesotho exports wool. Despite this, Lesotho is still a fairly poor country – most people don’t have a lot of money, nor make much money, but the people are rarely undernourished. Surprisingly, despite it’s decently poor state, Lesotho has a great education system; they have the highest literacy rate in Africa, as 80% of the population can read and write. Education is tackled in a non-Western fashion. Similar to the Bedouins, when a boy becomes a teenager, he becomes a Sheppard. He goes up to the Highlands and spends the whole summer living on his own as a Sheppard. When Autumn rolls around, he brings the sheep down to the Lowland, and then the men get to study in the winter months. After tackling the Sani Pass, we drove around Lesotho. We visited a sheep shearing station to learn about their biggest agricultural export: wool. We saw the gorgeous views from the Black Mountain Pass, but it was quite cold and extremely windy. The highlight of the day was hearing Paul’s story about the 1960’s road race disaster – during the annual race up the Sani Pass, a plane crashed into the Lesotho Highlands and all of the passengers were killed. On the 25^th anniversary of the death of the passengers, a man went to visit the site of the crash as a means of memorializing his father who had died, since he was two years old when he died. During the ceremony of those lost, the relatives saw something glimmering in the dirt. They went down to pick it up, and it happened to be his father’s wedding ring. Somehow amongst all the excavation, removal of bodies, and traffic over the years, the ring just happened to be there. To this day, the man wears his father’s wedding ring around his neck. Believe it or not, this a true story – Paul’s friend was the guide for that group and witnessed it first hand.

Post-lunch, we got to a Basotho (pronounced bah-sue-two) village. The people of Lesotho are Basotho and they speak Sisotho (sis-oo-two). The village consisted of very small huts with no electricity, and one woman invited us into her home. We observed her way of life – they see at night with candles, they cook over cow dung, their floors have coals underneath the ground to help warm them during the cold months, their bathroom is a tiny shed a few minutes away from their house, and the closest hospital is 45 km away. We learned a few words in Sisotho and watched the woman cook on her hands and knees. With a big smile on her face, she had us try Bochebe, a sweet and delicious homemade bread, alongside Twshala, a healthy, grainy beer. The experience made us realize that living so simply really enhances relationships and human interaction. One of the men in our group said that seeing a hut like that made him “miss his fridge and hoover and TV.” We in the Western world are so used to modern technologies that we sometimes lose sight of human interaction, whereas the Basotho acknowledged that they had no interest in Western civilizations, without even a desire to go into South Africa. The barren land and small villages of Lesotho really felt like a whole different world from South Africa.

Travelers Tip: Don’t do the Sani Pass unguided, and make sure you have a full empty page in your passport because you will receive four separate stamps. I couldn’t recommend enough the necessity of a windbreaker and sweatshirt – the altitude causes Lesotho to be pretty chilly.

The Beautiful Drakensberg Mountains

We figured that the best way to access Drakensberg was to stay at the Sani Lodge, located at the base of the mountains. As soon as we arrived, we quickly dropped off our bags in the room and began a short hike before sunset. It’s an easy hike, with the start of the trail beginning directly behind the bedrooms. 100% worth a few hours of your day, as it offers spectacular views of Drakensberg.

A bit about Drakensberg: The Drakensberg Mountains are considered a World Heritage Site for (1) it’s beauty, (2) it’s cultural Bushman paintings, (3) it’s flora and fauna (there are some rare species found only in the middle of the Drakensberg), and (4) it’s geology – it’s a very unique mountain range, as it’s both horizontal and layered. The Drakensberg was initially created from an ancient desert formation over 200 million years ago.

Where’s Mandela?

We had planned on spending the day at the Shongweni Game Reserve on our way to the Drakensberg Mountains, but after driving in circles, we couldn’t find it and settled for admiring the beautiful rolling hills that make up the Valley of 1000 Hills (hmm I wonder how it got that name?!). We then made another pit-stop at Howick Falls, located directly in the center of town. While it’s definitely a touristy area, it’s worth hitting as the waterfall was beautiful. We perused the markets surrounding the falls, ate some Indian food, and took off (with a Milo milkshake in hand, of course).

We knew that the Nelson Mandela Capture Site was nearby, but weren’t exactly sure where. We asked people in town where it was, they pointed us to the right, and said that we couldn’t miss it. Well, we missed it. The drive was stunning, but after about forty minutes of driving we realized that we most likely passed the site. I hopped out of the car, walked into the nearest restaurant, and asked where we could find the capture site. He gave me directions, pointed in the way from which we came, and said we couldn’t miss it. Naturally, we missed it…again. After seemingly driving past the capture site three times, we found it – fourth time’s a charm?

Travelers Tip: When coming from Howick, if you’ve passed the “Piggly Wiggly” you’ve gone too far.

We walked through the museum about Mandela’s life, but it was very poorly laid out and difficult to follow. For what it’s worth, it seems as if a new museum was in the making.

Just outside of the museum there is a freedom path which leads to the landmarked site. From up the slope, and down the street, the memorial just looks like a bunch of iron bars. As you approach, the bars begin to form Mandela’s face set against a beautiful countryside backdrop. It was a very unique sculpture and definitely worth the 30 minute pit-stop.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park has two entrances: the Eastern Gate and the Western Gate. With almost a full free day in St. Lucia and not knowing what to expect, we decided to explore both sides of the park and embark on our first self-drive safari. We were advised to start at the Eastern Gate; the turn offs are clearly marked and the roads are well-maintained.

We saw zebra early on, some antelope, warthogs, monkeys, and cape buffalo far in the distance. At the uMziki viewpoint, we met a group of four that were circumnavigating the world on their boat, not for the first time. Fueled by my own wanderlust, I asked which were their favorite places. Their answers? Reunion Island, French Polynesia, and the Galapagos islands. At least I could say that I have been to one of their top three places in the whole world! After heading to Mission Rocks, located on a beach with great swell and misty spray, we decided that we weren’t that impressed with Eastern iSimangaliso and were hoping to test our luck on the Western side.

Duku Duku not only sounds like a cool name, but it is also the gate through which we entered the Western side of iSimangaliso. Travelers Tip: The map sold at iSimangaliso are the same for each park. You only need to buy one at the first gate and, unfortunately, the maps were not quite as detailed as we had hoped.

After much driving, we saw our first group of giraffes (supposedly a group of giraffes are called a “Tower,” but that just sounds strange to me)! They’re every bit as lanky, beautiful, and graceful as one would imagine. It hit me yet again that I was actually in Africa, seeing these wild animals in their natural habitats rather than behind enclosures at the zoo!

We kept driving along and saw an elephant in the distance! We observed the elephant for a while, then shortly thereafter I spotted a white rhino. As we watched it graze, it became clearer as it drew closer to our vehicle. Pleased with what we had seen on our first self-drive safari, we finished the route and decided to take a turn down toward Charter’s Creek. As we turned and began driving down the dirt road, we saw a lone giraffe, perfectly framed by the trees down the hill below us. As we approached, we saw the giraffe right next to our car, munching on some leaves. That was the first time we realized that the animals really weren’t afraid of our car. We came across “our giraffe” several other times and watched it walk down the road ahead of us. After realizing that it wasn’t going to leave the middle of the road anytime soon, we decided to put the car and reverse back onto the main road. We passed a pack of wildebeests, exited the park, and easily found our way back to the hostel just before nightfall.

Hungry Hungry Hippos (and Crocs too!) – Heritage Tours

Did you know that the closest living relative to a hippo is a whale? Or, that hippos actually walk the streets of St. Lucia on cooler afternoons? Well, we didn’t before taking a hippo and croc cruise on the St. Lucia Estuary, offered by Heritage Tours. Heritage Tours charters one of the smallest boats available on the Estuary, the Shoreline, which instantly made for a more personable experience. Dennis, our skipper, not only pointed out hippo families, but crocs and numerous bird species as well. While they do not guarantee crocs, they sure work hard to find them for you. In fact, we spotted three (with one of them being the second largest croc species in the world)!

Aside from the crocs, we so enjoyed sitting and watching the groups of hippos relax while virtually submerged underwater. It’s quite interesting – they look so calm and peaceful while laying in the water, yet they’re quite dangerous. For what it’s worth, the hippo is actually responsible for more human deaths in Africa than any other large mammal. We learned that hippos feed underwater, breathe underwater, and even give birth underwater.

The tour is suitable for all ages and the perfect amount of time. Dennis provided endless facts and stories throughout our route, all with much humor and enthusiasm. It’s definitely worth spending your morning in St. Lucia with Dennis along the Estuary! After our second day with Heritage Tours, it was clear that they are passionate about what they do and try to give their clients the best experience possible. Highly recommended.

“We’ve Got A Kill!” – Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, Heritage Tours

“We’ve got a kill!” our guide exclaimed as she screeched to a stop in front of the two of us. We met Stacey, our guide from Heritage Tours, at the Nyalazi Gate, hopped into the car and raced into Hluhuwe-Umfolozi Park. Within 60 seconds we saw two lionesses feeding on a carcass in clear sight. Talk about a rush of adrenaline at 6am! We watched them eat and then Stacey realized that one of them was about to cross the road so she quickly, instinctively, turned us around and, before we knew it, the lioness ran right in front of our car! We turned to watch the other lion chow down on breakfast. Stacey realized yet again that she was going to cross the road, repositioned us and, as predicted, lion number two ran right in front of our vehicle! Quite a way to start our first African Safari indeed. Travelers Tip: a lens of at least 250 mm is highly recommended for game drives. Anything less and you may have difficulties spotting some wildlife clearly, much less capturing the image.

The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi park is about 10,000 hectares, which is only a fraction of the size of Kruger National Park, but well worth the visit. Hluhluwe-Umfolozi used to be two separate parks, but merged due to having the highest concentration of rhino in the world. While both parks are accessible, 80% of the predators are found in Umfolozi so we spent most of our game drive there.

A bit about Umfolozi: Umfolozi is actually the oldest wild park in all of Africa, and the second in the world (following Yellowstone). It was formed solely for the protection of rhinos. It was originally the hunting ground for the Zulu Kings and protected by the royal family prior to the formation of the wildlife reserve. South Africa holds 80% of the world’s rhino population but, sadly, one rhino gets killed every six hours for its horn in South Africa alone. If it weren’t for Umfolozi, it is likely that rhinos wouldn’t exist today.

We continued our game drive post-lion excitement and, soon after, spotted a black rhino! One of only 5,000 in the world. Because black rhinos feed on leaves and branches, they are typically found deep in the bush and not in the open. An easy way to spot the difference between a black rhino and a white rhino is that black rhinos typically have their heads up (reaching higher for food), while white rhinos typically have their heads down (feeding on grass).

Afterwards we stopped for a light breakfast with refreshments provided by Heritage Tours; this was a great way to break the ice between the international visitors. As we moseyed along, we spotted some giraffe. We learned that there are 9 different giraffe species in Africa, but that South Africa is only home to one – the Southern Giraffe. We continued along, saw some elephants, and were brought to a stop when white rhinos (and baby rhinos) were crossing the road directly in front of us. We sat observing them for a bit of time before driving along.

Toward the end of our game drive the animals were seeming to be sparse as it was about mid-day. We were looking for wildlife to spot on our way back to the entrance gate, when we saw yet another black rhino…but this time it was right next to our truck! It was a very rare and special sighting indeed.

Our half-day guided safari came to an end around 11:30am. We knew that we had made the right decision in doing a guided game drive (over a self drive) for Hluhluwe-Umfolozi pretty soon after entering the park, as some of the dirt roads are in rough condition (many potholes) and it would have been easy to get lost. We highly recommend using Heritage Tours; their guides are extremely energetic and passionate about their profession. They had numerous safari vehicles within the park at once and communicated with each other throughout the day to ensure that everyone had the opportunity to see the best sightings. But, despite this, Heritage Tours will provide you with an entirely individual experience, as all the vehicles do not travel along as one band of cars. If you’re short on time and only have the ability to do a half-day safari over a full-day, DO IT. We promise that you won’t regret it! The half-day safari, combined with the highly trained guides, made for a full adventure.

Check out our experience below!