Lesotho Highland

We finished our trek and returned to Sani Lodge. After one night of deep, deep sleep we hitch-hiked up the Sani Pass to Lesotho. First we got a ride from the South African police to the border control and then we got the owner of the Sani Lodge to take us up to Lesotho. Finally we arrived at the Sani Stone Lodge in Lesotho. We went for a little hike around the lodge. The next day we met a guide from the tiny mountain village of Manimani who came with his two horses plus one of his neighbor's to take us over endless canyons to his home. We rode a grueling 6 hours to get to a place so rural the closest road is 3 hours by horse. We met the chief, drank the local brew, and saw a merino goat get a hair cut. The next day, to the great pain of our bums, we made the trip back. I have to say thanks to my friend Matt at Sani Lodge for all the great ideas and support.

Waiting on the South African border for a ride.

Making a big breakfast before a long ride.

In full Basotho style: rubber boots, wool blanket, and balaclava.

Finally arriving in town.

The local shop.

A very ballsy ram.

Get a job, you hippie.

Trying the local brew.

When we arrived back in ZA we were sitting having a well-earned beer when Ruud, a Dutch guy, his wife, and very young daughter came in from the dark. Ruud was the very first traveler we met in all our time in Africa. We shared a taxi with him from the airport in Gondar, Ethiopia to the city. Him popping up in South Africa 10 months later with a daughter after getting a bit lost in the mountains was quite the life confirming surprise.

Giant's Cup Trail

After Durban we went to Pietermartizburg and then into the Drakensberg mountains.  I had heard of a little used trail that started at Sani Pass and ended at Bushman's Nek.  It is called the Giant's Cup Trail and runs a little over 60 kilometers southeast along the Drakenberg Escarpment in the southern berg.  Eva and I took 5 days to complete the trail.  We were the only hikers we saw along the entire length of the trails and the first people to complete the trail in the previous 3 weeks.  Along the way we saw a massive herd of some 70+ elands, a infinite number of baboons, a grey duiker, rock hyrax, a cape vulture, jackel buzzards, and many other cool birds.

Day One: So fresh and so clean.

Strolling into the first camp.

Large protea trees.

Waking up day 3 to a enormous herd of elands.

The print of a serval cat.

So so so many baboons.

A rock hyrax.

Animal-spotter-in-chief.

Taking a rest on day 5.

Waiting for the transport back to Sani Lodge after an amazing 5 days.

KwaZulu-Natal

From Swaziland we continued our trip as originally planned. We went by minibus taxi to St Lucia, South Africa. St Lucia is the only town in the world completely surrounded by a national park. The park is the iSimangaliso Wetlands, a world heritage site. Because of the immense biodiversity, the wetlands has a wide array of animal and plant species as well as a number of micro-climates and geographical zones. We did a night drive and saw many of the usual suspects including a group if rowdy nocturnal elephants. We also saw in the day a huge family of mongooses and chameleons.

Welcome back to South Africa.

A great place for a swim (if you're a hippo).

He didn't camouflage in with the asphalt too well.

I made my "homecoming" to Durban finally on the 7th of October.  In Durban we shoved in all the social life we hadn't had since our desert camping in Namibia.  We started with going out to the same old university bars, the next night was the Springboks vs All Blacks rugby match, and Sunday was The Color Run 5km.  During the week we moved very temporarily in with my host family from my research days to get some much needed family time and had lunch dates during the days.

The Springboks didn't stand a chance.

Before

During

After

Durban city and the old flat.

A family reunion