The morning of Day 6 we awoke to a freezing cold shower situation before breakfast. Then we departed for a morning hike to False Bay (really an expansive estuary we learned). Along the hike we learned about plant life (such as the Buffalo Tree and Fever Tree) and some old Hyena Dung with some bone fragments in it - thankfully no hyenas. Upon arriving at the Bay we learned there are lots of sharks and crocodiles so you can't (well, you shouldn't) swim there. But it is popular for fishing. The bay was completely FLAT - it looked frozen over. It was low tide too, and lots of molted crab shell fragments littered the muddy shore.
Upon return from the hike we had lunch and a few hours to hang out (I worked on the next batch of postcards) and then at 3:00 we took off to Hluhlue Imfolozi Park where we took an afternoon game drive in the mountains of Zululand. Here we saw many Rhinos, including a BIG male and a mother/baby duo. The mother & baby were feeding next to the road and when we came up we startled them and the baby made like it was going to run right to us and then realized it was the wrong way and turned around. Then it proceeded to get stuck with a tree limb underneath it and we laughed while it tried to get out.
We also saw the 4th of the Big Five, the water Buffalo. We saw one by itself and we learned that it was an old male who was kicked out of the herd - he had once been the dominant male and a younger male had challenged him for the top spot and succeeded. So he was left to fend for himself the rest of his life. One of the standouts was a Zebra who looked drunk or asleep that wouldn't get out of the road after 15 minutes, so we had to carefully edge past it and you could have reached out and pet it. It was beautiful country and we didn't want to leave (especially since we were determined to find a leopard!) except it was going to be dark soon. Our open air truck was quite breezy (a major understatement) as we headed back to camp - now I know why they told us to dress warmly!
The next day we went into the village of Hluhlue itself to visit the local high school and sangorma (female witch doctor, or bone thrower). This part had us all really wondering what was up. After meeting the principal of the high school he walked us into the village where a few pantless babies ran into their houses giggling at the sight of us before we got to the hut. The sangorma sat on the floor with a blanket around her and after removing our shoes we sat in a half-circle in front of her. It was very mysterious and we had no idea what was about to happen. What I did notice was that there were no actual bones in front of her. There were some rocks, coins, shells, and even a bottle cap. So I guess that's what they throw now. So she gathers everything up and tosses it in front of her and she was holding a pipe and proceeded to chant and ask the bones to do their magic. Justin and I both noticed the green bottle cap rolled WAY off to the side and thought, "uh oh - what does THAT mean??" Then came question time. Everyone kinda looked around and silently said, "you first!" Johan asked what nationality his wife was going to be - she said white and you already know her. Then she told his younger brother to stop drinking when he asked how old he was going to be. Justin surprised me big time with his question - and her answer surprised me even more. (We are not going to tell you until we see if it is accurate - it will just make it cooler if it actually happens!) I couldn't think of what to ask so I just blurted out, "how is my health going to be?" and she said, "no problems". Does that mean I don't have to watch my cholesterol anymore?
We thanked her (and tipped her) and then walked back to the school to meet one of the classes. The day before we had each bought some school supplies to donate on our visit. Pens, paper, art supplies, etc. Alex brought some lollipops so we picked a class where the size would be adequate where everyone would get one. After we reached the classroom the principal had the class stand up and we sat in their seats. They actually sit 3 to a chair, which if Justin and I had to share it would have been tight. Then they sang for us - which was UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE. They're singing in their native Zulu tongue but it was moving just the same. It was cute that some of them were shy and kind of hiding in the back but then their friends would push them out front and center and we would give them an applause for their bravery of taking a solo. I could have sat their and listened all day. Alex even joined in with the dancing and I wish I had too - I just wasn't sure if they would have thought I was mocking them.
After that we were back on the road this time to Dolphin Coast, and our first trip to the Indian Ocean. It was a small coastal town and were were most excited about the laundry service at the inn at first. We had a nice seafood dinner then the guides took us to a local pub called the Bush Tavern where we learned about African shooter specialties from Lize, who did "the giraffe".
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