Thursday, April 22, 2010

Durban

Day 7: The Pavillion and Braai

Highlights:
  • Eating my first and only spinach and feta pie at the pavillion
  • The people we stayed with who had a braai all ready to go when we arrived
  • Our roommates from the animal kingdom: Dogs and Cockroaches
Day 8: In Sickness and uShaka

(sorry...this is actually from phezulu the next day. Don't you want to eat at that table?)
Highlights:
  • Nursing Tracy back to health after a long night of bathroom visits; chilling with the cockroaches
  • Super warm weather at the beach!
  • Finally touching the Indian Ocean
Day 9: Phezulu and Tala game reserve

Highlights:
  • The Zulu dancer that reminded me of Scott (the one on the left)...yes, Mary Ann's Scott
  • Holding the biggest Python I've ever held (I almost cried)
  • Seeing "wild" animals on a cheap 2 hour drive
Day 10: Amanzimtoti and Visits

Highlights:
  • Visiting the Amanzimtoti ward again and all the sisters that pretended to remember me. Very kind of them
  • Hitting the Toti beach that my missionary flat was on and finally touching the water (no fly eggs in my eye, but a wave did manage to drench my skirt)
  • Visiting the Botha's
  • Dinner and FHE with sis Ngidi, Thembisile and Jabu. Best night of the trip because of them
Day 11: The market, Sis. Mbisana and Driving

Highlights:
  • Driving dangeresquely to the Indian market in downtown Durban
  • Being blown away by the smell of spices
  • Discovering my most hated road interchage in the world as we tried to find my Companion
  • The "raping" window cleaner at the stoplight
  • Driving long and late hours to the Drakensberg mountains and our Hostel we stayed at
Day 12: Tugela Falls

Highlights:
  • Possibly the most sun I have ever gotten
  • Most amazing views I have ever seen
  • The 250 meter bouldering portion of the hike that almost did me in and made me ornery
  • Chain ladders that brought us down the cliffs
  • The sweet sockline momento my sunburn left
Day 13: Sis Mbisana, the beach, fly out

Highlights:
  • The petrol station that could not get any of our credit cards to work
  • Spending some one on one time with Kay (my comp) after we dropped Stacey and Tracy at the beach
  • Finding Pinky's (a member) house in a miraculous manner and finding her at home, also in a miraculous manner
  • One last cooling dip of my sunburned legs in the Indian ocean and we waved goodbye
Day 14: Fly fly fly

Highlights:
  • Midnight 11 hour flight. Need I say more
  • 1am dinner. Who eats at 1am?!
  • Being the last flight allowed out of Amsterdam before the airport closed for days
  • Arriving at Minneapolis at 5pm, getting our luggage, going through customs, checking our luggage and going through security in time to still sprint to our 5:15 flight
  • Somehow our luggage was not lost in all of that!
  • Sleeping in my own bed for approx. 10 blissful hours that night
That's it! Too painfully long? ....now back to real life, I guess

4 comments:

Mary Ann said...

Nice pics! Except the nasty cockroach. So was it the Zulu dancer's belly or his orneriness that reminded you of Scott? :) Also, I want to hear more about the "raping" window cleaner.

Jeff said...

I'm so glad that you guys had so much fun. I have discovered in my heart that I need to take a trip to South Africa.

jojoba said...

10 points for use of the word dangeresque. Also, I wish I could have gone to the ZCC.

Tracy Blackburn said...

the cockroaches and i did become very close that night...and i totally forgot about the crazy window washer! that was awesome! haha...can we go back now?? real life is not nearly as fun.