Ladies only South Africa Surprise Tour, June 2023. Part 3
My seventh surprise was an optional 2 hour St Lucia Cruise aboard a double decker boat to see the hippos, crocodiles and many birds. Everyone enjoyed this leisurely, relaxing cruise through the wetlands of the St Lucia Estuary.
My eighth surprise turned out to be the annual marathon in Durban. I loved Durban, the flat beach, the restaurants, the runners, the atmosphere. I want to go back! We stayed at Protea Hotel by Marriott, Durban Umhlanga. This was safe area with many restaurants straight across the road from our hotel. However one of our ladies, Denise received a greater surprise than me by meeting up with her long lost cousin, who looked just like her!
My ninth surprise was the Drakensberg Mountains. I loved the town of Underberg. Forget about going to the golf course at Gooderson Resort . Go to Sani Pass. Seriously I am not a mountain girl but this was one of the best optional tours I have ever done. The drive up the pass is only 8 kilometres along a rough winding, hair banding road. Whilst navigating this treacherous terrain I was constantly tormented by my back seat passenger Margie screaming, "Watch the road. No two hands on the sterring wheel! Why are we reversing"? and so after much laughter, the charade continued until we reached 2873 meters, where we found a desolated plain and a strange lonely shepherd. We visited a hut where a guy, that I guess was a missionary explained the isolated life of the wild, scary shepherds and showed us their beautiful wool products. We then enjoyed a delicious lunch at the highest pub in Africa with an elevation of 2874 meters.
To be continued part 4.