Visit two more countries, and the car broke down!
Trip Start
Sep 19, 2005
1
4
5
Trip End
??? ??, 2006
St Lucia, South Africa
Friday, October 14, 2005
During our prolonged stay in Komatipoort we ventured across the border to Maputo, Mozambique for a jolly! The border crossing was interesting as they whisked us through without visas, this was however after the two guys in front of us had fake passports confiscated and proceeded to break into tears that could have won them Oscars!!
We unknowingly arrived on the day of a national festival so the streets were alive with the sights of people drinking and dancing, and the smells of tiger prawns (the size of tigers!) being BBQed. Needless to say, Hannah and I, doing as Romans do, joined in....its a hard life. The Prawns were hot, the beer was cold, and Hannah indulged in the obligatory dozen oysters for a couple of quid. The fish market was amazing, surrounded by restaurants where you could pick your food and then have it cooked up by one of the local chefs - if anyone goes ask for a guy called Caspar - and the resident band kept the atmosphere alive.
Reluctantly we left a heaven known as Mozambique for another called Swaziland. The countries all differed hugely- we put it down partly to the after-effects of Apartheid, and possibly a Monarchy (very different to our Lizzie) - Swaziland's has ultimate rule and is also incredibly popular. With some technical luck you will be able to View Hannah and I on Quad bikes exploring the mountains with a local guide, along with some of the best scenery this continent has to offer (Jealous?...You should be!!) In short we met some amazing people and had a fantastic, if drunken, time.
From Swaziland we headed to Kosi bay where our poor 2WD car found its limitations, never to be beaten we headed to Sodwana bay 40kms south. In peak season its the largest campsite in the Southern Hemisphere, however in midweek spring we had the place to ourselves (excluding a small spotted cat and a troop of Monkeys!) which was breathtaking, the famous Sodwana fishing led us to eat chicken for dinner (Unfortunately, I'm not quite the salty sea-dog required- although I blame it on the tides!).
Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park was a world away from Kruger. Lush valleys and hills and virtually no other cars made it an experience to remember even if the game viewing wasn't on a par. If that wasn't enough to make us remember this place, conveniently in the middle of nowhere the car played dead. The battery was flat due to a faulty alternator, and the idle jet in the carb blocked!! So, bump-starts and 4000 RPM 35 kms out of the park and into a garage. Got the car back this morning, and here we are in St Lucia. This afternoon was spent with more failed fishing for me, and a book on the beach for Hannah. Tommorow we go to one of South Africa's main cities, Durban, to meet with a friend of mine and see the sights. We shall be staying with him in a surfing town south of Durban called Margate where i'm sure we shall have more stories to tell and yarns to spin to all you loving people out there in cyberspace!
For now, this is your foreign correspondants signing off,
all our love,
Josh and Hannah xxx
