http://katesafricaninternship.blogspot.com/2008/02/kosi-bay.html
This weekend was incredible and exactly what I needed. The entire group of volunteers went to Kosi Bay which is a 3 hour drive from St. Lucia. It is right near the border to Mozambique. We hired a van to take us to the Kosi Bay town and then we were picked up by a man named Villy and his wife Isabelle. We took two 4WD vehicles to our destination; a Land Rover (you all know how much I love them!) and a similar Mercedes vehicle. We drove through grass and sand for about 40 minutes until we reached our little slice of heaven! I will upload pictures right after I write this because I absolutely fell in love with this place. Isabelle (the wife) is from Belgium and her husband Villy is from Pretoria (South Africa). They started the place 6 years ago after they gave up their jobs and regular lives. They decided to go to Kosi Bay and build some accomodations for people to stay and build a stable for horseback riding. They lived in tents for SIX MONTHS while they were in the process of building! They take people on turtle tours at night, horse riding tours, kayaking and a few other activities.
We were all physically exhausted after the hours of walking in the sand so we fell asleep as soon as we arrived back at our huts. I actually slept in the loft in the main house instead of in one of the beautiful huts. I was a bit scared of snakes because I saw one of the cats playing with one earlier like a chew toy! The huts were gorgeous and very romantic for a couple but I was playing it safe and slept up in the loft (free from snakes). I know, I am a wuss!
The next day I went horseback riding for the first time ever! What an amazing place to have my 1st experience on a horse. We walked much of the time up and down enormous hills and the view was just incredible. We also cantered quite a few times which scared me half to death because I have no experience in a saddle. I was positive I was going to fly right off but somehow I clung to GoGo (my horse) and survived! GoGo means Grandma in Zulu by the way. We rode past a pond full of hippos and right by the ocean. I can’t even decribe the feeling I had when I got on top of that horse and looked out to see AFRICA–pure and beautiful and completely untouched. No homes, no stores, so un-commercial, just so perfect.
