#Kwazulu Natal

Our recent visit to St. Lucia was a stop along the way to the final destination of our KwaZulu-Natal road trip: Mtunzini, a coastal town off the N2 highway, where we spent five days hanging out on near-empty beaches and wandering through tropical forests.

St. Lucia, the tourist town along South Africa’s northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) coast – not to be confused with St. Lucia the Caribbean island – has near-mythical status among South Africans. The town is completely surrounded by iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is famous for its ubiquitous hippos, who spend most of their time in the St. Lucia estuary but are also known to stroll about town at night.

I just returned to Joburg after a week in Leisure Bay, a seaside community on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. I went there to escape Joburg’s cold, dry winter, and also to work on my memoir, which has been languishing for several months.

Before reading this post, read Part 1 and Part 2 of the Blogitects’ Excellent (Mis)adventures.

After our double-tire-puncture fiasco, Thorsten and I were stranded at the entrance to the Tembe Elephant Park (about an hour from our accommodation in Kosi Bay.) We had escaped death by elephant trampling but we were still in a bit of a bind.

Before reading this post, read Part 1 of the Blogitects’ Excellent (Mis)adventures.

Thorsten and I woke up early on Friday morning, eager to explore the Kosi Mouth beach and estuary. Amangwane Camp sits right beside the entrance to the nature reserve, run by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, and the beach is about ten minutes’ drive down a steep, sandy forest road.

A couple of weeks ago, I complained to a friend that I never have good big cat sightings when I go on safari. (I know it’s an absurd thing to complain about. But I’m a travel blogger in South Africa, after all.) The very next day, I received a last-minute invitation to Thanda Safari, a five-star game lodge in KwaZulu-Natal.