Journal of This Southern Africa Adventure
June, 2000
30 June
We visited Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park located in northern Kwazulu-Natal, with Sandy and Miguel Buchwald. This is South Africa's oldest game park.
We stayed about an hour away within a sugar cane and timber plantation in the small town of Melmoth. According to previous guests the cane rats taste better fried in butter than in oil.
We went to the small town of Hluhluwe, visiting the Ilala Weavers where we found the largest collection of traditional Zulu baskets in the world. These baskets are designed for weddings and other festive occasions. They are used for various purposes including carrying beer. Their tight weave make them leak proof.
The town of Hluhluwe (pronounced Sha-shlu-we) is very close to the Indian Ocean and the resort area of Lake Lucia. Upon asking a sales person at Ilala is this was a malaria area, I was told that her cousin had just died from it two weeks before. She indicated that she was extremely scared of catching the disease. Later, we drove the women home and met her small one year old baby. The people of her living area seemed delighted that we had driven her all of the way home. She was not married but that seems to be the way of life in this area.
Next month you will hear about the great disappointment of the South Africans when they lost (by one vote) the bid to host the 2006 (Soccer) World Cup.
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