On the 25th of September the whole group left for the Zulutrail. Getting up at 5 o´clock in the morning we rode to Cape Town International and took the plane to Durban. The moment we got off the airplane we were nearly knocked over by the heat. KwaZulu-Natal is completely different to what we were used to.
Our amazing guides for the next 10 days picked us up and we arrived our first homestead three hours later. To go there we had to pass Greytown what made me freak out because my school in Germany has a partnership with Greytown High and since we were not allowed to take our phones with us I couldn’t even message my former host sister… Grrr!
Anyway, our first homestead was a very traditional Zulu family and we slept outside on thin straw mats and had to keep an eye on the fire. Every hour another person would get up to sit and check on it. The next day we left and hiked to the next homestead meeting a lot of pupils on the way. Most of them had never seen white people before which made a few of us feel very awkward and annoyed after some time.
After 8-10 kilometers we arrived at the second homestead where the girls were allowed to sleep in the house on two beds. Luxus!
At that homestead we played soccer against the locals, the girls won, yes, and had a feast in the evening. That day was my highlight. Definetely not because of us playing soccer but because we were allowed to sit on the roof of the car to go back to the homestead. I never felt so free and happy. Thank you Anne for sharing these emotions and yelling with me!
The last hike was a difficult one and made two of us very sick but we all managed and arrived at our last homestead, late, exhausted and willing to jump into a river. Everybody was sweating like crazy. We took our bathing suits and just walked down to the river. The water wasn’t clear at all but that didn’t matter. Five minutes after we jumped into the water a little sand storm blew over us so we had to get into the water again to get rid of all the sand in our hair and on our skin.
The next day we took part in a traditional Zulu ceremony, hard day for most of the girls as a cow and a goat were slaughtered in front of us. The next day was the hottest we had and we played soccer in the evening, again.
The last day before we left for the lodge the boys killed two chickens and the girls had to cook it. The kitchen though wasn’t a normal one but a small hut with an open fire. Our eyes stung from all the smoke and we had to get out every minute just to breath… But it was delicious.
The food was a difficult topic in general as it was totally different and we had beans everyday. Some of us didn’t enjoy that at all.
Then we left for the lodge in Pietermaritzburg, passing Greytown again, and spent two nights there. And Murphy’s law was hunting us. It was hot in the van but the moment we arrived it was cold, dark and raining and the pool was out of our mind.
The next day wasn’t any better. The actual plan was to go on a safari but that wasn’t possible because the road was too slippy. So we went to a Nelson Mandela museum, took pictures in the rain and saw a waterfall. Especially the boys were really upset and everybody was hungry; the atmosphere wasn’t good at all.
We arrived and had a braai, in the rain as well, prepared a salad and relaxed a bit. The next morning we rode to Durban spent some time at beach, swam in the Indean Ocean which was warm and then were brought to King Shaka Airport.
Third homestead
The waterfall
Taking a bath and washing myself
Sun set
Back in Cape Town
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