Day 53, I never thought a journey from Mseleni to Durban would turn into a mini odyssey but that just shows what I know. The first of my visitors arrived yesterday and I thought it would be nice to meet them in Durban before we took the scenic route back up. Being automobile challenged I had arranged to hitch a lift with a colleague who goes to the city every weekend, the nicest option having being on call the night before. Of course his mother arrives to visit and for the first time in months he decides to spend the weekend in Mseleni.
With no one else going in my direction I had to try and make alternative arrangements. Friday of course was my flying day and I managed to finish my clinics and convince the pilot that I could get a lift back with him to their hangar at Hluhlwe, a tiny crossroads town about an hour south on the road to Durban. As sketchy as they maybe, in my infinite wisdom I thought I may be able to hop on to a minivan taxi. Admittedly I would have to sacrifice any sense of personal space in the hot and sweaty confines along with people’s monthly groceries and perhaps even small livestock.
Yet I was denied the opportunity to experience this as I when the plane landed and the pilots showed me to the taxi rank, there were none going towards Durban that evening. I would have to wait until the following morning before I could get one. I found myself stuck on my own, in a quickly emptying taxi rank in the dusk of Hluhlwe. Etienne, one of the Zumat Pilots I had met only minutes before, obviously took pity on me and graciously invited me to spend the night in his spare room.
My initial reaction, probably induced by my largely urban upbringing, was to be cautious of any such benevolence and check into one of the hotels in the area. Etienne pointed out that the hotels in the area would be expensive and that him and his wife were having friends over for a braai and that I would be more than welcome to join them. He also pointed out that he was doing a tourist run the following morning to Richards Bay which would get me a bit closer to my destination and the airport was big enough to have car rentals.
After brief contemplation I remembered my whole reason for being in Africa was doing things I never would have done back home, and accepted Etienne’s offer. We drove to his bungalow a short distance away and where I was greeted by his wife and two dogs.
Later that on their friends arrived and the braai was fired up. On hearing about why this random traveller had pitched up for dinner they made a few calls and it turned out some of their friends were heading down to Durban the following morning. My stress about the journey relieved I tucked into the braai and wine and found it surprisingly easy to spend the evening chatting away with them about topics ranging from my work at Mseleni, to the prospect of having a helicopter service to the clinics, to even the South African version of Pop Idol.
After a good night’s sleep I was up early yet again to get dropped off by Etienne at my ride’s home. They were a pleasant family of three heading to drop their son off at boarding school after half term. After a smooth further two hours I was finally in Durban and met my brother and sister-in-law.
It was at times farcical but not quite, there were planes and automobiles without the trains. I had heard about African Hospitality but it was down in Hluhlwe that I experienced the kindness of strangers.
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