South Africa - Part 3

After 2 days on the south coast I realized there wouldn't be any waves, so I decided to change plans a little bit and spend a night in Durban, but stopping at a game reserve on the way. I got to Tala Private Game Reserve early in the morning (first name on the check in list) which is about an hour west of Durban. Its a self-drive reserve, basically they give you a map and you drive around spotting animals, with a couple of places where you're allowed to safely get out. It was a nice lazy way to marvel at some amazing wildlife after that 10k hike, although piloting a ford fiesta on craggly dirt paths was a challenge of its own. As soon as I got in the gate, I came right up to a big group of zebras and antelope. I honestly don't know the exact names of a lot of these animals but they were all really amazing to watch.

The craziest part was running into a group of 3 rhinos! Apparently they have GPS trackers and their own security force to protect against poachers. They were the only ones who made me a little nervous, they gave me a pretty intense look and I could picture that horn tearing up my poor fiesta...

After a couple hours driving around and no luck finding the giraffes, I headed to Durban and checked out the Golden Mile beachfront. It felt a little like Huntington Beach. I stopped and had lunch at a place called Afro's Chicken Shack on the recommendation from a guy at a surf shop, the chicken was all time.

I spent the next day sampling Durban's various coffee shops and even went to a sourdough bakery! The food and bean scene is top notch, but I didn't take any more pictures. After a crazy 5 days, it was time to head home. I checked out seatguru's page on the South African Airways' Airbus A346 and found out I should book seat 73D, because there is a safety hatch in front of it and no seat. You gotta love the internet!

Tomorrow i'm hoping to get a chance to drop off my film, and in 2.5 weeks i'll head back to Zimbabwe to retrieve the camera system.