We are back in South Africa.
With a sad farewell to Tofo, we drive south to Bilene, passing through some lively towns on the way.
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Mozambican women move gracefully in their capulanas.
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Corrugated steel is a popular building material here. It looks hot.
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People sell cashews at the side of the road. Empty bags flutter in the breeze to catch your attention.
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Bilene is a popular beach for Mozambicans.
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It’s a good place to spend our final night in Mozambique.
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After driving through pullulating Maputo, we cross the Maputo-Katembe bridge to the other side.
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This is the closest we care to get to downtown Maputo.
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On the other side is a newly-paved road all the way to the South African border.
What used to be a 7-hour journey now takes a mere 90 minutes. The road passes through the Maputo Elephant Park.
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Our experience at the border is much calmer than our entrance a month ago at a different border post at the height of the holiday rush.
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The accommodation at Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park is full. We stay at a private campground, Sand Forest Lodge, about a twenty minute drive away.
We are the only guests. We have the campground to ourselves. (Except for a resident herd of nyala on the property.)
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The males are much larger and more striking in appearance.
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Hluhluwe is pronounced ‘shlooSHLOOey’. It’s Zulu for the plant Dalbergia armata.
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We see a family of warthogs. The young ones are pretty cute.
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Some nyala cross the road.
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We come across a black rhino. He seems as big as a tank.
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In the middle of the road, a dung beetle does its thing.
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Some weaver birds bathe in a puddle.
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Weaver birds make colonies of woven nests, like this.
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On a sunny day, we visit nearby Sodwana Bay.
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Like Tofo, it’s a famous diving spot. With the same heavy surf that makes launching dive boats a challenge.
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The peak season is past. A few weeks ago, this would be heaving with people.
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We are fortunate to have a vacant lifeguard platform to use as a sun shelter all day.
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The beach is nearly deserted.
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Thousands of crabs run into and out of the tide.
We visit the Imfolozi side of Hluhluwe–Imfolozi park.
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First thing we see are three elephants socializing by the river.
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A pair of young impala tussle in the road.
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We stop at a game hide in front of a waterhole.
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The waterhole in question. Nothing turns up, possibly because it’s the hottest part of the day.
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We are rewarded at the end of the day with the sight of five white rhinos.
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This little rhino is nursing. It must be anatomically awkward to nurse a creature with a horn at the end of its snout.
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We depart from our campsite and say goodbye to Cori and Godfrey, our hosts. And their six dogs: four Great Danes and two Jack Russells.
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It would be difficult to fit even one of these dogs into Nelson.
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And so it’s back on the road to Durban.
Sight or Insight of the Day
I mention in an earlier entry that I’m seeking a FRELIMO t-shirt.
I found one.
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More precisely, Maria found it. She negotiated for it virtually off the back of a Mozambican man. It’s authentic, with holes and stains. Just what I was looking for.