So we left for Durban on Wednesday. We were planning on leaving at noon but we must remember that I’m in South Africa now and nothing ever starts on time, unless you are running late!!! The vans that we rented took a lot longer to get than we expected so we didn’t leave until 14:30. No problem, we were just happy to get on the road. I was in Van Wylder as we named it [yes we had the best name out of all the vans] Luc was the driver and Thomas from Canada was the navigator.
The other people in my van which is now forever known as Van Wylder, were Lora, Fe, Le, and Caitlin.
We only had 7 people in our van because our van only seated 8 and the others seated more so we let them take more people. The ride was a bit nerve racking for me in the beginning, but as Luc and the others soon learned I am a nervous passenger. But it wasn’t because of Luc’s driving, well not always because of Luc’s driving [little side note I decided that I would officially call Luc, Luc Skywalker and he decided that I was now Princess Leah, this will come into play a lot later on so just remember this!]. It felt like there was construction the entire way there, and on top of that we drove through a rain storm, or maybe three rain storms!!! But we stopped a few times for bathroom breaks, gas and dinner. When we stopped for sinner we were at a gas station with a fast food restaurant called Steers in it. *Here is my warning to you all! NEVER EVER EAT AT STEERS* I am not a picky eater, and on road trips I’ll eat pretty close to anything, but after three bites of this chicken sandwich I was far more than done!! I’ll do you all a favor and spare you the full details. Let’s just say, rubber would have been better, very close, but better.
When we got back on the road I decided to start a game amongst the people in my van that I like to call “The Favorites Game”. This game consists of nothing more than favorites. It starts with one person asking a category. So you can start with something like color. Then the person who asked the question has to answer what their favorite color is and then everyone else answers. Then the next person in the circle asks a new category, like food or book or movie. Well we didn’t want to stay on the surface level, we wanted to really get to know each other so we asked our favorite stereotypes and our favorites dreams and our favorite things to hate! It was interesting. I am convinced that this is the best game for when you are stuck with people that you don’t know all that well. You will learn a lot about them that you would never learn about them in any other situation.
We finally arrived at the hostel, Tekweni, which wasn’t so bad, even though my two Swedish roommates made it sound as though it was a complete dump. The guys who were driving needed a cold drink when they arrived from the stress of the long 8 hour drive that they were told was only 6 hours. Some of the guys had a few more than just one and soon some of them were drunk. A few of them, Julian from Germany, Jeff from Australia, and Niels and Luc from Holland were finding themselves a new game called let’s talk like girls from America. This game goes as such, you say “like” every few words and use very large hand gestures, and when you want to say something you have to start with “Oh my G**” [using the Lord’s name in vain]. It was actually really funny to listen to them and throughout the rest of the week I would often catch them speaking that way and so it was great to point that out to them. I didn’t actually have anything to drink but I was talked into trying a sip of a Savannah as well as Black Label. Gross to the Black Label and different to the Savannah. The guys cleared out all of the Castle as well as Black Label at the bar at the hostel.
The next morning was BEACH DAY [that one’s for you SEMK 1 I heart you love]. We walked down to the beach but needed some breakfast first so we ate at Mugg & Bean. Scrumptious! Then everyone was ready for a nap on the beach. The ocean was so nice! I have no officially stepped foot in The Pacific, Atlantic and now added to the list the Indian ocean! The Indian is my favorite so far! It’s the only one that I don’t remember being completely freezing! I learned to paddle with a wave, like when you surf, but I didn’t have a board and I never did learn how to surf, sorry to disappoint you all, but I will keep trying to find the opportunity. It was so great to just sit on the beach and do nothing and have nothing to worry about! We had nowhere to be and nothing to do! I’ve never had that experience before and now that I’ve had a taste of it all I wanted was more! We headed back to the hostel after a drink at Mugg & Bean, I had a strawberry daiquiri for Gladis and Nancy,
The Braai was good and the guys that worked at the hostel were pumping some music and had the lights and fog machine going so that we kind of made a club within the hostel! It was nice to work off all the food that we ate! We wanted to find a real club but the only one that we knew of had a dress code and many of the guys didn’t bring pants so we couldn’t get in.
The next day about 22 Americans from all over the country arrived at the same hostel as us. They had to search for some kind of room for them to stay. But it was nice to talk to people without having to listen as closely as we have to with everyone else that has these crazy accents. Then all 24 of us headed to the Indian district to see the Blue Mosque and the Indian market. We got lost many times on the way to the Mosque, and ended up just chilling in the market for a while. Then we finally found the mosque but since it was Friday it was their holy day so we would have to wait until 14:00 to get a tour. I wasn’t really up for that. I just wanted to go back to the beach or swim in the pool at the hostel. So I split off with Luc and Niels and we caught up to Jeff and Julian. Everyone else went to the Botanical Gardens, we tried to get a cab back to hostel. We spent over half an hour trying to get a cab and were not successful. But it was an experience, or as we have begun to say here, it’s a story to tell. We did learn how to get a cab to stop though, and a few did stop but made excuses as to why they would not take us. Either we were not on their route or they only did long distance. So after some time we gave up and just started to walk home. We needed a rest part way there so we stopped in at a small coffee shop called BBB. We got plenty of water and some coffee/cappuccinos. Then we order a platter to share! It was so delicious and really hit the spot!
We decided to head back to the hostel and jump in the pool. When we got there the pool was occupied by a little boy and his brother and we were not really in the mood to be splashed so we hung out playing pool instead until everyone else arrived. That night most of us went to the Greek restaurant for dinner. Terrible choice!!! Let’s just say 20 people was a lot for them to serve, but the place was disgusting. There were cockroaches on the table, the waitress forgot my drink [which was just a water] and then later forgot my meal [which was just a salad]. Needless to say I needed a major detox after that meal. As soon as I got back to the hostel I popped in my headphones, turned on Harry Potter Musical Soundtrack [thank you Darren Oaks] and ate chocolate sitting next to the pool with my feet in the water. It was great, very relaxing! Then Lora came over to where I was we got to talking and were observing the rest of the group which was very entertaining expecially when Waka Waka came on. Jeff, I still cannot believe the facial expressions you make when you sing that song! In the words of Weezy from Dragon Tales [you all know you watched it and liked it] “LOVE IT”!
This night we were determined to find a bar that would take us without a dress code so we talked so some of the guys from the hostel and they told us about a Reggae Club called Cool Runnings. About 20 of us, including a few of the American girls, jumped in about five or so cabs. We arrived at the club and realized that we were by far the only white people there. But did we let that stop us? Heck no! We made the most of it. I won’t go into too much detail to let some people that were with me save some face, but just keep up on everyone’s blogs and you will hear the whole story!!! But I hung out with people and danced a bit, but it was more fun to watch other people dance! Some of the American girls were begin taught how to dance like black girls. They were dancing up against a tree in the club and were told to act like the tree was their husband! A few were also told that they were too black for their own good! It was very entertaining. Then I went out to the alley with a few people and we were talking to some native South Africans and just talking about their culture. It was very interesting to see how they see their country compared to how we all see it. And we all see it very differently coming from different countries and backgrounds ourselves. Then around 3:00 we left to go back to the hostel. While waiting for a cab Luc and I convinced a few people that we are twins. Julian kept saying, “Luc I am your Father” So Julian became our father. Then it escalated into coming up with names for all of the guys. Earlier that day Jeff was given the name Indiana Jones because he carries a satchel, so he is the only guy with a name not from Star Wars. But the rest are as so…Luc=Luc Skywalker, Me=Princess Leah, but the guys just call me Princess. Julian is dad or Anakin. Nathan [from Wisconsin] is Obiwan Kinobi. Niels is Hans Solo. Pim [From Holland] is R2D2. Paul [from Holland] is C3PO. Raymond [from Singapore] is Yoda, and GJ [from Holland] is Chewbaca. *To all you Starwars fans out there, I apologize if I have spelled any/all of the names incorrectly.* Julian started doing a goofy dance as we were waiting for the cab and I started to do it. We tried to get Luc to join but he wouldn’t have any of it. So we decided that this was the family dance and that he was shunned from the family until he did it. Well he did on the way home in the cab when two of the people from the hostel were with us and they were quite interesting! Very, errrr, energetic let’s say!!! I don’t think that the cab driver was really happy to have such a lively bunch in the cab!!
The next day was a bit planned. We woke up to find that there was a soccer game at the Moses Mabhida World cup stadium that day.
After the game we had a dinner reservation at an Italian restaurant that was very highly recommended by Gladis and Nancy. Everyone was ready but the four boys who are always late, well to tell you the truth two were on time but they don’t go without the other two. So I sent the rest of the group ahead so that we could be on time and I would wait for the rest. When I finally arrived to the restaurant with the boys the table didn’t have enough room for all of us because someone brought a friend that we didn’t plan on. Not a big deal we just got a table for the five of us. It was an amazing dinner! We had ordered a nice bottle of wine and some starters. Then we ordered our meals which were to die for! Half way through the main course we had another bottle of wine. I only had a glass of the first one and a few sips worth of the second one. Then we ordered a few plates of Tiramisu to share. We were done with our full three course meals long before the table of all of the others so we went outside up to the bar so the guys could smoke and have a drink. We had a very relaxing and enjoyable dinner! Definitely the best meal I have had since coming to South Africa!! There was a lot of great conversation consisting of many things including how Lora and I questioned Jeff’s sexual orientation toward the beginning of the trip. In our defense he holds his cigarette in a very interesting way! But we are confirmed now that he is in fact straight, but this made for a great ground breaker and great joke for the rest of the night! Well week, well it’s still a great joke!
When we got back to the hostel many of us sat around the pool talking and hanging out. A group of people went out to a bar or something and when we left the hostel at 2:00 to find a place that was still serving beer, because the guys wanted just one more beer before bed, we ran into them and they mentioned that Coco’s was still open and serving alcohol. So we went there. On the way we got stopped by a few people and one guy asked Jeff is he was an Australian Guy, I thought that he said “Are you a STRAIGHT guy?” Julian and I thought that this was great and will never let Jeff live it down! When we arrived at Coco’s we were again the only white people there but this was the kind of club that we had been looking for all week! Good music and a good mood! We danced until 5:00. Jeff has some mad dance moves! He decided that he was just going to do the most ridiculous thing that he could think of and look confident doing it, and that made a new dance move! This is exactly what it looked like he was doing! The family dance became quite the dance move for the night. Thanks you Erica Beth I taught a few of the guys how to hula dance! It was interesting to watch them try to do the guys part. They were all better at the girl which I though was pretty entertaining. Nathan did the tango with some guy that kept trying to dance like us but our moves were a little too much for him!
None of the guys were going to drink, Sunday night because they had to drive to St. Lucia in the morning. Everyone went to bed kind of early. Then we all got up the next morning around 8:00-9:00. Breakfast was eaten. Coffee and cappuccinos were consumed. Bags were packed. Vans were filled, and we were on the road again. It was an interesting drive to St. Lucia. The cars here sometimes decide to drive on the shoulder to let you pass, but it’s a little scary because there still isn’t much room to pass and if the decided to veer toward you and there is oncoming traffic you’re gone! But we didn’t die so that was nice. We did however get lost. We took a random road that back home I would call a dirt road or an unmarked gravel road but it wasn’t even that. It was like a sand trail!
When at last we arrived to St. Lucia we all got our hostel rooms and many people went to the beach. I stayed behind with some and swam in the pool. Then the owner of the hostel took us to the beach, but not the same one that everyone else went to. It was beautiful. We saw hippos in the lake when we were on the board walk to the beach. Then the water was truly amazing, but it was nothing compared to the views all around us! Breath taking! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful. When we were heading back we stop at a dock to see if we could spot a crocodile! We did and it was right under the dock. We had to stand back from the edge because crocodiles can jump 2-3 meters in the air and they would have been able to grab us and pull us in if we were near the edge. It was amazing to hear all the stories! We also learned that Hippos stomp out fires!
When we got back to the hostel we went back in the pool. I have been going from one body of water to the next. From pool to ocean to shower and back again! But that’s what a holiday is for huh! We went to get dinner but nothing was open so we went to the only place open in town which was the gas station. So we got gas station food and ate it in the parking lot of the Spar, which is a grocery store here. It was, well it was a story to tell!
The next morning I awoke to Lora falling out of her bed and almost falling on top of Yvette. Lora and Le had to get up with most of the rest of the group to leave for a safari at 4:30. I decided that I am already going on a safari in Kreuger Park so I decided to go Kayaking instead.
We had a Braai when we got back and after the Braai I was so exhausted that I was almost delusional. I was also very frustrated at the millions of mosquitos that kept biting me. So went to bed early. I slept like a rock! I’m normally a really light sleeper but I didn’t wake up any of the three times that Lora and Le came into the room and I didn’t hear any of the three alarms that Lora set on her phone. Neither did she. Le did but didn’t do anything about it! So we woke up later than planned but so did everyone else. We packed everything up and left for Pretoria! No one was ready to leave and go back because going back means no more beach, and means classes are starting soon! But we had to anyway. Again there was construction almost the entire way home and it was so bad that there were a few times that we were stopped on the road because of construction and everyone would get out of the car and stretch and talk for a while. This happened 3 or 4 times. We stopped in a little town for lunch. The place was really cute. It was an antique shop with a tiny restaurant in it. We asked if they could accommodate 24 and they laughed. But they accommodated us! The place reminded me of Galena which made me miss Grandma Chapman and when I was looking around the shop I saw a heart that was the exact kind of thing that she would have given on top of a present. So I bought it in memory of her! I miss you grandma and I love you and I promise to never do anything to make you cry. I also promise to never regret anything that makes me smile and I’ve been smiling quite a bit since I’ve been here so no regrets!!! Xoxo. There were also a lot of old signs and some were tire signs [well here it’s tyre but you understand so I thought of you DADDY! I miss you too!!!]
The rest of the car ride was pretty normal as far as long car rides go except we drove past a lot of corn fields! I felt like I was driving through Iowa, So Caitlin, Nathan and I took a picture!
I now love goldfish and cannot wait for their concert in the Square coming up in a few months or so. When we got back we decided to head out for a drink and dinner after everyone showered. I threw my laundry in as soon as I got back so that I wouldn’t have to wait for everyone else because we all had some pretty nasty clothes. We went to the Square but wanted a place where we could all sit and talk so we went to Roman’s where if you buy a pizza you get another one free. I got the vegetarian and it was really good!
I’m definitely ready to head back to Durban and not ready to start classes. But I cannot wait until the Clarens trip in two weeks with white water rafting and horseback riding up the mountain! Tonight Caitlin, Lora, Le and I are having pasta dinner and then a big group of us are heading to the cinema to see Easy A since I’m to only one that’s seen it and it’s only R22 a ticket! That’s like $3 w00t w00t! I will make all of them love it as well by the time I leave! Then tomorrow I think I’m heading to the music store at Brooklyn with Jeff and Luc to look and Guitars and so Jeff can play some drums! It I currently Rag week at UP which is a huge celebration and fundraiser and Saturday there is a huge parade and party so that will be great fun! I know you all wish you could be here and I wish you could as well! Please keep me updated on what’s going on at home and if you have any questions or if there’s anything that you think I should do for sure, especially those of you that have been here, let me know! I want to do it all!
Thanks everyone for a Great trip to Durban!!!
Peace, Love and Jesus!
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