Grey and misty mountains
XVII days to go and we have hit some rain... it rained all last night, brightened up a bit this morning and has been drizzling all day. It is cool too, so a reminder of English sumer holidays! (So, not SO warm, Howard!)
Managed to get our hands on a (small) car - a red Kia - and set off up the M2 towards Zululand. A great road, with pay tolls every so often and very little traffic, travelling through a landscape of green rolling hills, planted mainly with young sugar cane, punctuated every now and then with a grove of eucalyptus trees or a village of rondavels (round huts).
We left the road to have a look at Eshowe as we heard there were to be some Zulu ceremonies in the area in the new year and also to maybe have a look at the Eshowe Forest, where 300 + species of birds have been found, before continuing our journey further north to Hluhluwe, near the big game reserves. As we climbed the hills, the clouds thickened and the rain intensified and it became cool, so not so inviting, after all.
As it happens, we have decided to stay here and go to a Coming of Age ceremony tomorrow afternoon, after aa early morning walk around the forest with binoculars and birdbok in hand, weather permitting.
We visited the local museum here showing a vast collection of Zulu baskets, from traditional to modern and indeed it was here that a Norwegian missionary encouraged the locals to develop their basket designs to appeal to a Western market, encouraging them to discover methods for colouring the materials using natural dyes and developing new designs. The results are wonderful and although the bigger ones become quite pricey, we hope to be able to find one we like for back home... our first major bit of craft disease the whole journey!
Lunch was again delicious - quiche with a fresh salad and raspberry meringue with ice cream. Mmmmmm.....
Managed to get our hands on a (small) car - a red Kia - and set off up the M2 towards Zululand. A great road, with pay tolls every so often and very little traffic, travelling through a landscape of green rolling hills, planted mainly with young sugar cane, punctuated every now and then with a grove of eucalyptus trees or a village of rondavels (round huts).
We left the road to have a look at Eshowe as we heard there were to be some Zulu ceremonies in the area in the new year and also to maybe have a look at the Eshowe Forest, where 300 + species of birds have been found, before continuing our journey further north to Hluhluwe, near the big game reserves. As we climbed the hills, the clouds thickened and the rain intensified and it became cool, so not so inviting, after all.
As it happens, we have decided to stay here and go to a Coming of Age ceremony tomorrow afternoon, after aa early morning walk around the forest with binoculars and birdbok in hand, weather permitting.
We visited the local museum here showing a vast collection of Zulu baskets, from traditional to modern and indeed it was here that a Norwegian missionary encouraged the locals to develop their basket designs to appeal to a Western market, encouraging them to discover methods for colouring the materials using natural dyes and developing new designs. The results are wonderful and although the bigger ones become quite pricey, we hope to be able to find one we like for back home... our first major bit of craft disease the whole journey!
Lunch was again delicious - quiche with a fresh salad and raspberry meringue with ice cream. Mmmmmm.....
posted by Charles Roffey and Fred O at 17:16
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