south africa. [part two]

where did i leave off? oh yes, the game park! so we left the game park after an amazing three days and headed to the north coast for a week at the beach. 

have you heard the song 'knee deep' by the zac brown band? if not, click! anyway, it was stuck in my head every. single. day. we were at the beach. not a bad thing though!

 this here was our little piece of paradise. it was right on the beach, with very rickety steps down. it looked small from down on the beach, most likely because of the houses around it (huuuuge!), but it was perfect for us.

the rocky beach had tons of tide pools and little crawly creatures living in them. i almost stepped on this, and i have to admit, i freaked out! it was bigger than it looks!

also found on the rocks were fishermen. they would usually fish close to sunset, making for gorgeous silhouettes. (entering this in kate's little somethings photo challenge!)

meanwhile, i turned my eight year old cousins into little photographers (woo!). they were constantly taking pictures on my point and shoot, and they aren't bad! i have to laugh at the posing in some of them though: one boy on the beach, with his hands at his sides, standing very straight and tall, while the other takes the picture with no zoom from up at the house.

we took a trip to my dad's cousin's farm one day, where he grows gerber daisies. that greenhouse was the most gorgeous thing i've ever seen. 

the flowers grew in rows by color, and they were insanely healthy and colorful.

this picture makes me want to say "this one's just for you."

after, we headed to his house. he has a pet hawk. you don't see that everyday! 

the rest of our days were spent on the beach. it was breezy and cool, but the water was so warm! i was happy to sit with my feet in the warm sand and watch the water, but i did get soaked hunting for cowries (i found 52!) and i could get used to that temperature water!

one of the twins found this dead fish all wrapped up in some sort of shawl/wrap/scarf thing that had washed up. they had hoped it was alive, but were happy to show it to me for a picture anyway.

bricks were washed up all over. kind of interesting, kind of strange.

down the beach a little ways, the houses ended, and all you saw for miles was sugar cane growing along the coast. it rippled in the wind, and glowed in the setting sun.

being the middle of winter, the sun set around 5:30 each night. the moon became very visible even sooner than that, and the clarity was better than i've ever seen anywhere.

i never wanted to leave.

(thanks for all the comments yesterday, i love hearing what you think!)