Yummy banana custard in mah belly!
After my return from Imfulozi, I finally had a chance to explore Durban a little. Heidi, who has been super amazing and wonderful, introduced me to her hiking group. Last Saturday they went to Kloof gorge, and we did about 10K of trail surrounded by tropical vegetation and a river below. In every way it was different from the past five spent in the wilderness. But it was a hoot! For lunch we sat on slabs of beautiful pink and green granite, which gave the pools of water a bright bluish green hue. I took off my shoes and wandered downstream, noting the potential for boulder problems over the water. After the trail we sat on the grass and everyone shared their snacks and beers kept chilled in the seasoned members' coolers.
The next morning Liz picked me up and we walked the promenade, had breakfast, and I finally sank my toes in Durban sand. People sea kayaked and surfed, rode bikes with their kids, a volleyball competition took place, a marching band came through the outdoor mall, and Liz treated me to her favorite ice cream. Not bad for a wintry Durban morning. Catching my bus to Pietermaritzburg was an issue but Heidi once again flexed her giving spirit and saw me safely to Piemburg herself.
On Monday I met Gavin, an archaeologist from the show "Shoreline" that I love watching on Sunday nights. He brought a group from an archaeology convention that had recently ended in Joburg. I met a couple Americans, but most were European. Joy and Richard took some artifacts, and I was able to see some new sites further down the reserve. These included some really impressive rock drawings, and ultimately led to me discovering that one of the German PhD students is a climber, and when climbers meet that is basically all we talk about for the rest of our time together. Having a less than novice amount of knowledge in archaeology, I naturally learned a lot. I also received a chance to objectively look at this group of nerds and realized, "ohmahgursh, this is what it's like to be on the outside of a nerdy group looking in." No regrets. I was also scolded by an American woman after Joy introduced me to some rocks that write in a temporary, similar fashion to crayons. So I drew an elephant, and a sun, and in the middle of my third artwork she caught me and demanded I erase them. A little bit of dust and they were gone. Joy whispered later, "There's one in every group." To which I responded, "It's cliche that she's American."
For the remainder of the week we've been fertilizing and preparing the garden beds, planting some carrot, lettuce, and coriander seed. I constructed a fertilizing tool inspired by Wes Burlingame's design using PVC pipe and an empty tin can. The chickens laid the world's smallest egg and a three yolk egg. Putka has a new ladder for her coop, despite my carpentry incompetence. Joy has kept up with the cricket matches, which to me is like listening to Harry Potter fans talk about a quittage match. I walked within 20 feet of two zebra without them initially noticing. And have reveled in the peace and solitude of the waterfall. This morning I went boulder searching which ended abruptly when I noticed the world's smallest riot of itty bitty ticks making its way up my ankle. There were some 40-50 of them on my shoe awaiting the next round of departure for my ankle.
Since watching a family of nine giraffe and a colony of bats during dusk across the river from our campsite in Imfulozi, I have acknowledged something stirring. My time at the waterfall yesterday afternoon opened me up to what that may be. And it's scary! But there are exciting times ahead, as long as my heart stays straight.
After my return from Imfulozi, I finally had a chance to explore Durban a little. Heidi, who has been super amazing and wonderful, introduced me to her hiking group. Last Saturday they went to Kloof gorge, and we did about 10K of trail surrounded by tropical vegetation and a river below. In every way it was different from the past five spent in the wilderness. But it was a hoot! For lunch we sat on slabs of beautiful pink and green granite, which gave the pools of water a bright bluish green hue. I took off my shoes and wandered downstream, noting the potential for boulder problems over the water. After the trail we sat on the grass and everyone shared their snacks and beers kept chilled in the seasoned members' coolers.
The next morning Liz picked me up and we walked the promenade, had breakfast, and I finally sank my toes in Durban sand. People sea kayaked and surfed, rode bikes with their kids, a volleyball competition took place, a marching band came through the outdoor mall, and Liz treated me to her favorite ice cream. Not bad for a wintry Durban morning. Catching my bus to Pietermaritzburg was an issue but Heidi once again flexed her giving spirit and saw me safely to Piemburg herself.
On Monday I met Gavin, an archaeologist from the show "Shoreline" that I love watching on Sunday nights. He brought a group from an archaeology convention that had recently ended in Joburg. I met a couple Americans, but most were European. Joy and Richard took some artifacts, and I was able to see some new sites further down the reserve. These included some really impressive rock drawings, and ultimately led to me discovering that one of the German PhD students is a climber, and when climbers meet that is basically all we talk about for the rest of our time together. Having a less than novice amount of knowledge in archaeology, I naturally learned a lot. I also received a chance to objectively look at this group of nerds and realized, "ohmahgursh, this is what it's like to be on the outside of a nerdy group looking in." No regrets. I was also scolded by an American woman after Joy introduced me to some rocks that write in a temporary, similar fashion to crayons. So I drew an elephant, and a sun, and in the middle of my third artwork she caught me and demanded I erase them. A little bit of dust and they were gone. Joy whispered later, "There's one in every group." To which I responded, "It's cliche that she's American."
For the remainder of the week we've been fertilizing and preparing the garden beds, planting some carrot, lettuce, and coriander seed. I constructed a fertilizing tool inspired by Wes Burlingame's design using PVC pipe and an empty tin can. The chickens laid the world's smallest egg and a three yolk egg. Putka has a new ladder for her coop, despite my carpentry incompetence. Joy has kept up with the cricket matches, which to me is like listening to Harry Potter fans talk about a quittage match. I walked within 20 feet of two zebra without them initially noticing. And have reveled in the peace and solitude of the waterfall. This morning I went boulder searching which ended abruptly when I noticed the world's smallest riot of itty bitty ticks making its way up my ankle. There were some 40-50 of them on my shoe awaiting the next round of departure for my ankle.
Since watching a family of nine giraffe and a colony of bats during dusk across the river from our campsite in Imfulozi, I have acknowledged something stirring. My time at the waterfall yesterday afternoon opened me up to what that may be. And it's scary! But there are exciting times ahead, as long as my heart stays straight.
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