(from Aug 25, 2006)

Ello ello ello!

So, I have already been here a month. It is very surreal. Classes are
REALLY picking up and I am staring to develop a routine, for instance I
have discovered a coffee shop (with good espresso) within walking distance
that I go to before classes in the mornings. I am becoming more and more
confidant moving within this environment, my actions are feeling more and
more fluid and less and less forced. It is still strange having to keep
everything locked up, and not being able to go anywhere on my own after a
certain time, but I am not afraid anymore. It feels good.

Anyway ... So this past weekend my friends (Annie, Josh, Rael, Karli,
Caitlin) and I went to St Lucia. St Lucia is a tiny little beach town
north of Pietermaritzburg on the Indian Ocean. The town is only one shop
and resturant lined street long, really it's only a vacation destination.
The town is right on an estuary and is considered to be a World Heritage
Site. It was breathtaking, lush, grassy, and jungle-y, with lots of exotic
flowers and birds - and monkeys! We saw one eating a bag of Lays Potato
chips out of the trash just outside of our backpackers lodge, which was sad, but it
was pretty awesome to just see them running around everywhere, like it was
no big deal. We rented a car and drove down last Friday night. That was an
adventure because Karli drove and it was dark, on the left side of the
road, shifting with her left hand. The drive from here to St Lucia, we
were told, should take around 4 hours. We made it in two and a half. We
stayed at Bib's International Backpacker's Hostel. It was great; a few
main buildings and a courtyard/ bar area surrounded by a collection of
huts. We had a multi- colored "Rasta" hut all to our selves, with lumpy
bunk beds, our own shower and toilet - luxurious by hostelling standards.
That night we walked around the town a bit in search of hippos. The town
is RIGHT on the estuary and sometimes hippos roam the streets after dark.
Rael and Caitlin were the only ones who saw them in town though.

Saturday morning we were up at 8 am (the latest we slept in all weekend)
for a walk organized by our hostel. We really had no idea what we were
getting ourselves into. We met up with the group and out guide, who
promptly told us "shorts only - no shoes!" Maybe it was the malaria pills
making affecting our judgement or the deet seeping into our nervous
systems, but we obediently went back to our hut to change and take off our
shoes. I didn't have shorts, so I had to borrow a pair of Josh's soccer
shorts. Josh is 6'1" and must out weigh me by close to 100 lbs, needless
to say they were huge and bright green - I rocked them anyway. When we got
back we all piled into the back of a huge open bed truck and drove to a
nature reserve about 15 minutes or so away. We walked past "beware of
Hippos and Crocodiles" signs and into a rolling grassy savannah. The walk
lasted 2 hours. We walked though the grasslands and the shady mangrove
groves until we reached a huge fence - alla Jurassic Park with what looked
like a huge wooden step ladder going over it. We walked over the ladder
and into the a wild animal nature reserve - barefoot. We walked through
more grassland and marshes. There were patches where the mud reached up
almost to my knee. We emerged on the bank of the estuary with what must
have been 25 or 30 hippos in the water maybe 75 feet away. Our guide waded
through the after to a sand bar about 50 feet from the hippos, and we all
followed. I wasn't worried about the hippos, (even though they are
responsible for more human deaths each year than any other African Animal
- they have to be SERIOUSLY provoked), just that our guide kept saying to
look out for crocks, and you can't see them coming. On our way back to the
truck, and once we were on the other side of the fence again, we came upon
a zebra family. Our paths were parallel for a while and we were able to
get really close. So far I think that zebra are my favourite - there are
so beautiful, it's hard to believe they actually exist. We all piled into
the truck again, and our guide, Sandile, drove us to where the river opens
into the ocean to get a better look at the crocodiles. We were able to get
close to them as well - but they pretty much just lay there, so it wasn't
too thrilling.

The rest of the day we just hung around St. Lucia's one street, ate and
looked through the market. That evening we took a boat tour of the
estuary. Our guide was German or Scandinavian and insisted on translating
everything he said into English, German, Dutch and Italian - I don't think
he spoke any well - except maybe German. Anyway, it was really beautiful.
The estuary is huge. We saw all kinds of exotic birds, some more
crocodiles, but the highlight was the hippo family. There were about 20
adults and several babies. The babies were in the shallows and they were
playing! They wrestled, splashed, climbed up on their mothers, and swung
plants around. It was SO cute. We finished up the tour just as the sun was
beginning to set.

The next day we were up and kinda awake at 5 am for our game drive around
Hluhluwe game reserve. Hluhluwe is one of the oldest reserves in the
country, and they have the whole Big Five, elephants, lions, black rhinos,
buffalo, and leopards - the five most dangerous animals to hunt on foot.
Our Guide's name was Shaw, and he was a Crocodile Dundee - Indiana Jones
type. He used to be a ranger who specialized in rhino tracking - exactly
who you want driving you around in a search for exotic and unpredictable
animals. The open air Safari jeep picked us up at our hostel. We climbed
in the back and wrapped ourselves up in the blankets Shaw gave us as he
drove the hour or so the reserve. It was a dark, windy and freezing cold
drive. The sun rose quietly, and by the time we got to the reserve the
pale light was strong enough for s to get started.

Hluhluwe is beautiful. There are rolling grass lands, sporadic wind
twisted trees, lush undergrowth, and steep mountains. The whole place is
teaming with life. Even when you can't see any animals you are hyper aware
of their presence all around you. The air buzzes with insects and bird
chirps. The day started of with a rhino and zebra spotting and only got
better from there. We saw lots and lots of zebra (including a baby one
that was still fuzzy!), buffalo, all kinds of antelope (especially
impala), monkeys, giraffe, and wilder beasts. We even saw a lion pride,
which is really rare, but they were far away. we saw black rhinos (which
are REALLY rare) and two young male white rhinos fighting - they were
right beside the jeep, we stopped to watch them and I don't think anyone
breathed. We saw lots of birds, a baboon family with lots of babies, but
the best part was the elephants.

After lions, they were what we wanted to see the most. We saw the lions
really early on (7 am or so), so the rest of the day was an elephant
search. They seemed to be one step ahead of us the whole day. Shaw even
extended our tour to look for them. We were about to give up and call it a
day when we stopped at a park restroom and restaurant on the top of a
hill. Annie, Caitlin and I went out back to look at the view, when someone
cried "elephant!" We looked at the next hill over and there was a huge
male elephant, tusks and all, coming towards us. He walked over the hill
where we were standing one and came as close as 50 feet away! It was
amazing, we were all beside ourselves and high on adrenaline (there was
absolutely NOTHING, not even a tree, between us and this enormous
creature) when someone shouted "elephant" again. There was another
elephant following the first and he came just as close. We were all pretty
much freaking out as we got back in the jeep. Just as we were driving a
third elephant walked right in front of us and showered himself in a mud
pile right next to us before walking away. We couldn't believe it. The
only animal we didn't manage to see were leopards, but they are stalkers,
so basically if you do see one, it is already too late.

We got back to the hostel at 3 pm or so (3 hours later than we paid for so
we gave Shaw a big tip), ate and walked around. We watched the sunset on a
dock on the estuary (while I badly sang "sitting on the dock on the bay").
The next morning (Monday) we got up at 5 am again so we could watch the
sunrise on the beach. It was totally worth it because it was one of the
most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. We sat in the sand, looking at the
deserted beach and out over the Indian Ocean. I did a few sun salutations
(yoga) before we all ran into the water (only up to our knees), even at
7am it was super warm. We decided right then that we have to go back
sometime before we leave South Africa.

It was an amazing and exhausting weekend. We got back to Pietermaritzburg
at noon, an hour before my first class, even though going to class was
kinda anticlimactic after elephants and lions, but what can you do?

This week has flown by. I have spent it pretty much trapped in the studio
- not that I mind. It is all work that I enjoy. So that's the latest. I
hope this finds you all well.

lots of love,
Lauren