Journey to the bush

Sand sculptures, Umhlanga Rocks

Friday 5th September

Hluhluwe River Lodge, KwaZulu-Natal

Today we left the comforts of Durban and headed for the bush.

Travelling up the Dolphin Coast, we stopped first at Umhlanga Rocks, which is currently being developed into several high-rise luxury hotels, so not much to see here.  There was, however, a man producing rather impressive sand sculptures of the 'big 5' on the beach.

Having missed the turning for the motorway (a hazard of driving in this are as road signs are confusing at best, if not absent), we travelled for a while through towns such as Tongaat, where every available square inch of pavement was covered by people selling goods.

A detour off our track and up into the mountains took us to surprisingly large Eshowe, a major town supplying the needs of local Zulu villages and supporting the local sugar cane farming industry.  Here, we were able to travel on an aerial boardwalk across the Dinza Forest.  There wasn't much wildlife to be seen (one duiker and several large crickets) but a fantastic view nonetheless.

As our journey got closer to our destination of Hluhluwe and the night grew dark, two changes were noticeable.  Firstly, Western-style buildings were replaced by thatched Zulu kraals, and secondly, the style of driving became more and more terrifying.

There seems to be a habit here, if you are driving slowly, of pulling onto the hard shoulder to let a car past rather than waiting them to overtake.  This was easy to get used to (and actually comes to make sense once you're into it) but by nightfall, we were up to three cars wide per lane, like something one might expect to see in Mumbai.

Tree shower, Hluhluwe River Lodge

Arriving late in Hluhluwe with incomplete directions, we stopped in the world's most bizarre petrol station to ask for help.  This seemed to be the local hotspot, with a constant flurry of activity and people and cars weaving in and out at speed like skaters on an ice rink.

Our accommodation for the next four nights turned out to be 7km up a dirt track - not great at night, but worth every bump and jolt.  We're staying in a little log cabin located miles from civilisation, with collected rainwater heated by the sun as our only commodity and a boma and braai as our cooking appliances.  The herd of nyala waiting to greet us just added to the feel of the place.

While cooking, dinner was almost lost to what at first glance looked like an elongated cat, but turned out to be a large spotted genet.  Perhaps "gannet" would be a more appropriate name - four times it had a go at stealing our steaks.  I guess that's just one of the hazards of living in this wilderness.