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Ballito BayMar 14, 2008
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To Balito Bay
Bad start today. I forgot a big, short wooden post designating the campsites was at the left front of the Maui. The loud crunch noise reminded me. Remodeled two small fiberglass panels behind the passenger seat. All the passenger's fault! Post was on the navigators side and below the view of the side mirrow. No worry Mate! We have 100 % coverage with no deductable.
Drove on to Howick falls and finally got a photo of one of the long tailed birds. This one was not the same species as yesterday though. We had a great breakfast in the village (tourist) by the Falls and then walked the short distance to the viewing point. Sally shopped; at breakfast, at the street vendor at the Falls, and in a gift shop in the village. Her treasures included two heavy carved elephants. Don't know how she expects to get them home. Maybe all the pills she brought will be consumed and equal the weight of the elephants. I found a good and fast internet cafe in the village and uploaded photos to date while she shopped.
The drive to Balito Bay was all Carriage Way with lots of long hills, both up and down, plus the 1000 foot descent we had to get from the Falls to the Bay. We also encountered huge trucks, in stateside quantities, for the first time. Along the way we passed many huge sugar cane fields. The Suburbs of Durban, the third largest city in SA and biggest seaport, has lots of upscale homes with beautiful landscaping, and many more under construction. The stark contrast of the ever present clusters of shacks is also in the suburbs.
Dolphin Caravan Park in Balito Bay is the best we have stayed in to date, and ranks in the top 5 we have ever stayed in anywhere. The tropical grounds are immaculately groomed. It is a tropical oasis across the street from the Beach Front Hotels and Time Shares with a paved walkway to the beach. Huge waves crash into the sandy and rocky portions of the beach. Street vendors occupy the corner outside the Park and store their wares in a cubicle under one of the Time Share buildings.
The Park set up a "Tea" for us on arrival, and later served afternoon tea to all the guests. Morning tea is also served, with scones. Our evening meal was served by the campground host. A great meal, and the best french fries we've had in SA. The brownies and ice cream dessert was sinfully good. We had a great discussion on SA and it's future with the CG host afterward.
Any discussion with SA citizens on where it is and where it's going is like listening to blind men describing an elephant. No two sound like they are describing the same country. There's no way to determine what the real facts are from any conversations we've had - yet. Most everyone here has had control of the land, by taking it from someone else, at some point in the last 400 years. For several thousand years before that it was occupied (much like the Indians of North America - occupied but not individually owned) by the "little people" - near pigmy sized hunter gathers. They were forced out as tribes of larger people came south. There are 14 different tribal languages existing today. English is the official language but a large number of people speak "Africanier", a combination of Dutch and tribal language.
