The Royal Swazi

On Tuesday, Jason and I took another lap around the links. This marked the third time we’ve taken our part-time employed selves out for a round of golf. And honestly, every time, we walk away saying that ‘we should do this more often!’ It is just that enjoyable. So, let the record show, for all of the tantrums I threw and for all of the whining that may or may not have taken place on the practice tee/putting green when I was little; thank you Mom and Dad. I am very happy that I learned to play this seemingly frustrating game VERY early in life because now I can enjoy it. As a kid, it was really the ‘being quiet and well behaved’ part that was slightly inconvenient. Golf etiquette is serious and not something that I really wanted to deal with as a kid. I mean, why can’t you run on a green? It is so nice and trim and just begging to be torn across. These were the thoughts that I remember having as a say, ten year old dragging my 6 clubs around 3 holes because that’s about as far as I ever made it. Alas, now I am an adult and seeking out this sport in Swaziland.

The first couple of times that we played, we played the municipal course in town. But, since we felt that we had graduated to the big times, we drove into the Ezulwini Valley and tee’d-off on the Royal Swazi. Lucky for us, it was a weekday morning and there wasn’t a lot of competition.

Not too much else to report – other than the Diet Cokes in the halfway house were ZAR17. They are usually ZAR 6 at a gas station or in the store, so this was quite a ‘Royal’ mark-up. And, we lost 2 balls on the FIRST hole (I blame the leaves on the ground). And, we might’ve had a ‘snowman’ or two…I can’t remember, exactly. But, the views were amazing and it was just another great day in Swaziland.

The Secret Spot

Since our arrival in Swaziland (as crazy as this may sound), Doug and I have only gone on ONE vacation by ourselves. ONE. And, if you’ve been following the blog at all, you know that we’ve been on a million vacations and weekend getaways. The fact is, we have an awesome community of expatriates and we all like to travel. So, one way or another, it always goes from being a vacation for 2, to a vacation for say, 8 to 10 to 25. True story. Last September when we went to Ponta D’Oura in Mozambique there were 25 of us. Nuts. I know. So, last weekend, Doug and I took Friday off from work and skipped out of town on Thursday (since it was a national holiday in celebration of the previous King’s Birthday) and drove down the coast of South Africa to a place called, ‘The Secret Spot.’ I’ll let the secret out of the bag, now and tell you that it is 60km north of Durban on what is referred to as the ‘North Coast.’ Specifically, we were staying in ‘Shaka’s Rock,’ but like I said, Durban was just a few more exits down the highway. As anyone who has ever met Doug knows, he loves to surf (and even that might be an understatement). Considering we live around the corner from some of the world’s most famous surf spots from Richard’s Bay to Jeffrey’s Bay, etc. Doug and I decided to make our second vacation together a surf trip. You should probably read ‘surf trip’ and think ‘beach trip’ because one of us was surfing and one of us was on the beach reading, crocheting, napping – you know, generally working pretty hard to pass a lazy day in the sun. Rough.

We arrived just after 1:00pm on Thursday afternoon and the winds were pretty strong and blowing in the wrong direction (onshore = bad), so we checked into our little cabin at The Secret Spot Backpackers. Doug sorted out a board rental and spoke to the Spot’s surf instructor about good, local breaks for the morning. That night we ventured into the neighboring town of Ballito for dinner and had sushi (of course). It is safe to say that I love sushi as much as Doug loves surfing, so we were both pretty happy about our little weekend getaway at that point…

On Friday morning we got up early to catch a morning surf session before the tides changed and made the waves less favorable. We were out the door by 8:00am and headed to the first recommended break called, Salt Rock. After parking and checking out the waves, Doug went over to talk to the lifeguards before unloading his kit. Now, before I share what came next, let me just tell you that Doug has this reoccurring ‘nightmare’ in which he is trying to go surfing and keeps getting held up by errands (like, before he can go surfing he has to go to the grocery store – or to the dry cleaners – or worse yet, to BOTH). Like I said, ‘nightmare.’ With this in mind, you’ll now be able to feel some compassion for Doug as the lifeguards explained to him that the beaches were CLOSED all the way from ‘South Coast’ to Richard's Bay because the sardines were migrating and the shark nets had to be lifted.

Let’s just think about that for a moment. Beaches. Closed. All of them. For 100km in either direction. Sharks. No nets. Sardines. Sardines. Sardines.

It was a sad moment in the life of Douglas Blank, for sure. Alas, we decided to check out a couple of other breaks to see if anyone else was out (because it’s not like the lifeguards know anything, anyways), but nobody was. Deflated, we ventured back to the backpackers in order to make a new plan. I mean, the point was a ‘surf trip’ and there was seemingly not going to be any surfing. We got on-line and talked to a few other guests at the backpackers, including the owner, and the general recommendation was that the beaches were closed as a precaution because the sardines were in South Coast and we were just up the way in North Coast. After some pretty feverish but fruitless hunting for breaks further up the coast, we decided that we’d stay and simply try to go scuba diving to see the phenomenon of the ‘sardine run,’ instead. You know, to make lemonade out of our little lemons we’d just been handed. We made arrangements to get on a dive boat on Sunday morning and after a quick lunch decided to head out to the beach for the rest of the day.

I’m not going to lie; Doug did bring a surfboard, ‘just in case.’ Who can blame him? We’ve lived in a landlocked country for exactly 12 months and the boy is used to being in the ocean 2, 3, 4 times per week. I also know that some of you reading this are like, are you crazy? Sharks. No nets. Sardines. Sardines. Sardines. But, I assure you, after talking to lots of other surfers and locals, it seemingly was really just a precaution. So, off we went to Salmon Bay and off Doug went to ride a few waves. The only condition was that there had to be other surfers in the water, too, because this would decrease his chances of being the one eaten by a shark. Because that makes sense. Okay, I’ll stop.

Long story short, Doug ended up getting in 3 excellent sessions at Salmon Bay over the course of the rest of the weekend, and fortunately, no sharks visited us in North Coast (at least, as far as we know). It was touch and go there for a bit on Friday morning, but we rebounded and had a great time at the beach, watching movies and eating sushi – just the two of us. And on Sunday, when some weather rolled in and our dive trip was cancelled, we just hopped in the car and headed back for Swaziland all the while discussing whether we should come back again next weekend in order to try to dive with the sardines…I told Doug that we could only come back if we went to the grocery store and the dry cleaners, first.

Main entrance to the backpackers

Back patio

Shared kitchen

Pool

Our cabin

Bedroom

Zoe. She followed us everywhere! There were 5 assorted dogs on the property, but Zoe took a liking to us...

Please don't leave...

The couple who own the backpackers have three children - all grown. One of them, Tammy, has been cleaning-up on the girl's surf circuit in South Africa. For example, she's won every 'under 12, under 16, under 20, etc.' tournament ever. Here's her car...that's her on the side, a la the local Mazda dealership.

Driving to Salt Rock and our first sight of the ocean

Ballito

First surf session, Salmon Bay

Doug says that he was timing the set of waves to wait for the optimal time to paddle out, but I think he was contemplating his mortality...

Paddling out

Waiting for a good set

Paddle, paddle, paddle. Almost.

Surfing, at last. You can almost hear his sigh of relief...

Sodwana Bay, South Africa

Thirteen of us escaped the frigid Mbabane winter this past weekend and dashed for the beach in Sodwana Bay, South Africa. It was a much needed respite from the cold and with such good company, scuba diving, and the final World Cup matches it was a great weekend. We all caravanned after work on Friday evening and arrived at Mseni Lodge just after 9:00pm. They were kind enough to keep the kitchen open for us, so we had a nice group dinner without having to do any work.

Due to our large numbers, we had two houses. Doug and I stayed with Stephanie, Michelle and Jenny in the 5-person house. The house was a two bedroom, but in order to squeeze another person in, they had positioned a single bed in the 'foyer' as you entered the front door and across from the bathroom. From the bed, one could open the fridge; however, you couldn't close the door. If it was a bedroom, it was a stretch. Jenny was gracious enough to claim this spot as her own.

Doug and I stayed in the double room

And here are a couple of more shots of the place, including the kitchen and bathroom

On Saturday morning, we had to be at the beach by 8:00am in order to prepare for our scuba diving adventures.

Sunrise from the balcony

We went diving in Sodwana Bay last December, but since the reef (named ‘2 Mile’) has multiple sites and is obviously 2 miles long, it takes a couple of trips to conquer the reef. We had enough divers to fill a boat, so it was really fun to be able to dive with all of our friends.

Erin (PAC Doctor), Tini (Economist), Jenny (Economist) and Stephanie (PAC Doctor)

'Kitting-up' as they say...or...getting ready (Erin, Garrett - Clinton Foundation, Tao - Computronics)

Getting into the wetsuit is the hardest part

Nick (Technoserve)

I'm sure I'm making some type of point, here...or just telling Doug what to do...

All ready (except Garrett, as he doesn't dive)

Dive boats

Loading the tractor to load the dive boats

Launching the boat

The diving was awesome over the course of the weekend. We saw a rare, leatherback turtle, an octopus, eel, swimming devil rays, and zillions of fish

After our Saturday morning dives, Doug, Shaun and Garrett rented surfboards. Doug surfed while Shaun and Garrett took a surf lesson

Shaun and Garrett posing as surfer dudes

Waiting for waves

Doug, riding the whitewater in

Getting out of the water

Posing with Little Lemmy. Doug is happiest when his car looks like this...

Garrett, waving his 'Big 5' towel - that cost $30 at the local super market. Ouch.

How an afternoon after the beach should be spent...reading and napping...

After another morning dive and surf session on Sunday, it was time to load up the cars and to make our way back to Swaziland in time for the World Cup Finals. Monkeys are very mischievous in Sodwana and Shaun accidentally left the rear, car door window open...which meant a little mischief for Lemmy. Here's the scene of the crime...

And the monkey running to the front seat upon my arrival at the back window

Returning to the backseat

Finally settled and wondering what I'm going to do with him

The little treat he left behind after eating all of our snacks and playing inside of our car. GROSS.

Another great road trip and beach weekend!