Now we're very far behind on blog posts! Busy days, travel, and low batteries are contributing factors. We have a little downtime this Christmas morning before heading out to spend the day with family, so I will try to knock out a few days...
Saturday, December 20 was our last morning at Zulu-Nyala's Heritage safari Lodge. We had a morning game drive which seemed quiet at first, but a couple of the watering holes turned out to be great. At the first one, we saw a monitor lizard and a frog nest. Next we saw a kingfisher take a dive into the pond and a beautiful pygmy kingfisher. At the final watering hole, the one where the hippos sleep all day, we saw three blue herons, three Spoonbills (storks), a yellow billed stork, water thick-knees, multiple kingfishers, a cormorant, a cattle egret, and a turtle. Not a bad morning.
After breakfast, we packed up and checked out of the nice luxury suites we had. We drove into the town of Hluhluwe to go to the drug store, and while we were there we spent a little time in the grocery store. The town certainly isn't large, but it had a couple of tyre stores, a hardware store, a hotel, a KFC (of course!), and a couple of grocery stores. Most of the stores were lined up along one long strip, where across from the stores lots of individual vendors had set up shop selling fruit or other items, cutting hair, etc. it was a busy little street. The grocery store seemed surprisingly like what we would see at home, except for the very long line of people waiting to conduct banking services at the counter.
Once we got what we needed, we still had a little time before lunch so we headed down the highway to a very large craft market we had passed when we first arrived. I mainly just wanted to see it, while Gywen was looking for one specific item. Unfortunately(?) we didn't get away without spending a fair amount of cash. We got a small Zulu basked (we've never got one one on previous visits), and I decided I needed a giraffe carving for my office. Finally, in spite already having of a wall full of carved masks hanging in our dining room, we were taken in by a beautiful painted zebra mask. It's heavy and difficult to transport, but I will be a wonderful addition to our collection.
While at the market, someone asked about my IU cap. I met a woman from Chicago, her South African husband, and his father who lives in Pietermaritzburg. Her brother graduated from IU with a Kelley degree last May. I also learned that the husband's mother had worked at Michaelhouse School, so I was reminded what a small world it can be.
We headed off to the Zulu-Nyala Safari Lodge to check in and have lunch. The rooms at the Safari lodge were older and smaller than what we had just left, but they were more traditionally "African" with thatched roofs and Zulu basket decor. The most impressive feature was the view - we could see for miles over a beautiful wilderness valley. The least impressive feature was the mosquito infestation. After the first night, we had them spray the room which largely took care of the problem, but man... that was annoying.
Our game drive Saturday evening featured the elephants, a red duiker, a baby rhino about one month old (along with mom of course), black winged storks, our first waterbuck sighting, a genet, and the male cheetah. We took along some sundowners and stopped for a while to enjoy some drinks and conversation in the bush with Mark, Julie, Sandy, and a nice family from Colorado. Following our break, the sun began setting and we headed to the hippo pond. We waited patiently... and waited... until the hippos started to get more animated, and we waited some more. Finally, as almost all of the light had faded away, the hippos started exiting the pond to graze for the night. We were only able to see the huge creatures thanks to Mark's spotlight. It was a nice drive.
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| Pygmy Kingfisher |
After breakfast, we packed up and checked out of the nice luxury suites we had. We drove into the town of Hluhluwe to go to the drug store, and while we were there we spent a little time in the grocery store. The town certainly isn't large, but it had a couple of tyre stores, a hardware store, a hotel, a KFC (of course!), and a couple of grocery stores. Most of the stores were lined up along one long strip, where across from the stores lots of individual vendors had set up shop selling fruit or other items, cutting hair, etc. it was a busy little street. The grocery store seemed surprisingly like what we would see at home, except for the very long line of people waiting to conduct banking services at the counter.
Once we got what we needed, we still had a little time before lunch so we headed down the highway to a very large craft market we had passed when we first arrived. I mainly just wanted to see it, while Gywen was looking for one specific item. Unfortunately(?) we didn't get away without spending a fair amount of cash. We got a small Zulu basked (we've never got one one on previous visits), and I decided I needed a giraffe carving for my office. Finally, in spite already having of a wall full of carved masks hanging in our dining room, we were taken in by a beautiful painted zebra mask. It's heavy and difficult to transport, but I will be a wonderful addition to our collection.
While at the market, someone asked about my IU cap. I met a woman from Chicago, her South African husband, and his father who lives in Pietermaritzburg. Her brother graduated from IU with a Kelley degree last May. I also learned that the husband's mother had worked at Michaelhouse School, so I was reminded what a small world it can be.
We headed off to the Zulu-Nyala Safari Lodge to check in and have lunch. The rooms at the Safari lodge were older and smaller than what we had just left, but they were more traditionally "African" with thatched roofs and Zulu basket decor. The most impressive feature was the view - we could see for miles over a beautiful wilderness valley. The least impressive feature was the mosquito infestation. After the first night, we had them spray the room which largely took care of the problem, but man... that was annoying.
Our game drive Saturday evening featured the elephants, a red duiker, a baby rhino about one month old (along with mom of course), black winged storks, our first waterbuck sighting, a genet, and the male cheetah. We took along some sundowners and stopped for a while to enjoy some drinks and conversation in the bush with Mark, Julie, Sandy, and a nice family from Colorado. Following our break, the sun began setting and we headed to the hippo pond. We waited patiently... and waited... until the hippos started to get more animated, and we waited some more. Finally, as almost all of the light had faded away, the hippos started exiting the pond to graze for the night. We were only able to see the huge creatures thanks to Mark's spotlight. It was a nice drive.
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