We are in South Africa and we will have four ports to visit. The first port is Richards Bay in the northeastern part of the country. We had a terrific day at a state-owned game reserve, the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game reserve. Try saying that three times very quickly. Here is a key to pronunciation. In Xhosa, the local native language, the “H” is pronounced as an “SH” and the “I” in the second word is pronounced like a short “U” as in “Um.” Therefore, the whole name is pronounced “shlu-SHLU-wee um-foe-LO-zee.” See how easy that was???

Without getting into the logistics of getting to and from the game reserve and detailing the jeep rides and South African cuisine picnic lunch, I will let some of the pictures do the talking for this leg of the trip.

After the game reserve, we went to the much more easily remembered, and pronounced, St. Lucia Wetlands Reserve to mingle with the hippos and crocodiles.

Here are the pictures with some captions to give you an idea of what we saw.

The two bulls that are highlighted by arrows were fighting for herd leadership. It was interesting to watch and I apologize for not getting better pictures of them going at it, but my camera is very limited in capturing action shots.

I had to include these two pictures of the smallest animal we saw: a dung beetle. She rolls a ball of animal dung into the size of a softball, lays a single egg inside and the larva eats its way out when born...

Our driver/guide had never seen a pair of baby giraffe before and told us that this sighting was extremely rare.

They were just kidding...actually, they "play fight" to help pass the time we are told. The two bottom pictures are of a baby hippo, We were told that he was just about three months old.

Beautiful landscapes.

These four pictures happened when we came on a lioness eating her kill of a Cape Buffalo. The guide told us it would have taken at least three lions to bring one of these buffalo down.

We were again very fortunate to happen upon a rhino family. The baby, bottom left and on the right in the bottom right picture, is about two months old.

We left Richards Bay late at night for a short sail down the coast to Durban, South Africa’s fourth largest city and one of the largest and busiest harbors in the world. 

Durban appears to be the antithesis of what you come to expect in Africa. After our earlier stops, Durban surprises with an ultra-modern skyline capped with high –rise office and residential buildings, a magnificent harbor that seems to be bursting with activity and energy, and almost four million people to make it all go.

Not! The static description above is all true, but the activity and energy are lacking. In fact, Durban has almost a 50% unemployment rate. It is no wonder that the Durban Visitors’ and Tourists’ Bureau contains the following warnings:

Needless to say, we did not venture into the city, but opted for a half-day excursion to the Phezulu Safari Park. The park is located in the Valley of a Thousand Hills and is reported to be spectacular scenic wise.

The drive out was uneventful and we had a nice guide to give us some background on Durban, but he only reiterated what both the ship’s travel consultant and the Durban Map had said – be careful when not in a tour bus.

The promised scenic drive and vistas of the Thousand Hills area was as advertised (although we did not count the hills, so I can’t vouch for the authenticity of that number). The views were spectacular.

The Safari Park was interesting, sort of – think Disney for Tourists… At the Safari Park, we were treated to a short program of Zulu dance and song that gave us some insight into how Zulu warriors courted, fought, and had their fortunes told. All done tastefully (translated that means fully dressed rather than authentic 1860-1920 native garb) and with a great deal of energy.

Unfortunately, the Safari Park and its ersatz Zulu encampment only underscores how difficult it is for many of the younger people and those older than about 45-50 to find work. After the dancing and singing, we were led to the crocodile pits and given a rather interesting and in-depth explanation of how crocs are a part of African life. Then followed the tortoise, turtle, and snake exhibits, a break for tea and scones before the obligatory traipse through the gift shop, and back to the bus for home.

The ride home was a little more interesting since we took a longer route through the main part of the city and got to see some of the historical buildings and the masses of people standing around and trying to look busy. There was a very pronounced police presence everywhere we looked and our guide was not shy about telling us that they make themselves very visible.

We leave Durban early this evening for East London another short hop down the coast on our way to Cape Town. Cape Town is a three-day stop, so stay tuned for news of the wine country, our Cape Point tour, and a surprise that the ship is preparing for those of us on the world cruise.