Last Epic-Trip Post...

Dear Friends,

Hluhluwe

Here are some photos from Hluhluwe Game Reserve, I am putting them up here because of the trouble with the formatting on the other page. Hluhluwe was started many years ago and is known for its success in saving the White Rhino. Rhino poaching is a really serious issue here, income disparity and poverty really contribute to the problem because people are willing to do more extreme things to make money and there is a huge (black) market in Asia for Rhino horn which makes rhino horn powder a really valuable commodity.

We ended up spending one cold, overcast afternoon on safari there  - we did get some great sightings but  didn't really see much different charismatic megafauna from Kruger. The landscapes were different and very beautiful, with mountains and forests rather than the savannahs and mopani shrub lands that we mostly saw in Kruger.

Male and Female Marula Tree

Thekweni Hide

Dlinza Forest

On the way to Durban, we took a bit of a detour and went to a 125m arial boardwalk through the forest canopy. The Dlinza Forest is a historical point as well, it is where King Shaka of the Zulus hid his wives and family during the wars. It was a really amazing thing to walk among and above the forest canopy and of course, it is one of the stops on the Zululand birding route.

Durbs

Our last stop was a taste of city life in Durban. We stayed at a lovely B and B on the beach of Umhlanga rocks, we went to the giant mall again. We went to Suncoast Casino and watched a movie with Dad in a real theater. We went to Ushaka Marine World which has a water park, and Sea World. The aquarium is quite interesting because it is all inside of a "shipwreck" ship from a long time ago.

We had a chance to see the seal show and the dolphin show and dad even went on the waterslide called "Tornado"! It was loads of fun and a great way to conclude our tour!

So - there it is, the last of our trip. Dad also enjoyed his week in Lesotho, including the horrible taxi ride up to our border gate. It was really fun to have Dad staying here and meeting all our wonderful friends here. Unfortunately, he refused to experience the Lesotho bucket bath and it was very rainy and cold during the weekend that he was here, so we spent a lot of time inside, trying to stay warm and getting our stove working. Then, he spent three days traveling back home and we've been running around wrapping up our projects. For the next post I will give updates on our projects and what we've been up to since getting back and even our recent trip to Maseru for our CLOSE OF SERVICE conference! Wow. So, until next time

All of the best from both of us here in Lesotho,

Carol and Shane