Part Five: The Eastern Cape

Day 11
We woke up that morning still on a high from our amazing adventure at Kruger the previous day. Refreshed and ready to start making our way across the South African coast, we packed up and started our drive towards Durban. The drive down around Swaziland towards the coast was beautiful. We had been driving for about an hour when the car started making a dragging noise. We pulled the car over and realized our skid plate was coming undone, but there was nothing we could do so we kept going. After about another hour, I had to pee really bad so we were looking for a restroom. We pulled over at a gas station and then decided we would ask for directions after the toll booth because we felt a little lost. Damon bought a road atlas, which helped a ton during the rest of the trip. As we were pulling out, I recalled looking at the directions earlier that day and realized we should only pass one toll booth. Considering we had passed one on our way out, I knew this meant we were either lost or... we had just driven in a circle. Unfortunately, the second thought was right. We passed by a couple farms that looked familiar, and then once we passed the traffic stop from earlier we knew I was right. Nick was driving and turned the car around then passed a slow truck going down the hill towards the traffic stop. He was pulled over and fined because he had passed in a no-pass zone. By that time we were pretty ready to get out of that town and on our way to Durban.

We finally got back on track and the drive to Durban ended up being really pretty. The roads were lined in huge pine trees, which made it look like Washington state. Farms along the road were burning small sections of the forest down, which made for a really cool view at sunset. We passed one fire that had burned down and was just simmering, but it looked so creepy since it was getting dark.

It was late by the time we started seeing signs for the city, so by the time we made it to the coast we had some trouble finding our hotel. We drove around and around before finally seeing Belaire on one of the awnings above the street. We checked in around midnight or later and went to our room on the 7th floor. I had slept all day in the car, so I didn't fall asleep until after 4, when the sun was already rising over the ocean in the east.

Day 12
When I woke up we went down to the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, which was so delicious! Then we explored the beach a little bit, went home and changed, and spent the rest of the day at the beach.

Day 13
The next day we decided to spend mostly at the beach, playing in the warm Indian Ocean and fighting the huge waves. That night we went to a play at the Sun Coast casino and theater. It was a play on Romeo & Juliette, set in Durban. It was really funny but we didn't understand a lot of the references since we aren't from the area.

Day 14
When we checked out of our hotel the next morning we decided to try to find the Indian Quarter, where there is a market place with fabrics and spices, among other things. We ended up getting lost in the residential area of the city and driving around for about 3 hours. We finally made it to the mosque and it started raining. It was too much of a hassle to park because there was SO MUCH traffic. We waited in the car while the guys bought us KFC and then we decided to leave the city and make our way down the coast.

Our next overnight stop was East London. We stopped in the late afternoon to get lunch at a Spar off the main road. We figured since it was a small place and guards were watching the parking lot that we could leave the car parked there. We spent about 15 minutes shopping and taking restroom breaks before getting back in the car. This time Damon was driving and I was sitting in the front seat. I reached for my iPod in the center console to play music and I realized it wasn't there. At first I thought someone had hidden it in the glove box but it was nowhere to be found. I wasn't too upset because it was a hand-me-down so it didn't cost anything, and all the music that was on it is on my iTunes. Then I realized something.. Earlier that day I asked Damon to carry the iPod, my camera, and anything else I would need out in the car while I was driving, in his pocket until we got to the car. I then asked him where he put my camera and he said in the console. Turns out they stole that too. We have no idea how they got into the car without the alarm going off or why they only took my iPod and camera, when there were two other cameras out, a Kindle, and even my laptop below the seat. The camera can be replaced, so I wasn't worried much about it either until I realized that all of my pictures from the entire trip were gone. Since we didn't all take the exact same 4 pictures, we lost quite a few pictures of the trip.

We kept driving as it got dark, slowly through a bunch of construction I should add, until we got to Buccaneers Lodge Backpackers around 11pm. It was a Friday night so the main area was raging, and happened to be right outside my window. I had a hard time getting to sleep after a rough day, but finally passed out around 2 or 3 am.

Day 15
I woke up the next morning and within 20 minutes we were in the car and ready to go. We stopped in Port Elizabeth for lunch. It's a much bigger city than I would have expected, and the road leading to it is literally right next to the ocean; there are rocks blocking the waves from splashing up onto the road.

Later than evening we made it to Jeffrey's Bay, a surf town close to the border of the western cape. We checked into Jeffrey's Bay Backpackers and went out to dinner. We spent a while on the beach that night before going back to the backpackers.

Day 16
The weather hadn't been cooperating like we would have liked so we decided to move onto Knysna after breakfast.

The Eastern Cape was awesome, but the Western Cape is the Best-ern Cape! Finish our journey home with Part 6!

Part Four: Kruger National Park

Day 9

We checked into Hotel @ Tzaneen on a dreary, rainy morning. We spent the whole day sleeping and watching movies as a vacation from our vacation.

Day 10
Early in the morning we hit the road again, with an hour and a half drive to Kruger National Park. We made it to the park before noon, filled out some papers, and started our adventure. The park was way different than I thought it would be. There are paved main roads reaching from one side of the park to another, along with smaller dirt roads that will take you to the watering holes and lookout areas. We entered at the gate in the middle of the park and drove south, towards our backpackers accommodation for the evening. We were all chatting, excited for our self-driven safari when all of a sudden, an elephant comes out of the brush and out into the road! Later we passed a water buffalo off to the side of the road.

After that it was kudu and dik-dik, both deer-like animals, for the rest of the morning. We stopped for an early lunch before hitting the road again, hoping for better luck with the big game. We met a turtle friend who was trying to cross the road. We stopped our, hoping to get him across safely, but instead he went under our car and we had to wait for him to come out the other side before we could move again. Shortly after that we saw a zebra in the road! We drove down some of the dirt roads to the watering holes, hoping to see some hippos but it was a cool day so the holes were deserted. 

Next came my favorite part of the day: our first giraffe sighting! One minute I'm getting sleepy, my eyes heavy from watching the sides of the roads for animals, then all of a sudden Emmi slams on the breaks and there's a giraffe neck popping out from the trees next to us. I did all I could not to scream, but I think a squeak still forced its way out. Then, as if Emmi and I could ask for anything better, we saw a giraffe next to some zebras! 

Our next stop was a big baobab tree. We got stuck behind a big pesky van of tourists (the khaki safari gear kind), along with another car. Once we finally were able to zoom around them, we found the tree and hopped out to take another of our infamous jumping pictures. As you can probably guess, this one didn't work either. Just about the time we were setting up the camera for a second try, that van of tourists pulled up and wanted to take pictures. We got back in the car and  took off, hoping to beat the rest of the cars back to the main road. Then we realized the road we were on made a loop around the tree. Damon was driving and slammed on the breaks not to hit any of the tourists, causing the car to stall out. At that point they were all staring. He started and stalled the car twice more as the tourists laughed before we were finally able to get out of there.

Next we stopped at another watering hole, one that finally had hippos in it! We were a little bummed that all we could see was their eyes though. Then the boys got their wish; we saw a rhino sitting alone back in the field, and a few minutes later we passed one hiding in the bush only a few feet from our car. Now, usually when there is a car stopped at Kruger it means there is something to see. As we drove along we came up on a man out of his car with a tripod set up so we knew it had to be good. It turns out a leopard had killed something and drug it up a tree where it was sitting and eating. This was so awesome considering it's very rare to see cats in the park. We kept driving to see a few more cars pulled over at a watering hole. There were a bunch of hippos in this one, and most were way more active than the ones we had seen earlier since the sun was beginning to set. We even saw a few out of the water, in the bushes next to our car.

We knew that we were starting to get crunched for time because the park closed at 6:30 and we had just begun to see signs for the crocodile bridge gate that we needed to get to. Since it was getting dark it was pretty easy to see the lights of the cars stopped up ahead. That's when we saw the best thing yet: two lions laying on the side of the road. The first one was hurt and got up to limp over to the next one. As he walked he let out a roar. Now, everyone's heard a lion's roar on the tv or somewhere, but nothing can prepare you for the way it sounds in real life. You hear the roar, just like you've heard before, sounding the way you'd expect it to. But then there's an inaudible rumble below the roar that you can only feel. The only way I can think of to describe it is that it's like listening to a marching band during a parade. As they pass you, you can hear the music of the drums, but the bass drum just makes a pulse that you can feel. It was such an incredible experience, and the best possible way to end our day at Kruger. 

We took a last glance before rushing off to the park gates. A guard met us and asked if the lions were our reason for being late (only by two minutes!), and of course we said yes. He said  that he should make us pay the R4000, about $400, late fee, and then asked us to open the trunk. He took a peak around and told us we could go but not to be late next time.

We slept like babies that night at Kruger View Lodge for backpackers, knowing that we had accomplished something amazing: seeing the entire Big 5 in ONE DAY! :)

Keep reading to hear about what the eastern cape had in store for us in Part Five! :)