September 21, 2025

September 21, 2025

We were up before dawn to check out of our Cape Town hotel and get to the airport for our flight this morning. Once aboard we flew a thousand miles east across South Africa to Durban. It used to be called Port Natal, because Vasco da Gama discovered it on Christmas 1497. The region is still called Natal. Durban is the largest port in Africa outside Egypt.

From Durban we drove north along the National Highway, N2. This is sugarcane country. Two centuries ago, the British imported Indians to the area to work the sugar plantations. Durban has the largest Indian community outside India. Mahatma Gandhi lived here for 21 years when he was a young man.

In less than an hour we cross the Tugela River and enter Zululand. In the early 19th century the Zulu tribes were united by King Shaka, the black Napoleon. He revolutionized Zulu military tactics and became a potent force blocking expansion by the Dutch Boers and the British. The Brits suffered a couple embarrassing defeats initially. We saw a statue of Shaka outside the Durban airport.

We saw lots of villages on the drive through Zululand. Most homes had squat round structures next to the house. Our guide, who is Zulu, told us these are religious structures for praying and special occasions. Evil spirits can find no corner to hide inside a round building.

Away from Durban the landscape turns forested and could pass as Alabama. We are now in paper mill country. We also see groves of Macadamia trees. At a rest stop we purchase some of these nuts to try. I like the Hawaiian version better.

After another hour we reach the Greater St Lucia Wetlands, a World Heritage Site. In 2009, it was changed to the Zulu name of iSimangaliso Wetlands Park. The St Lucia Estuary is surrounded by a dense bed of tall reeds.

We got on a boat and cruised up the Estuary. Almost immediately we see something moving between a couple boulders on the riverside. Humorously those rocks turn out to be Hippopotami. They are mostly submerged and only raise their head out of the water occasionally to breathe. They are sleeping! The head out of the water to breathe is an involuntary reflex. Hippos are primarily nocturnal. We saw a Hippo Crossing sign on the road. Our guide said you have to be careful not to encounter a Hippo on a trail. They are dangerous.

We motor down a short canal where we spot a couple crocodiles resting on the shore. We also see many dozen globular nests atop the reeds. We soon see the architects, a bunch of Southern Masked Weavers. These yellow birds move fast and are difficult to photograph.

We return to the main channel and continue sailing upriver. We stop near the edge and climb to the upper boat deck. This allows us to see over the reeds and discover a dozen hippos, two zebras, and several Cape Buffalo grazing far off in the open savannah meadow.

Continuing up river we pass lots of small hippo groups along the reed edge with only their eyes and ears above the water. Surprisingly on a couple occasions we saw a hippo knocking over a group of reeds. I suspect they might be eating them.

As we were getting off the boat we were serenaded by a group of young kids dressed as Zulu warriors doing a dance. Very cute. I am going to have to rewatch the movie Shaka Zulu.

Our Zulu guide has been conversing with our drivers in their local languages. They have a noticeable click sound in it. The Click language of the Khoisan Bushmen, the original lighter skinned South African natives, are thought to have the oldest human language. When the Bantu tribes of West Africa expanded and overran these natives, the southern Bantu dialects like Zulu adopted some click sounds.

From St Lucia, we drove an hour north to find our next hotel in Hluhluwe. We have the buffet dinner in the hotel.