Arrived at the coast 😊 (11th-14th September)

Sanibonani 😊 (that's Zulu for 'Hello' in German)

When talking about St. Lucia, it is rare to end the conversation without mentioning the hippos that roam there. As soon as we crossed the bridge that led us to the town center of St. Lucia, we saw them lying in the river. Although hippos are one of the most dangerous animals in South Africa and kill most humans, they are relatively harmless during daylight. Hippos are nocturnal and lie in the water to regulate their body temperature. They cannot swim, so they stay in shallow waters. As the following pictures show, they usually lie together in groups.
Personally, I think they look like rolled roast beef (without the head, of course) 😂 and sound like a motorcycle zooming by. By the way, hippos are herbivores and eat 40kg of grass per day. 🌱

We also saw some crocodiles, which are masterful at hiding. We also saw some young crocodiles, which are immediately left to fend for themselves after birth and only about 1% of them survive. 🐊

On the second morning, we went on a walking safari with a hostel employee. In addition to spotting some zebras, which were grazing just about three meters away from us, and warthogs, which often ran away immediately, we learned a lot about the trees and shrubs.

In the afternoon, we drove to 'Cape Vidal'. The beach is located in the middle of a national park. As far as the eye could see, there was only beach and hardly any people. It was quite impressive and the complete opposite of typical tourist beaches.

In the evening, we treated ourselves to a traditional African barbecue. We had pumpkin, sweet potatoes, spinach, bean mash, chicken, beef, cooked cornmeal, and typical Zulu bread. It tasted interesting but was very delicious :)

Today, we continued to the Dolphin Coast, and tomorrow we will be heading to Underberg in the Drakensberg Mountains for hiking. Nevertheless, our cozy little room, the beach just a few steps away from our accommodation, and spotting dolphins made our stay special.