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We made our way to Zulu country and the first stop was the Drakensburg World Heritage Site. We'd never heard of it due to our own ignorance but were glad we stumbled across it as it is the home of the world's largest ampitheatre mountain face (apparently 10 times the area of El Capitan in Yosemite) and Tiguela Falls, the highest waterfall in Africa, second highest in the world. We saw our first wild baboons in the Royal Natal National Park with a second sighting of a "wild baboon" occurring the same day when Nathaniel decided to go bare arse under a waterfall. Baboons in the area are known to frighten women and children and he certainly achieved that! Onward to the coast as we took in Durban and as we arrived, we saw a beach pub down a secluded road and decided to have a welcome drink. Puzzlingly as we walked in, a random dude came up to Nathaniel, shook his hand and said, "So you finally made it!" to which we replied, "Yep, we sure did!" He showed us the bar and we bought a couple of drinks and realised we had crashed a private party. Talk about awkward! As we left, the same dude thanked us for coming. No worries mate! We had not booked any accommodation in Durban and our fears were realised as we looked for a safe place to park overnight. It was sad that we thought every person around was only there to stab us but after a night of interrupted sleep (hammer in hand), everything turned out fine. Finally, we drove up to Battlefield Country to see some Boer War and Zulu War sites, the highlight of which was a visit to Rorke's Drift. As we drove in, it was like driving onto the film set of "Zulu". Nathaniel almost blew his stack as Andrea received a compulsory history lesson and put up with his re-enactments of certain scenes from the movie. Nerd alert! Driving across South Africa has taught us a couple of things about the country: the tolls are ridiculous and the amount of hitchhikers is even more ridiculous! We fretted on more than one occasion about breaking down but the humble Wicked van got us there, despite the engine's warning lights and its inability to pick a gear. The warning on the rental agreement did nothing to quash our fears which described its own roadside assistance as anything but reliable with a justification straight from the movie "Blood Diamonds" - YOU ARE NOT AT HOME NOW. THIS IS AFRICA. This certainly is Africa!
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Deborah The Boer War and Zulu sites would be right up Chris's alley, That is on the top of his bucket list. Cant tell you how many times I have endured Zulu the movie and he has read every book on the subject and we even have a picture of Rorkes Drift on our lounge wall. He would be so jealous...Good luck with your wicked van...I hope it takes care of you....I would have been sh..ing myself sleeping in it overnight...what an awesome adventure though....xx