Sunrise. Sunset. Star gazing.  Repeat.  Maximized days in between.

We rose before sunrise and loaded up the vans. We had been staying in Wakkerstroom, the hometown of our new friends Mpumi, Eunice, and David.  They had the opportunity to spend the two nights with their families, which was so sweet; while joining us for all the day’s activities. They met us early and all of us hit the road and headed into the sunrise, traveling east to the coast. David shared that Wakkerstroom means “wetlands that are always awake.”  We are so thankful for the opportunity to have been a part of this awake and alive community for a small slice of time.

As we drove, we spotted new birds (secretarybird!), saw students walking to school through the bush, and even huge trucks carrying gigantic wind turbine parts!  Overall, we watched the landscape transform before us. 

Same Africa. Different environment. We traveled to St. Lucia, which is a town along the coast of the Indian Ocean. We arrived at the St. Lucia Ecolodge. As we climbed out of the vans, we felt some humidity for the first time since leaving home. We are enjoying lush, tropical-looking accommodations here. We explored the grounds and found more cycad plants and seeds. And even an ant lion – one of the “Little Five.”
After getting a little settled, we came together on the grounds of the hotel and Dr. Christian did a lesson on plate tectonics, using a felt board and puzzle pieces!

The main event of the day was our hippo and crocodile tour by boat!  We boarded the boat and traveled along the St. Lucia Lake looking for these animals. We enjoyed sightings of baby and young crocodiles and a Goliath heron.  Our favorite part was coming upon a bloat (collective noun for a group of hippos) of at least eight hippos piled together in the reeds. But by far, the best part of the tour was the opportunity to fellowship and bond together on the water.

To top it off, our dinner was interrupted when our waiter informed us a hippo was walking down the street!  Welcome to South Africa! 

We are enjoying this little taste of home – traveling from the mountains to the sea reminds us of North Carolina. It’s a nice way to go into the last legs of our trip: savoring every moment here while anticipating the joy of being home.