It was really fun having our own wheels for the first time in 6 months. We saw a few things that were a bit different than what you would see drivng in Canada. Unfortunately lots of people (all ages and speeds) cross the highway (4 lanes or more) by foot; it’s super dangerous. We then saw a backie (truck in South African) literally stuffed with people standing in the back driving at high speeds on the highway; also super dangerous but props for good economic use of space and what a great way to reduce emissions! We saw a man on an old bicycle carrying a log of about 12 feet in length on the highway. We also thought it was funny that wherever there was road construction women were walking up and down the road carrying fruit for sale on their heads. The drive was very scenic the whole 250 kms, both sides of the road were covered with sprawling fields of sugar cane that was being farmed. They say that South Africa has the best sugar in the World!
The next day when we were driving to our next destination (Hluhluwe) we heard on the radio that a parks ranger, in St. Lucia, was in his garden in the evening seeing what his dog was barking at and got attacked by a hippo who felt threatened. The man survived but had to get his leg amputated. The parks people are now observing the hippo to see if they need to relocate him. CRAZY!
We really enjoyed St.Lucia, it is a great, small, peaceful town with beautiful beaches, hiking trails, and wildlife. We also really liked sleeping in our tent listening to the lapping waves of the ocean, the crying bush babies and the monkeys throwing stuff onto the roof of our tent!