Sunday 29th October 2017
Phinda Game Reserve to Umhlanga

We are marshalling again this morning, seeing all the cars off at the Main Time Control.

But first it was an early morning game drive and what a finale it was. We started off looking for the cheetah and her cubs which some trucks had seen yesterday afternoon. No luck finding them.

The highlight was coming across a lioness suckling a two month old cub. Apparently there were a few more cubs but they couldn't be seen amongst the bushes. Another lioness was resting nearby. The ears on mother and cub were twitching. Mother turned her head and in the blink of an eye she was off after a warthog. The warthog squealed, the birds twittered and the lion had the warthog in her mouth. The guides hadn't seen a lion kill since March so we were quickly off to get a better view.

                                             Lioness resting with her cub

                                             The two month old cub

                                                                Catching the warthog

Our presence didn't disturb the lioness as she dragged the warthog to a more secure spot near some dead tree branches and chomped into it with blood all over her face. The other lioness came closer but was warned off by the deep growl of the killer. The cubs stayed where they were, apparently too young to eat meat yet.

Packing up this morning I noticed an unusual cream coloured frog sitting on our balcony railing. At first we thought it was plastic but I was sure it wasn't there yesterday or maybe someone was playing tricks. It moved slightly when touched so it was real!

After breakfast we made our way to the N2 exit and took up our position as marshalls.

After all the cars had been stamped and timed off we followed. Heading for Hluhluwe we passed acres of pineapples growing. These are much smaller than the ones grown in Australia and are yellower. Stalls along the side of the side were selling them, despite road signs indicating "no roadside stalls"!

On the way to Mtunzini we passed hundreds of acres of pollarded gum trees, and also timber yards selling the finished product.

We had lunch at the Mtunzini Country Club and met up with Richard (Inca Rally) who lives nearby and is an ex-President of the Club. 

After a few kms on the N2 we exited onto the R66 and drove through lush green paddocks growing sugar cane which was thriving in the rich black soil. A few toll roads later we reached Umhlanga on the Indian Ocean where we are staying for two nights.

The Oyster Box Hotel (Tollman family ownership) was built in the 1950's and the decor is Hollywood style. Our room is painted candy pink with white furniture. The balcony looks over the ocean with the old lighthouse nearby. Many container ships are still anchored offshore (as many as 25 in one count).

Not long after we arrived we heard that Stephen & Samantha in the Datsun 240Z had had an accident. They were turning right when a local car overtook them and slammed into the driver's side. They were not seriously hurt but the car was badly damaged but still driveable. The driver of the other car was driving barefoot, had unrestrained children in the car and had apparently been drinking. The police were at the scene.