St. Lucia reeked of your typical tourist destination with oversized pleas to shop & eat. Large, open and constructed of beautiful wood, the Isimangaliso Wetlands Visitor Center boasts of being South Africa’s first UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site. Led to believe we were embarking on a private boat ride, we boarded the double-decker pontoon boat, finding prime seats up front, shaded by the second level. About 10 minutes later, a tour bus arrived and out poured our fellow travelers, making things a little more cozy. I didn’t mind the passengers so much but having to revert to performing American Ninja Warrior moves to hop the unstable plastic tables & chairs crammed into our limited space when my desired shot was on the starboard side was a bit inconvenient. Spectacular weather made for a delightful cruise along the estuary, which was a dead ringer for South Carolina’s intercoastal. Surprisingly, we saw few birds; I believe just one African Fish Eagle & some swallows. But we found crash after crash of hippos. The water was deep, so merely bulging eyes & pink ears were visible. Slightly (or even more so) disconcerting was how close the boat would come to the bathing hippos. Known for being one of the most dangerous animals, that thought never left my mind as the pontoon hovered over a large, dark shadow beneath the surface of the water.
Thankfully, we didn’t anger any of them.
They seemed quite content to hide underwater, coming up for air or to steal a glance at where the enormous floating object was.
An itty bitty baby crocodile was the only one of his species we were fortunate to spot. To alleviate our disappointment upon completion of the boat tour, Benson took us down to the local Crocodile Centre. This center was not nearly as nice as the last: eerily dark, souvenirs covered in dust & no one around. You could feel a sense of foreboding. Wandering in with hackles raised, we found a dead ringer for Billy Bob’s Arkansas Alligator Farm! The crocs were ENORMOUS. Is that what happened to all the tourists – they were EATEN? A large motionless pond thick with algae, with crocodiles sprinkled around the perimeter and (God willing) securely contained by the low fence, was the focal point of the park. Meandering along the trail, concrete enclosures held more ancient reptiles of every shape & size. At one point, we heard a noise akin to a snapping of a large tree and realized it was a mouth being slamming shut. Hackles still raised. We were the only two people in the whole facility. Usually, that is what thrills me…today, it was just creepy. I truly respect boundaries when it comes to animals, but perhaps the child in me is always too curious and wants to be closer; see the details. I could literally hover my camera above the crocodiles to see the exquisite patterns of their scales – polygonal shapes! Thankfully I’ve heard enough National Park ranger talks that their warnings are on loop in my head when I attempt something stupid. Walking through the Cycad forest, amongst plants that have been around since the Jurassic period, we safely made it out of the park.
Out front, a few silver gray, black-faced vervet monkeys were playing. As one began to walk, it was impossible to miss his neon blue balls! They were as bright as glow sticks. Nature never ceases to amaze me. Off to dinner, we dined on fresh, large prawns – a healthy heaping along with margaritas for $20. I focused my lens on a hillside of those darling monkeys playfully interacting to my delight, whilst I waited for my dinner to arrive.
One of our challenges was trying to figure out how much ZAR (South African Rand) to pull from the ATM. With the ease of credit card use, I try to avoid bank charges & conversation rates and opt for plastic. However, I find in the less affluent countries, actual physical local currency is preferred. It was early on in the trip and we were still working it out. Most tours were paid online and we paid cash for tips. When the credit card machine went down at the restaurant – load shedding strikes again – we weren’t prepared. With a suggestion of using an ATM, it wasn’t but a minute later we realized that also required electricity. Also, rand is like Monopoly money. You end up carrying A LOT of bills that don’t add up to a huge amount. $200 USD > 3800 ZAR. As much research as one can do prior to an adventure like this, you really don’t unravel the currency game until you’re deep into it. Fortunately, we had just enough so we didn’t have to dine & dash.
A long drive home ahead, but a satisfying conclusion to a fulfilling day.
Dessert back at the condo of fresh bread with an insanely delectable pot of heaven ~ Lindt dark chocolate spread. I found fabulously soft gluten-free seeded bread and a buckwheat version as well. A little wine, a reflection on the day topped off with a scrumptious dessert and we were done for the night.
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