When those of us from the states picture Spring Break, we imagine huge crowds of attractive twenty-somethings ready to boogy down with other drunk twenty-somethings. Well my friends, my spring break was not much different. I went with a group of four other people (Grace, Natalie, Paul, and Paul’s sister Evie). We tried our hardest to keep costs down but adventures up. To do this, we decided to go to St. Lucia and Kosi Bay, which are both up the eastern coast of South Africa, just south of the border with Mozambique. Naturally, as these places are famous for their amazing scuba diving and animal spottings, we were in.
After a horribly early flight to Durban, we started on our way to St. Lucia. Anxious to adventure, we tried to stop everywhere we could see that might have been something exciting. After the first stop to the non-existent Craft Fair, we decided to stop for a sign that read “Reptile City”. After paying a whopping R30, we were greeted with skinks, snakes, emus, peacocks, crocodiles, turkeys, birds, and so much more. Upon walking around for about ten minutes, we were all a bit burnt out from the animals, and Paul- the only “man” on the trip- was too scared by the snakes, so we decided to head out. Adventure #1 complete.
 |
| The crocodiles at Reptile City |
We got to St. Lucia and found our backpackers, ran in for two seconds to put our stuff down, then went immediately to find more adventures. We followed a sign to a Crocodile and Hippo cruise, paid for a ride that would take off in a couple hours, and went to find food. On the menu was a traditional African mean called Bunny Chow, so of course Grace and I had to split that. They take a loaf of bread, hollow out the middle (like the bread bowls we are used to) and fill it with a delicious curry meal with veggies, meat and amazing seasonings. It was awesome. Then it was time for the cruise, so we headed down to the water to hop on the boat. Within the first 10 minutes, we saw a herd of about 15 hippos, and 1 baby hippo! Throughout the trip we saw at least 50 hippos, maybe 15 crocodiles, water buffalo, kingfishers, and other birds, each of which the boat driver was not afraid to get us up next to. Wild.
 |
| Hippos! Just the first of many... |
The next morning we woke up for another adventure to the beach. Upon reaching the beach, we saw waves that were at least double our height. Being the bushy-tailed kids we are, we ran straight in and got clobbered by every single wave. It was crazy. After the beach, two of the workers from the backpacker invited us to go to the Ski Boat Club with them to get drinks. We headed over, ordered a few ciders, and kicked back to watch even more wildlife. There were tons of monkeys around the town, and we quickly learned that there is not much that they are afraid of. One monkey walked over to the restaurant, looked around to make sure no one was watching, then ran into the kitchen. About a minute later we heard some silverware crashing to the ground and saw the monkey running out with three bananas in hand. After drinks we went to the river to watch the beautiful African sunset, then headed out to Key West (how aptly named for Spring Break!) for some drinks with friends.
 |
| The huge waves we played in! |
 |
| The monkeys who stole the bananas |
 |
| Grace, Natalie, and I at sunset. |
 |
| My new friend, the dungbeetle. |
To describe our last day in St. Lucia will be almost as hard as explaining to my parents why I was drunk the first time they caught me drinking. And probably includes the same amount of alcohol. We had planned a safari with our backpackers without knowing who our guides would be. We were told to meet in the lobby at 8am. Knowing we were on Africa time, we arrived in the lobby around 8:15. Fifteen minutes later, one of the guys from the bar the night before (Kevin) showed up asking if Darren (the other guy from the bar the previous night) was up yet. We shook our heads unknowingly as Kevin instructed us to go eat breakfast before the safari. By 9am, we had ordered our breakfast right as Darren came stumbling up to the restaurant with a Hunter’s cider in hand and eyes that barely opened. We noticed that he didn’t have shoes on his feet, and they looked as if he had not worn shoes since Before Christ. Over breakfast, conversation consisted of Darren explaining to us the fact that he doesn’t wear shoes and simply will not go places that make him wear them. At 10am, we paid the bill and headed into the Land Rover that Darren told us Kevin had to drive because he was going to be drinking. 10:03am and we are stopped outside a grocery store to get lunch items (or so we thought). 10:10am Darren and Kevin come outside the store with 8 six-packs of Savanna Dry and 8 six-packs of Black Label. 10:12am Darren is cracking open the first Black Labels and handing them out around the bar. 10:15am Darren is asking Kevin if they remembered the food. By the time we got to the game park (iSimangolo- meaning a place of wonders and miracles) we were already one beer deep. The moment the Land Rover crossed over the gates to the park, Darren somehow became a new person and immediately started rattling off facts about the park, the animals inside, and so much more. The first half of the safari consisted of Springboks, Red Dykers, and Dungbeetles- nothing too exciting.
 |
| Grace getting ready for snorkeling in Cape Vidal. |
After this, we stopped to go “snorkeling” in Cape Vidal. Knowing this was supposed to be one of the best scuba diving places in the world, we were all psyched. Upon arrival, though, we realized our snorkeling trip would consist of us swimming out as far as we were able to, fighting off the huge waves, and seeing no coral reefs. Well, it was time for another beer. We were in the water for about 30 minutes then came in for lunch. During lunch, we learned all about one another over more cider. We now know the story as to why Kevin only has ½ of an ear (it was bitten off in a bar fight), how Darren came to work in a backpacker, and so much more. The second half of the safari was a bit more successful in that we spotted a leopard and a rhino!
