Fifth Letter
By Katrina
Already we have completed our second week of the second term
here at Inanda Seminary. Today is Saturday and the girls are having a netball
tournament. I can hardly believe that we're back from vacation (or holiday
as they say in South Africa) and back to normal again. The time has just
sped by.
We had three weeks of vacation because the new principal arranged longer breaks in between terms. Now the girls to go school on some Saturdays and national holidays, such as Workers Day on the first of May, similar to Labor Day in the States. Well the three weeks was just a fantastic bonus for us.
The first week we hung out on campus for a few days and then did an overnight at Sani Pass Lodge in the southern Drakensberg Mountains. Revs Scott and Susan and family drove us to the lodge and we met another missionary family there from Cape Town. We had a nice time and the highlight of the trip was a day trip to the neighboring country of Lesotho. We got to have lunch at the highest pub in Africa. We also drove a ways into a small village and got to meet a few people who lived there.
Our second week, Anika flew down from Paris to be with us for the next part of our holiday. Needless to say I was ecstatic! The next day Susan drove us to a Backpacker (hostel) in Durban where a bus/shuttle picked us up and drove us to the Amphitheater Backpacker. The Amphitheater is a large section of the northern Drakensberg. The hostel was nestled in the mountains with amazing views everywhere you turned. It was the coziest, friendliest, coolest hostel I have ever been to. (ok so it was like my 2nd time at a hoste,l but hey it was really cool!) Right away that afternoon we took a hike up to this castle looking outcropping of rocks.
The backpacker has three dogs- Pipsqueek, who happily joined us on our adventure to the very top of the rocks, leaping from on ledge to ledge and standing very close to the edge of the cliff that Anika and I climbed to- Dipstick, a 14 year old boarder collie who in her prime had been a champion sheep herder- and Max a big brown and black dog.
On my birthday I woke up to the most amazing sunrise over the mountains and into our window. We went to the Royal Natal Park in the lower Amphitheater and we all went horseback riding in the gorgeous surroundings of the Drakensberg. The rest of the day was spent hiking around the numerous trails in the park and spent a lot of time at the cascades. That night mom had worked out with the people at the hostel to somehow get me a cake and we shared it with a lot of the people staying and working at the hostel, it was a fun party. It was by far the coolest birthday of my life.
The backpacker also had prearranged trips to Lesotho and to Tugela Falls. Each day we did something famous. The Lesotho trip was so cool because we got to go to a primary school, tucked away behind the mountains of Lesotho, and meet the principal and many of the students. They happily showed us their school and sang some songs for us. Our guide, Phum from the hostel, took us on a walk to see some Koisan rock paintings that were right behind the school. We also got to visit with a sangoma, which is a traditional herbalist for the Basotho people as well as the Zulus. We go to try some delicious food ( mealie meal and a cooked wild spinach) and beer made out of mealie meal. It tasted more like a cider, but it was good.
The hike to Tugela Falls was so incredible. It is the second highest waterfall in the world, and we hiked 16 km to an astounding height of 3134m (9000 some ft.) Just when I thought it couldn't get anymore beautiful, we would turn a corner around one mountainside and the view would literally take my breath away. (I could barely contain myself- Drakensberg means Dragon Mountains and they supposedly inspired the mountains in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontien, South Africa. And they looked JUST like I'd imagine Middle-Earth!!!!!!! If I'm never heard from again, its because I've gone to live in the Drakensberg- he he)
Our final week of Vacation was spent at the town of St. Lucia. It is a world heritage site with five distinct eco systems including an estuary and a wetland park! Holy mackerel! Well, Mum did all our travel plans so naturally we got the best vacation. For Pop's birthday we went on a safari to the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi game reserve. Right away when we got there we saw Zebra, Giraffe, Impala and tons of other African deer. That park is lousy with different kind of deer-like animals! Inyala, bushbuck, impala, waterbuck, springbok... its so cool. Dad spotted the first Elephant.* A lone male, majestically walking in between the bush and trees. We even saw a leopard. Our guide was very excited for us because its quite rare to see a leopard. It was just chilling on the other side of the river bank. And later in the day we came to a bunch of male elephants cruising around the trees. There was one big guy with impressive tusks that was interested in roughing someone up it seemed, so we did a quick reverse and watched as this other small white car drove passed us and the big elephant started walking "annoyedly" towards the car, shaking its head and waving its tusks and flapping its ears. It was so National Geographic!
The river in St. Lucia feeds into the Indian Ocean and has 2000 crocodiles and 900 hippos -on our last day we went kayaking with them. It was a bit windy, so we didn't see as many as hoped, but we did get quite close to one croc and one lone male hippo. The hippopotamus was in a deep sleep and I think something woke him up and he was startled by our presence and started to come towards us. But then got bored and went into deeper water.
Thus our adventures went, and we all agree that it was smashing. Anika came with us to Inanda Seminary for her last few days and got to meet a few of my friends who returned a little early from holiday just to meet her. Now Anika is back safe in Paris and life is getting into the groove again. Its another sunny day on campus and the birds are singing their little South African songs, and we are trying to soak it all up realizing that we will be leaving Inanda Seminary next month. I almost wish it could last forever...
Hamba Kahle.
Go well.
*Nora, I said hi to the elephant for you :)
