Richards Bay, South Africa

We arrived in South Africa along the coast of the state of KwaZulu-Natal (or home of the Zulu people) in the little shipping port of Richards Bay. Not much going on in the town but just an hour or so out of town was the Hluhluwe-Omfolokie Game Reserve. A huge game reserve that is almost as old as Yosemite. The drive was great in that we saw some things we have not seen much of. Particularly the white rhino. We saw one initially as we came in the park and were all excited seeing it from several hundred feet away but over the course of the day we saw them walk past our jeep at about 10 feet with their little babies and just look at us like they were about to ram us. It was quite incredible how many and how close they came. We didn't get to see the elephants and lions but we had seen them before and the drive was worth it just for the rhinos. South Africa, for all it's history and problems, is much more modern and developed then some of the places we have been to in the past week. There seems to be some hope for a future that can "raise all boats" as the saying goes. We are taking a tour of a South African township that is given by the township itself when we get into the area around the eastern cape in a couple days. That should be interesting since we have all seen and heard about the townships as they related to violence and uprising against apartheid.Read more