Mabibi Weekend

We have just spent a weekend at Mabibi, North of Sodwana. When the sun came up on Saturday morning, we were already on the dirt road to the Coastal Forest Reserve.

There are only ten camp sites, and then there is the lodge, Thonga Village, nextdoor. That means that the beach was not crowded.



Although it was overcast in the mornings, the sky soon cleared to warm, sunny days. I snorkeled until my fingers were wrinkled, then belly boarded until I nearly regained my childhood. Travis fished, of coarse. Des too, until the tip of his rod broke. Then he joined me, directing me from the rocks to the best snorkeling pools, and then telling me which waves to surf ;-))

The boardwalk/stairs would have made us fit quickly, had we stayed longer. It really is long.

Travis, dressed up for the night shift:

My highlight was the visit from a genet on the last evening. It came as close as the edge of the light, picking up bones that we had tossed into the bush. Judging by the amount of light reflected by its eyes, it must have incredible night vision.

On Monday, a public holiday, we started on our way home, taking the scenic route, i.e. via Lake Sibaya. Unfortunately, after about 5 km along the lake, the vehicle in front of us got stuck, blocking the way, and we had to turn back and seek help. (They did get unstuck eventually and later passed us on our way home.)

Needless to say, I photographed nearly every Nguni we encountered, so as to supplement my library of Nguni references for paintings. I must say I am very pleased with the latest additions! This is only one of them. A lot of them seemed to have real Harley handle bars for horns!