UShaka

Today was a good day. It started off as rainy but had cleared up to bright sunshine by 7am. I helped prepare and take out the morning food, then changed the birdcages- giving them fresh food and water. After that Jakki, Julie, and I headed off for UShaka. Our goal was to sit on the beach all day enjoying the sunshine and warm Indian Ocean. UShaka is a center filled with restaurants, shops, an aquarium, water park, and located directly on the ocean. I had been there before to eat but was really excited to plop down on my towel and relax for the day. The first thing I noticed when we got down to the waters edge was that it was covered with jellyfish. These guys were only about an inch in diameter but believe me when I say they can still get ya. I did, however, find them quite fun to step on! They make a satisfying popping noise and don’t hurt as long as you steer clear of the tentacles. We walked quite a ways down the beach looking for other people- we figured it was safer that way. After finding our place in the sun we laid down our towels, slathered on the sunblock, closed our eyes and- just as I was about to give a big happy sigh- was pelted with sand. Did I mention it was windy as all get up? Yes….the flags were blowing straight to the side and it was impossible to lay down without getting sand in every possible crack and crevice. Our drive to be at the beach outweighed the annoyance of the sand and so we stayed put for about an hour. Once we had all flipped from our backs to our stomachs we sort of woke up from our world and had a look around. We were a little surprised to find ourselves surrounded by about 100 others and us being the only white people. I really wasn’t nervous or worried- but we did pull our bags a little closer and keep one eye open- until a police man drove up to us on the sand and asked where we were from. We asked him why and he said we obviously aren’t from here because if we were, we wouldn’t have parked ourselves down where we did. He said we should probably get a move on and watch our back because people were watching our bags. Needless to say we put our clothes on rather quickly and hightailed it back to the center. The rest of the afternoon was spent eating sushi and perusing the various shops.
Fishing. We went to Kenneth Stainbank Reserve tonight and fished. I was really excited because I think fishing is fun and was looking forward to getting inside the big gates that run the parameter of the reserve. In my mind I just assumed this fishing experience was going to be like all the other ones I’ve had back home. Haha. Well as it turns out- after we all piled out of the back of the truck, we were sent off to find bamboo. Yup… we cut our own poles, tied on string, dug for worms, and tied them on ourselves. It was something I have always wanted to do- go fishing with a pole and string in the ole fashion way, but uh it quickly lost its magic. Throwing the string with nothing to weigh it down got to be very frustrating for me, then not to mention fish stealing my worms or them just falling off because I can’t tie them on right…and then having to go find new bait. Ahh…I did not catch one fish. It was a good time tho, but I think I’ll just admire the Norman Rockwell pictures of ole fashion fishin rather than do it again. ☺. We’ll see.
A lizard was on my ceiling in my room when I got back from fishing. Tomorrow I get to help catch some baboons; we are testing three of the babies for TB. I am quite sun burnt. A cockroach 2 inches long went running across my foot in the bathroom before I showered. It’s 9:30 and I’m tired.