Having moved from Jo'Burg to Durban some of us were anticipating quieter times - with a game drive and river cruise on the itinery we expected a certain level of calm......how foolish of us!
The day began with a "quiet battle" in Jo'Burg airport regarding our luggage allowance. After some negotiation the airline deemed us to have a 40kg allowance and we moved to departures. seat allocation was some what spread and on this occasion we had no idea if all the boys had actually boarded. A brave parent stood up and asked all the Donny lads to show there hands. Suddenly we had at least 62 on tour! A mixture of our lads showing two hands and some South African men who wanted to join us.
Having landed in Durban we boarded a coach and made our way to St Lucia Estuary - our coach driver seemed to know where he was going so things were on the up. He expertly found the boat we were booked on and we began our cruise up the river. The captain asked us to make sure we kept the boat balanced i.e. not all standing on one side. This instruction was fine until we came across the first two crocodiles - you've guessed it we all moved to one side and the boat took a sudden lurch luckily the water was deep enough to cope with this.
The captain asked what we fed our players on he thought they were older than 16 and 17. He was advised pies - big ones and lots of them not steroids as he suggested.
As we moved sedately along the river we came across a group of hippo's. A fantastic sight! In particular we saw a mother and baby hippo basking in the late afternoon sun. So cute I can hear you say................umm. The opportunity to appreciate the size of a male hippo soon came our way. The resident male hippo took exception to our intrusion on his patch and let us know about it. He came out of the water opening his huge mouth and flashing his teeth at the same time we became aware of panic in the captain's voice. In desperation he ordered us all to move to the opposite side of the boat as we were stuck on a sand bank (with a hippo approaching this was not a good place to be) - apparently male hippo's break boats for fun!
After watching a spectacular sunset we set off to the Bushlands Lodge for a night in the bush. We were treated to an excellent 3 course meal followed by conversation around a camp fire. Some of the lads decided to try out the swimming pool whilst others enjoyed a beer or two.
An early start the next morning with a 5am alarm call making sure that most of us were at reception ready to leave at 5.30am. The jeeps were loaded with all but two lads, who was missing? So much for team spirit, in this instance with everyone wanting to get off on the game drive they soon identified who was late. The two culprits arrived 10 minutes late with packed suitcases ready for the journey. Josh Greaves and Ben Fairclough were told only kings and Queens take their worldly goods on safari.
The trip to the game reserve was an experience in itself. We were told to put on a warm top and that blankets would be available but we didn't realise we would be travelling on the main roads at 50/60 miles per hour in an open vehicle - it was freezing! Once on the game reserve the jeeps split up and went in search of the big 5. Everyone had their own stories to tell, each group seeing different animals. Giraffe, Elephant, Rhino, Zebra, Warthog buffalo.... to name but a few.
The adults, who foolishly were all on the same jeep, were treated to a fantastic display by another testosterone filled male. This time we were all engrossed by a bull elephant who was munching his way through several small bushes. As he did so moving closer to the track we were on. Word spread that he was there and we were joined by several other jeeps (not our lads).
Mister elephant clearly did not appreciate all this attention and decided to let us know. He walked onto the track in front of our vehicle angrily flapping his ears and waving his trunk. As his pace quickened so did our heart rate, we quickly realised that we were blocked in and that panic had set into the other drivers who were having immense difficulty reversing out of the way. This was heightened by the crashing and crunching sound of a jeep going over bushes and into trees. Our driver remained cool throughout - more than can be said for his passengers!! Photo opportunities were lost when non of us could hold a camera (apart from Paul Tinkler who thought the look on Scott Colbears face was priceless, he turned his camera to Scott and tried to capture the horror on his face). We are glad we lived to tell the tale, no doubt a dinner story for years to come.
Our next stop was Durban itself. This brought the delights of the coast and yet more opportunity to experience different activities. After checking into the Bluewaters Hotel, the lads went with John and Jack for a swim in the warm sea. After a short time in the water a lifeguard came running up to them shouting to "get out of the water" as they were swimming in an area without shark nets! The frantic efforts to get to the beach resembled a scene from JAWS. A mistake they would not make twice.
The next day the lads split up some opting to go onto the beach with body boards and rugby balls for a mixture of fitness activity, whilst the rest opted for a visit to the new football stadium. The cable car ride to see the views from the high arch viewing platform was the option taken by most of us whilst 3 brave lads, Tom Earnshaw, Chris Donk and Sam Colbear decided to take part in the high level bungee swing from the top of the arch down through the stadium. Chris said "that's the best 50 quid I have ever spent" and the smile on his face was priceless.
That afternoon saw our next game of rugby at the Crusaders Rugby Club. We arrived early to soak up the atmosphere and look at the standard of play in other games. The game started at 4pm, which was a relief to us as the temperature and humidity was causing us to over heat. The game was a very competitive and hard fought contest. The locals went ahead with some very nimble foot work from their back line who seemed to be able to change direction on a sixpence. Eventually we managed to pull the game back into the forwards and started to make in roads into their game plan clawing the points back slowly but surely. We eventually ran out winners at 14 points to 21.
The hospitality we enjoyed was superb we were treated to excellent food and plenty to drink after the match. We relaxed and soaked up the atmosphere for a few hours before making our way back to the hotel. For some this was not quite enough and a visit to a local nightclub was supervised by Jack a more than willing volunteer. The next morning we had a flight to catch so for those that got in at 3am it was hard to get up for the 8.30am departure time.
Injury Update
Danny Simpson - not recovered as well as we thought. A visit to Durban hospital confirmed he had broken his colar bone
Ben Fairclough - was desperate not to go to hospital in case his leg was broken............ update when we cover Cape Town!
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