[sunrise over the Indian Ocean; low tide; sand at low tide; yes, women DO carry things around like that!]
It must be noted here that at a mall stop, Paco, being the opportunist that he is, decided to go into a bank and purchase bags of Swazi coins (Lilangeni have equal value of South African Rand ZAR), because they're rare, and he is certain that coin collectors back home would want to purchase them.
The landscape in Swaziland was gorgeous. Plus, we finally saw zebras close up on our way to Mlilwani, in addition to the common impalas of course. We also saw kudu in our campsite!
!
[landscape; zebra; kudu in our campground]
Later that day, everyone at the campsite witnessed a full moon when Paco unexpectedly drop trou in his tent right right across the way. [fortunately, NO photos here]
May 29: Today started with a self guided nature walk with Paco, Ellis, Lisa, Chad and Kayla in which we spotted crocodiles, wart hogs, water or bush buck, zebras, and what would a game tour be without impalas. I learned one thing, men can't be trusted with a map. Also, I learned that Paco has an obsession with wild animal eggs, and collects them to incubate back in his home in Madrid. A ranger had to tell him he wasn't allowed to climb down to the water's edge to fetch crocodile eggs. Oh Paco!
[Chad, Kayla, Ellis & Paco; sign (which Paco fought hard to disregard in his egg quest); this croc was safe as he was on a little island]
After being harassed by vendors at the market, we went for a cultural tour in a local village while Amy, Naomi and Mary decided to go to the Bush Fire Festival, which we discovered to be the source of the loud music blasting just (30 min) outside the campground until about 3am the night before. Paco again was the source of entertainment for some (us), and agitation for others (the ostrich) when he got in the face of an ostrich.
[Paco chasing the angry ostrich; the girls wearing the traditional skirts; men participating in their traditional dance (notice Paco trying to scare the little kids); the beautiful children in the Swazi village; we got to learn the customs of the villagers]
Just before dinner, unlucky Paco tripped in the camp and cut open his lip. But I believe he did it to get the attention of Annie who quickly nursed him back to health...or to distract me so that I wouldn't notice him unplugging my charging phone in exchange for his laptop. We'll never know. Later, he nearly chopped his foot off while chopping wood while using his foot to brace the block.
That night, the rest of us either watched and/or participated in some traditional dancing as Victoria and I got pulled into the center circle to join in. Brilliant! [night photos missing as I left my camera behind and lent my flash to Ellis, pix forthcoming I hope]
May 30: For the first time it rained as we packed our tents at 530 in the morning before heading to St. Lucia, where we arrived at what we now consider a posh hotel, with laundry services! We attempted accessing the internet, which operated from tolerable, to slow to unbearable speeds. After lunch, Sylvia's comment on Paco's cut lip: "That will make it difficult to do certain things." After our group dinner in the restaurant across the road, we all (except our faithful guide, Annie) hit the karaoke bar. Oh what a night!
[Sylvia & Paco; James, Annie (our guide), Mary & Lisa; Katrin, Victoria, Chris (our driver), Louise; Karaoke! Amy had to coax Kayla & Chad to the mic; Ellis as Fred Astaire and Sylvia as Ginger]
June 1: We woke very early to very loud hotel workers. About 8 of us booked an all day game drive/snorkel outing, only to find out (after the game drive, and we did see buffalo!), but fortunately just before it started pouring, that the road was closed and we wouldn't be able to go snorkeling but we could walk to the beach. Seeing as we paid for the snorkeling, we asked to return, where we found ourselves not only asking for our money back, but also for our laundry which was promised to us by 11am, now being told late afternoon or evening.
[Buffalo, one of the Big 5; and hippos]
Luckily, my laundry was done (they were holding it to iron, what?!) and the skies cleared up after lunch, so Kathrine and I jogged to the beach, about 12 min jog, where we met Chad and Kayla and I spent hours enjoying the playful waves of the Indian Ocean. Amy and Ellis joined us later, and we took some silly pictures. All in all it turned out perfect!
[Me, Kayla, Kathrine, Chad & Amy); do you get it? A-F-R-I-C-A]
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