Culture Shock
Day 233
As I peaked out our window I saw the rain falling. It made leaving this wonderful place a bit easier. Although not in the sense that the “road” out of here was now turned into a river of mud. “Rufus, is the mud going to be a problem?” Asked Jordana to our calm. “Oh no, if there is mud I drive through it”. OK then, let’s go.
Well there was mud, lots of it and while we were stuck a few times Rufus always managed to get us out. Even if the one time felt like we were going to roll right over. The rain really picked up as we hit the asphalt road and when we reached Muthatha the temperature was much colder. I pulled out my sweater and raincoat, we had 4 hours here till our bus arrived. In the meantime we each had a Steers veggie burger. It was OK, about what you would expect from a fast food place.
Not much else to say today, our bus arrived and we drove 5 hours up the coast to Umzumbe where we got off at the Mantis and Moon Backpackers. Umzumbe is a beach not far from the city of Durban. Wow, it was like culture shock. This was like a hostel resort, complete with pool, jacuzzi and bar all set in a thick jungle setting. Too bad the staff wasn’t friendlier and the common bathroom cleaner. Also Umzumbe wasn’t a town at all, but just the name of the beach. It was full of high security walls around rich South Africans holiday homes. The name Umzumbe sounds much more exotic than it is. There were no restaurants and one small shop that was closed when we arrived. We went to bed hoping for sun in the morning and thankful that we brought our own cereal for breakfast.
Tags: Durban, South Africa, Umzumbe
Michael Coroneos
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