Drizzling, but still a great day...

Our regular readers might have noticed that we're trying to play catch up from our six days away without much internet. We did have enough connectivity to check emails, but definitely not enough for a blog post, especially with pictures. So check the prior posts to make sure that you didn't miss anything because we're trying to do some extra posts until we're caught up!

On Monday February 3rd, we went for a hike. Rain or shine.

There was no way we were going to miss the beautiful scenery because of a little rain. So we asked our new friend Zoe if she wanted to join us for a hike to Hole-in-the-Wall.

One of the things we like about this "backpacker" type of accommodation is meeting some of the other travelers. Sometimes you hit it off, and sometimes you don't, and because we're a little older than most of the backpacker crowd, we often don't click. But we hit it off with Zoe, a 25 year old girl from Switzerland traveling alone with her backpack and surfboard.

We set off just after 9:00am.

You can tell that it's not a bright sunny day! It was warm enough, but again...it's the rainy season here. It wasn't raining when we set out, but there was rain in the forecast.

A typical local's property.

This is actually a fairly large local property. The garden is big, and there are quite a few buildings meaning there's a large extended family living on the property as well. As we came down the hill, a little girl came running out to greet us...

Ruth, with our little friend.

This little girl couldn't get enough of us. It was too cute.

Zoe and Ruth admiring the view.

Kevin and Zoe.

Made it to Hole-in-the-Wall, and it started to drizzle.

Still, we walked down to the beach. Can you see the hole???

Sorting through pictures, we have realized that we don't have a picture of Zoe, other than those you see above. Too bad. We had a lot of fun socializing with her and some of the other people passing through the Wild Lubanzi backpacker lodge, and hopefully we'll see her again someday.

Made it back to the lodge in the rain. We were pretty much soaked by the time we got back, but we enjoyed the hike. relaxed and read books for the rest of the afternoon. We bought the lodge dinner at R60 ($6.30) each, a delicious plate of roast chicken, potatoes, and veggies.

They have a policy at dinner time...no cell phones and no internet. That means that everybody actually has to talk to each other. What a concept!

Despite our gripes about the animal issues, we really did enjoy our couple of days there, but it was more due to the people we met. Some things we didn't agree with, so it's a good thing we're easy to get along with.

Next up? The road to Durban.