ZuluNyala Heritage Safari Lodge & St. Lucia

Our first night at the Safari Lodge has reacquainted us with the sounds of frogs, crickets and cows. Not too far off from the lodge there is a herd of cattle and they are just the type to insist on making their noises heard through the night. Most of us have sworn to make steak out of a few of them but the night was enjoyable none-the-less. Following our breakfast, we took an hour and half trip down to the St. Lucia Estuary where we were welcomed with a boat tour of the region. On our way down, we saw many people selling fruit and statues. As we passed, it became apparent that there were not only adults doing the selling but many children as well. A labor strike has continued to progress over the time we have been in South Africa and consequently, many of the schools were closed. This is probably the cause of all the children out selling goods the last few days and has offered yet another interesting contrast.

The captain of the boat was a cheeky fellow that managed to throw jokes in to our tour of St. Lucia as frequently as possible. One such joke was his offer for swimming lessons that would literally cost an arm and a leg. This may have been because of the many different animals that were swimming around the estuary such as hippopotamus, crocodiles, a variety of sharks (who never made their presence known) and king fisher hawk. The trip was rather relaxing and pleasant.

After we made it back to shore, we had a late lunch at a seafood restaurant where a few of us enjoyed crocodile steak and crocodile pizza. It was an experience that offered all of us a bit of South African cuisine that we haven’t had before. After our long ride back, we had dinner at the lodge and got to watch Zulu dancers in front of a fire. The dancers were both powerful and nimble. The dance really symbolized who the Zulu people were and had a component of the dance that resembled a fight scene while singing in Zulu. Everything about the dance spoke of tradition and of times past and present and was an excellent way to end our evening.
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