Durban, South Africa
We were all so tired this morning. I think it was finally starting to hit us. We had an open vehicle game drive this morning at another game reserve. On the way to the actual park from our hotel I was dozing of, but there were so many speed bumps that we were all bouncing up and down the whole time. In our vehicle was me, Daniel, J.P., Corrina, Dion (girl from the Netherlands), Michael, Kaede Ray, Crysten, and Jamika. J.P’s clicking DROVE ME INSANE. (Ask me about it. Confusing to say through blog post). We saw many animals again, but it was pretty much just like Kruger. We finally saw a lion though in it’s native habitat ! AND our dreams came true. It had a dead bloody animal in it’s mouth!! This is how it went down. We heard a roar, and then we saw a lion run across the street with something bloody in it’s mouth. Then we saw it nomming down on it through some bushes when we drove by. It all happened so quickly! But it was exciting. My heart was pounding.
After all that excitement we stopped at a picnic area for breakfast. They served us some cereal. Get this. It was BRAN CEREAL. AGAIN. So I added sugar. AGAIN. I can’t wait to chow down on a good ole Chick-fil-a chicken biscuit when I get back in the states. After breakfast we spotted a playground so we hit it up of course! I was swinging and then I went on the monkey bars. Then randomly just a little warthog walked by. Getting used to it now as crazy as it sounds. We got called back to the vehicle to finish our game drive and I was sleepier than ever. Even though I went to a shop and got a kit kat to eat at 8 in the morning so I didnt have to eat as much bran cereal. Healthy.
After the game drive was over, we met Cardi and the rest of the Nomad Crew at a Pick-N-Pay (it is the best grocery store in all of S. Africa according to myself). We picked up some snacks then headed to Nandos (the fast food restaurant from the first night). I had a lemon chicken sandwich with peri peri fries. Nom! I love Nandos. Then we made our way to Durban. Another night in a hotel! Yippiieee! Once we got to Durban I realized it was a little shaky. I saw a guy on the street with blood running down his face. It looked like what you see out of a movie when someone gets shot in the head. Scary! We found our hotel, which was super nice and right on the beach. After a bit of room confusion, I roomed with Cardi. I put my stuff down and headed downstairs to look for people to explore with. I couldnt find anyone for a while, then I found Michael. We explored the market areas and the pier and beach. Then we found Kaede Ray and Crysten! Crysten and I went back to the hotel to have a cocktail while Michael and Kaede Ray still explored. Durban was by far the best bar we went to on the trip. We ordered a sex on the beach. As we were almost done drinking it Dion, Michael, and Kaede Ray all came running in looking frightened. Turns out Michael almost got mugged. He was attacked from the front and back by 2 men. Which is odd considering Michael is 6'3". But he pushed them off and luckily they didnt have a knife or gun. So scary! So they definitely needed a drink after that! Calm their anxiety and PTSD. Then we ordered Strawberry Daiquiris. Some older guy came up to us at the bar and was mostly chatting with Crysten. Apparently he used to work for the U.S marine security, but lives in Durban now. He bought all our drinks, but that was the only plus side to him. He was a racist son of a bitch who told Crysten she could be his whore. What an asshole! We left the bar right after that to go to dinner at this cool buffet place. It had a tiki theme to it. It was carbs on carbs though. Following that we just went to bed. Durban freaked me out for sure.
xoxo,
Em