Amatikulu

They obviously breed them hardy up North. That can be the only explanation for planning a camping weekend safe in the knowledge that the weather is going to be completely pish. A wee bit of rain never stopped us before, so as Saturday morning dawned, we packed our dookers (that's swimming costumes for all you non-Banffers) and prepared to get wet. Hermann went by motorbike so that there was room for Kath, Jonny & Hannah in the Tuscon. Two flat tyres later, and we had made it to Ballito! Luckily, we had to stock up on supplies anyway, so we had an hour break en-route while the tyres got plugged for R40 i.e. £3.08. An hour later we had all arrived safely at our destination - Amatikulu.

There isn't much game there - just the odd zebra and bush buck, but the main attraction of the reserve are the tents perched approx 10 feet off the ground, on large wooden verandas connected by boardwalks. There were great views over the forest canopy. Unfortunately we didn't see much of them due to the stress involved in containing Anya and Hannah. Safety barriers were non existant!! Luckily, the kitchen and dining room were in a separate bungalow so we could let them off the leash for some of the time.

We had a braai planned for later that evening. And, despite the stop over in Ballito we had somehow forgotton to buy charcoal. Even worse, the beer stocks were getting low!!!! Hermann and Jonny were sent back out to rectify the situation while we explored the riverside. Funnily enough they were back in no time, having found some dodgy shebeen up the road. They bought a selection of beers and Savannah's - all stinking of rotten meat. God knows what sort of freezer they were being stored in, but it says something about our state of mind, that after a quick wash in the sink, we drank them anyway. By this point the continuous rain had the added benefit of making absolutely everything damp. Including the beds. It was like sleeping on a sponge. I think I maybe got about 2 hours sleep.

Nevertheless, we were all up bright and possibly breezy (that would be the beer talking) on Sunday morning, eager to enjoy our trip to the beach. We weren't going to let just any old horizontal rain stop us. We decided that the beach proper was just a bit too far for the kiddies, so opted for a trip to the sandbar in the middle of the river instead. After dire warnings about the presence of crocodiles and bilharzia, we hired a canoe. Maybe hiring one canoe for 4 adults and 2 babies was not wise. Kath, Hannah, Anya and I attempted to paddle to the sandbar, canoes stuffed with bags, towels and shoes etc etc. I'd like to blame the presence of 2 small people on our inability to paddle, but in actual fact we managed to ground ourselves at least twice with very little interference. The boys were no help. Despite many pleads to come and save us - the water was only ankle deep - they left us to sink. In the end, Kath got out to push. We did check for crocodiles first. Eventually Hermann and Jonny hired a second canoe and joined us on the sandbar, where Anya threw herself face first into the bilharzia infested river (?!) and Hannah made sandcastles. The boys paddled round the sandbar until the kids had turned blue and it was officially time to turn back. I think this whole saga may have taken only an hour........

Warmed up and dried off, we headed out of the reserve and up the coast to the Prawn Shack for lunch. We didn't know what to expect. We certainly didn't expect to still be eating 4 hours and 7 courses later. We had lunch on the upper deck of the restaurant veranda. Anya and Hannah had a brilliant time dancing to reggae and shaking their maraccas. We had an interval down at the beach. The sun came out. There was a dog. All in all, it was Anya's recipe for a perfect afternoon.

On Monday morning Hermann headed back to Durban for work, while the rest of us went to Shakaland - not near Eshowe. In fact, despite the local attraction of the Super Rooster (its clucking good), there's not much to do in Eshowe. And Shakaland is nowhere near. Shakaland is in fact beside some orange trees. Despite Hermann's best directions we did eventually find the place, but it did involve winding down the window and accosting every passer by we saw.

As expected the dance show was the best bit. Hannah alternated between holding her hand over her ears in abject terror and clapping her hands. Anya was desperate to dance but didn't quite have the courage so bounced up and down while sandwiched between my legs. The buffet gave us all the squirts (lovely) but we still enjoyed it. Needless to say, we were all completely knackered when we finally got back to Durbs - but a very enjoyable start to Kath & Jonny's visit to SA!