Back online

I did not post anything the past 5 days because I was stranded in a big cabin on a beautiful river, out in the middle of nowhere with no access to the Internet. It was warm and sunny during the day and cool and crisp at night. Nothing around but rolling hills and tall grass. No sounds but birds, bugs and river. And no electric light to drown out the tiny stars in the night sky that I never get to see in NY. Torturous, I know. But it wasn't all cool breezes and river swims. Most of it was utter chaos.

I'll break it down by day.

Thursday: In Hilton – wedding preparation madness. Went out with Krista in the morning to pick up fire barrels and picnic food. Crafted centerpieces the rest of the day (approximately 6 hours of wrapping wire around sticks).

Thando and stick village.

 Around 9pm, finished centerpieces and jigsaw puzzled wedding supplies (there is a bug crawling across my screen) and passengers into two cars and set out on the two hour drive to the Uzimkulu River Lodge.

We arrived there quite late (around 12pm), unloaded all of the supplies at the big cabin (party central) amidst a small group of sleeping wedding guests occupying couches and floor space in the living room. The sleepers seemed relatively undisturbed by our activity, so having eaten nothing but peanut butter sandwiches all day, we decided to make dinner. I don't remember what we ate, but I know we ate something, and it was awesome. Then it was off to another cabin to sleep, finally.

Friday: After 4 solid hours of sleep we were up again. Ate a quick, delicious breakfast made by Uzimkulu's very kind, very patient overseer, Steven, then promptly piled into a couple of 4x4s with a small crew of wedding guests and set out for Sani Pass.

View from Sani Valley Lodge.

Sani Pass is a dirt road that ascends the Drakensburg mountains from South Africa into Lesotho. It can be driven, biked or hiked. We drove. On the road there are two border checkpoints – the entrance to the pass and the entrance to Lesotho. A passport is needed for both.

The road ahead.

The valley.

The views on the trip up the pass were absolutely stunning, but the landscape at the top was mind blowing. It felt as if I had stepped onto another planet.

Eastern Lesotho Highlands.

Saturday: Wedding explosion. Arrived at party central in the morning to finish up the centerpieces to a flurry of frantic activity – half-dressed bridesmaids frying chicken feet; late-night helpers passed out around the house; missing plates and silverware. Long story short, I missed most of the wedding to make sure there would be a reception. I arrived at the ceremony (hair still soaking wet from a 3 minute shower) just in time to see Zinny and Xolani walk back down the aisle as husband and wife.

Flower girls.

Mr. and Mrs. Zulu

After shuttling more food and supplies back and forth between the house and the reception area at the riverside behind the house, I finally got a chance to enjoy (inhale) some food and wine with the rest of the wedding team and dance to the smooth beats of DJ Sweet (iTEACH's very own, Sandile). I'm proud to say that I held my own on the dance floor of a Zulu wedding.

Reception on the river.

Sunday: Wedding number two: the Umabo. Animals were slaughtered, new family members were accepted, gifts were given, and Xolani was chased by women trying to hit him with sticks (Krista got him good). Neighbors from the surrounding area came to the event to help prepare and share food, and to see all of the crazy white people in attendance. Apparently, we were that talk of the town. It's rather unusual for one white person to attend a traditional Umabo, let alone a dozen.

There were so many things happening at the same time, it was difficult to decide where to be and what to watch. All of it was entrancing and everything (except maybe the slaughtering) was beautiful – the people, their dress, the landscape, the singing, the dancing (high Zulu kicks), and the symbolism of each wedding ritual. I feel very fortunate to have been a part of it all.

The neighbors.

Ritual slaughtering.

Ladies hanging out in the rondavel.

The Zulu family.

Xolani and his girls.

Taking a break in the tall grass.

After the wedding a much smaller group returned to the big house. Since we had done more running around than sleeping the past few days, we all decided to stay another night to rest up and enjoy the area around the lodge. Gathered around the kitchen table in our pajamas, we set out to finish all of the wine leftover from Saturday's reception. We were not successful in our endeavor, but we were rewarded with many laughs and great conversation. It was the perfect end to an unreal weekend.


Monday: I was expecting to wake up to a relatively calm house, make some coffee and start packing the car to go, but due to unfortunate, outstanding circumstances, we did not leave on Monday as planned. I will not go into detail about this, out of respect for those involved.

While the morning was a bit frantic, the rest of the day was blissfully free and calm. I spent hours walking the grounds, swimming in the river, and laying in the grass.

Big house backyard.

There was a great spot just a short walk down river with deep water and high rocks. Climb up rocks; jump in; lazy river along with the current to the end of the channel. Repeat.

The day ended with a late family dinner (the guys encountered some car trouble in the evening – trouble is putting it lightly) and a fire for s'mores – or s'moos as our South African host, Steven took to calling them – on the back deck. We still didn't finish the wine, but we sure did try.

Tuesday: Time to go. Sadly. Finally. Determined to squeeze every last ounce of fresh air and fun out of the long, wild weekend at Umzimkulu River Lodge, a fellow friend of the bride (and now friend of mine) and I set out for a run along the paths at the top of the river gorge. Curiosity quickly took hold and our run turned into a scramble through brush and along rocks. Two hours later, we arrived back at the lodge a little roughed up by very happy.

A little mud, a little blood.

We finally packed the cars and said goodbye to Uzimkulu. Once back at Krista's house we unloaded everything and went straight to local soccer match – Martizburg United v. Amazulu. Clearly, no one in our group likes to sit still for long.
 
And now, it's back to reality, kind of.