From Traditional Swaziland to Modern Durban

Some of the beautiful Swazi candles

I haven't done anything too exciting since my last blog, but I want to stay up-to-date since I don't know when we will have internet access again. On Friday, we woke up in Swaziland and went to a traditional Swazi candle factory. It was down a tiny dirt road, so I don't know how you would find it if you weren't on a tour. Nevertheless, it was so crowded! There were also a lot of other shops selling hand-made crafts. Everything was so intricate and gorgeous. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the candles were far beyond what I could have imagined. They were all shapes and sizes and colors. There were even candles shaped like animals--elephants, turtles, chickens, giraffes. You name it; they had a candle for it. Margo and I could not resist, even though we have barely any room left in our luggage, and bought some shaped like hippos. After that, I just enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at the hotel.

Speaking of hippos, Saturday morning we took a cruise around Lake St. Lucia and saw tons of hippos, crocodiles, and birds. The hippos were so big! They stayed in the water, often resting their heads on the back of another hippo. We would just stay still and watch a "pod" of them for 15 minutes or so and not get bored. It was fascinating.

Margo and I with some hippos!

Bunny chow

Cuba Lounge

After the cruise, we drove for a very long time toward the city of Durban. I slept the majority of the bus ride, as did the rest of the group. Once we arrived, I was very pleased to see that we were finally in a hotel that had things to do nearby, rather than isolated. We seized the opportunity to go to the huge mall right across the street. It was very fun to be able to walk around and people watch. Durban has a very prevalent Indian influence, so we were hoping to try some good Indian food while there. We had bunny chow, which was chicken and some spicy curry sauce in what was essentially a bread bowl. You eat it with your hands, which turned out to be very interesting. I got what was only a quarter order, and I still couldn't finish it. I can't imagine what a whole order would look like! Then, for dinner we went to a place called Cuba Lounge, which had modern dance music and unique drinks--mostly mojitos to stick with the Cuban theme. It was very enjoyable to be somewhere besides a hotel restaurant for once.

We have an early flight to Port Elizabeth in the morning, so I'm going to get some rest now!