1st trip to the Indian Ocean

The day after Christmas we flew 1 hour to Durban, South Africa, for our first family trip to the Indian Ocean.  

We rented an apartment on the beach with a gorgeous view and spent time relaxing together. 

Adalyn has been to the beach before and loved it so we were hoping for the same with Grant.




















 He had such a huge smile when I put his feet in the water and even enjoyed taste testing the sand.

 

The Indian Ocean (at least in the Durban area) has huge waves of warm water so luckily our apartment overlooked tidal pools so the waves were broken up enough that you could swim and not worry about the strong tide pulling you back.  The tidal pools also offered the opportunity to explore sea creatures, though Adalyn only wanted to take home rocks.

During our vacation, we spent most of our time at the beach but also enjoyed the apartment complex’s pool.  

The back of the complex overlooked a nature reserve so there were monkeys all over.  

We were advised to keep our windows and doors shut at all times as the monkeys were quite keen on entering and scavenging for food. 

Monkey and her baby tucked in the front on our balcony.

Mark and I also had the opportunity to snorkel with sharks.  I found a company about an hour away farther south that had a snorkel and dive program with black tip sharks.  Luckily these sharks only eat fish and crustaceans so there was no need to be afraid.  After a safety briefing from our marine biologists our group of 10 (Mark and I went on separate days due to the kids), went to the beach to help get the rubber fishing boat out to sea.  Once fully in the ocean, the skipper fired up the motor and we went full throttle over the waves.  I am glad I took some motion sickness medicine and wore a pressure point bracelet as the amount of people getting sick from the constant rocking was almost comical.  Then again the lack of safety of this take off also made me laugh as it would never be allowed in the US (too many law suits I assume).

On the way out to the reef where the sharks hang out we saw dolphins jumping.  With our wet suits on and snorkels ready to go, we each slide off the boat and into the water.  Or course this was after first looking down to make sure we were not going to land on any sharks.  Seeing their fins out of the water made me timid at first, but I was all ready for the adventure and went in anyways.  The company had a log that you could hold onto or you could swim around on your own.  Honestly the sea sickness was better if you swam around and did not have a constant to hold onto.  For an hour we enjoyed swimming among the sharks and jelly fish.  Sadly I found out the hard way that I am hyper allergic to jelly fish and after being stung on the ear I broke out in a rash from my ear to my feet that itched like poison ivy.  But on the positive note, it was majestic to be able to swim with the sharks, they would come within inches of you and one brushed along Mark’s legs.  We were advised not to touch them and had to keep our hands near our body.  I was never scarred or concerned during our hour swim, just thrilled to have the opportunity to get that close to such beautiful creatures.

One day Mark and Adalyn ventured to the water park for the morning and that afternoon Grant and I joined them at the aquarium.  Both were quite nice and provided hours of entertainment.   

We also visited a few other beaches and shopping areas.  We walked to dinner almost every evening, stopping at the beach for a few pictures each time and appreciated the quality of seafood we found. 

 I am glad to have checked the Indian Ocean off my list of things to do while in South Africa.  I was surprised at how warm the water was and how early people start congregating at the beach, 6am and several families already marked their spot.  I hope we get to visit the Indian Ocean again as the sound of the waves were quite loud providing for restful nights and perfect mornings to wake to.