Bulungula and Beyond

The highlights of our trip beyond kruger included a long drive through swaziland and a two day stay at Sodwana Bay. Swaziland is a tax free monarchy located within South African boarders in the northeast of the country. It is known to have a very low standard of living. Our brief impression of the country confirmed this but we also quickly observed its rural roots and found there to be less divide between the rich and poor, as much of the city centre had decent infrastructure with no "township areas" nearby. We spent a full day in Sodwana Bay and then embarked on a long, very long, drive to Bulungula lodge. (We will be updating the last few entries with photos, but for now check out the website as it is a place very dear to Sarah and I.)
The Eastern Cape, which includes the Transkei region is home to many of the people that have since moved to city centers including the Cape Town townships. Bulungula is situated in a small village within an area called the Wild coast which is still very rich in Xhosa culture. Bulungula is a community owned lodge which allowed us to become better acquainted with the Xhosa culture that we have learned about from the people at SAEP (Asanda in particular) and Ikamva. Although it rained for much of our time at Bulungula, we were able to relax and converse with many of the local people and the afrikaaners that frequent the wild coast for their holidays.
In an effort to minimize the potentially long drive (yes... we periodically learn from our previous mistakes) to Tsitsikama National Park, we stopped in Port Alfred and Jeffrey's Bay.
Tsitsikama NP was amazing. The camp ground was situated immediately on the coast and we enjoyed a couple of hikes over the two days. The highlight which was a hike that brought us to an entirely isolated water falls, where we swam in the fresh water pond below the falls, overlooking the ocean... choa... something out of a harlequin romance novel.