OUR TRIP TO THE EAST COAST

THE DRIVE

The drive to the coast was about 6 1/2 hours. What a beautiful drive! Mountains all around. The weather seemed to get colder as we headed further east. Very overcast. Not the weather we were hoping for.

A big section of our drive consisted of trees that were being logged. The only problem with that drive is we were stuck behind a lot of logging trucks. We soon learned the ways of the road. The logging truck would slowly go to the side - we would pass (hoping to not get hit by on coming traffic) and then we would put on our hazards as a thank you and they would high beam us back. We did this oh I would say at least 15 times.

We saw a lot of sugar cane fields.

Oh the joys of a long car rides! Snacks - Movies - Toys - More Snacks - Alex glued to the DVD - Maddie "sleeping" The best was listening to the kids conversations and questions:

"Are we there yet?"

"How many more minutes?"

"I'm Hungry!"

"I'm still hungry!"

"Alex tell your T-rex to stop he is going to kill my horse!"

"Alex pretend ......."

"Maddie you say this and I will say that"

"Stop copying me!"

"MOM"

Overall the driving went very well. Our first stop was St. Lucia. This place kind of reminded me of Mackinaw Island - shops on one side with hotels/B&B's and the ocean on another side. Of course the first thing we did was head to the Indian Ocean.

ST LUCIA

Scott and Maddie rushing to test the water. Maddie also started to spot what every kid loves on the beach - SHELLS!!

Alex skipping stones on one of the channels of the Mkuzi River that runs into the Indian Ocean

Maddie comparing her shells with the ones on the chart.

The sign at the beach - we did not see any crocs there, but we did see a hippo in the water.

One of our B&Bs we stayed at. VERY NICE

HIPPO AND CROC CRUISE

On Thursday morning we got up early to go on a boat safari for Hippos and Crocs. It was windy and cold, but very worth the ride.

Setting off into the channels.

Alex bundling up.

Our first Hippo sighting

A clump of hippos in the water - the baby hippos would lay on top.

Holding a Hippo tooth!!! The kids were amazed!!

The Crocs!!

We then started our trip to Cape Vidal. Along the way we passed Mission Rocks

MISSION ROCKS

Beautiful Maddie!

Alex and Maddie sitting for a picture!

Alex and his current smile! He is growing so much - He will be 4 in a few days!!

The path going down to the rocks!

CAPE VIDAL

Well we arrived at Cape Vidal to go to the beach and it was too windy to stay long. The wind would whip the sand on your legs - very prickly. Alex was freaking out. Maddie just laughed and walked the beach (almost blowing away!!)

On our way back to our B&B we toured the animal trails. Here are some of the animals we saw along the rode. I think we counted a total of 19 different animals.

DURBAN

What can I say about Durban other than it is a place we will most likely never visit again. On our way from St. Lucia to Durban we say many beautiful cities and beaches. Then we arrived in Durban, we did not feel very warm or welcomed. We went to our hotel and checked in. That is where I took these pictures:

Everyone seemed to have a space on the sidewalk between the ocean and the hotel to sell something.

We then decided to go an experience the beach. We packed our backpack with swimmies, frisbee, money and Scott's blood sugar tester and off we went.

Busy beach

Scott started building sand castle with the kids, while I relaxed on the beach (and keeping close watch on our stuff). Scott just put his insulin pump in the backpack.

The kids were running from the waves so I decided to stand up and step off the beach towel to take this picture. As I took this picture someone stole Scott's backpack!! His insulin pump, wallet, cell phone, the kids cover up clothes (Maddie's pretty white dress), swimmies and some other odds and ends (totaling about $6000.00) gone!!!!!

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Scott ran down the beach looking for anything, but nothing - he went to the police and they told him there was nothing they could do and sent him on his way.

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I started freaking out because I realize how close this person was to me when they took the backpack and I also realized that Scott now had no insulin pump for his diabetes!!

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So we grabbed what was left of our stuff and went back to the Hotel. We spent the next couple hours canceling credit cards and trying to get medicine for Scott! He did get another blood sugar tester and some needles to carry him over until another pump can be purchased. He now gives himself about 6 shots a day. It is going to cost about $3000 to $6000 for a new insulin pump. The part that makes scott the most mad is that whoever took it probably just threw the pump away because they did not know what it was - SO SAD!!

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Needless to say we had a whole day left in Durban - we spent a lot of time in the hotel. Then on Saturday we went to Ushaka Marine Park and Wet N Wild. (the kids were looking forward to this the whole trip) I do not have many pictures due to the fact I kept my camera hidden for most of the day.

USHAKA MARINE PARK - WET N WILD

Alex and Maddie in front of many fish tanks


Watching a dolphin show

Well we saw a lot, lost a lot, and learned a lot!!! It really was a great trip and the kids had a great time. We asked them what their favorite part was and they both responded "Everything we did was our favorite part!" God sure is good to watch over us and we are grateful that nothing worse happened on our trip.

It was great to finally drive home on Sunday. We saw more of God's great creations. What awesome scenery!!

Watching the storms come in! It has not rained here since we have arrived in July, so it was nice to see the rain come.