KwaZulu-Natal Vist part 2 of 3

An early start and it was off to the lovely town of St Lucia where we were to go on a kayak safari. Aided by Justin our guide we set off (a little apprehensively) into the St Lucia estuary. This was an amazing experience and without any boat engines was very peaceful and calming. We saw hippopotamus and crocodile and were able to paddle quite close to them, always being kept safe by Justin. One of my highlights on our paddle back up the estuary was a Goliath Heron taking off from the water just in front of us – an amazing sight. After our kayaking trip we then went into the iSamangaliso Wetlands Park. This park which is the size of Ireland runs from St Lucia right up to the Mozambique border. We were no sooner in the park when we started to see wildlife - rhino, zebra, wildebeest and buffalo. We had a great tour of the park and visited the fantastic beach at Cape Vidal. On leaving the park we also visited the Crocodile Centre and learned loads more about these ancient and frankly scary creatures. Another early rise and we were on our way to the Bayete Zulu Elephant Interaction and there we met the stars of the show Rambo, Rachel and little Jambulani – African elephants! Because Rambo and Rachel were reared by humans they are used to interaction with us. It was an amazing experience to be so close to these magnificent animals, they are so powerful and yet I thought they are also so gentle. The guides definitely added to the experience, telling us so much more about these particular elephants as well as how elephants in general live in the wild. Then we were allowed to hand feed them, placing food directly on to their tongue as well as touching their tusks and ears. Overall this was a quite simply wonderful experience. Our next visit was to the Mbonise village for a cultural visit. We had already experienced Zulu culture and history at Shakaland now it was being brought right up to date as we visited Zulu homes and schools and received a real insight in to how the Zulu people live now. Once again our hosts were absolutely charming and I really enjoyed this visit. Finally on what had been a real action packed day we travelled to the Cat Rehabilitation Centre at Endomeni Lodge. Even after all we had experienced already this was amazing as we saw lynx, African wildcats, serval and cheetah and the work being done to return them to the wild. The undoubted highlight though was going into the enclosure with cheetahs, being able pet them and having photographs taken with them. As we were leaving the enclosure they also went into hunting mode as some gazelle got close to their enclosure and to see them move like that so close to us was simply incredible. Finally it was back to Umkhumbi Lodge for a deserved rest after what had been an awesome day.