Well we made sure to keep ourselves very busy at the end of the trip so as to not let it sink in that the trip was actually ending. When I say ending, I am referring to the South African leg and it meant goodbyes to Nat, Emily, Tim and Chad. It is hard to explain exactly how but these trips really do go by fast. Whilst it certainly doesn’t feel like its already ten weeks ago that the group arrived, at the same time it feels like we have know each other for years and thinking back to memories from Cape Town or even J-Bay can feel like ages ago. As they say time flies when you’re having fun!
One of my favourite days of the trip, and one I think can’t be missed out on when you’re in Africa, is the day we go to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi game reserve. You get many, possibly hundreds of game-reserves/game farms in South Africa, but it is important to distinguish the ones which are just their to make money (area too small for the animals, animals being fed etc) and the ones which just are as they are. These are the ones I like, where if a lion is too old or slow or injured to catch his/her food then nature will run its course. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi stretches as far as the eye can see and has every animal you could possibly want to see in it, including lion, leopard, cheetah, rhino, elephant and anything you can imagine. Needless to say it is however not a zoo, and the chances of seeing everything you want to in a day are very slim. We were privileged enough to see several rhino, elephant from a distance and an impala (antelope) which had just given birth, a first for me. We watched the baby take its first wobbly steps and going through the challenge of keeping balance. A privileged sight to see!
With the trip coming to an end we had a good last day of surf in the morning on the Durban beaches, the guys picked up their brand new boards and we headed back to the Secret Spot to have a little end-of-trip celebration. With the imminent risk of rain we cancelled the home-made pizzas and instead were treated to an amazing home made roast with the works. It was amazing and set us up well to have a good evening with some drinks and sharing some great memories from the trip. It has been a great trip and to both see how much everyone’s surfing has improved and how individuals have changed over the trip it has been a special one. To the group, as I sad on our last night, a big thanks to all of you for making my trip such a good one. The trip went with very little incident and I really enjoyed getting to know all of you.
Ian, Joe, Andy and Ollie are of course still with me on our adventure in Mozambique. It is a different trip but if you have enjoyed following our blogs on this one then keep checking back to see what we have been up to in Mozam. There is not much in the way of internet but I’ll do my best!
So long and I hope you have enjoyed,
Chris