Oh, how time flies

So... I guess it's been about a week since my last post, but it feels like only two days ago. Since then I've stayed in three other cities! After you last heard from me we went to Giant's Castle, and I did see some baboons! The scenery there was absolutely phenomenal... God is so awesome to create places like that! We were in the Drakensburg Mountains among gorgeous green (monstrous) hills and valleys with streams and waterfalls running through and along them. I got such a sunburn on a day-long hike, but it was well worth it (and so will be the resulting tan, hopefully). Megan, Prenita and I hiked to some fresh water pools where we cooled off in the clear water (but I won't romanticize the awful stones I had to walk on, barefoot...). While walking back to the camp it started to storm, but luckily none of us was struck by lightning (a legitimate concern, haha). I believe the hike was about 15 miles in all.
Then after a day and a half in Giant's Castle we made our way to Ulundi, the capital of the Zulu kingdom. And now we're in Durban on the beach. : ) My hotel room is on the 16th floor, and my view is unbelieveable. This is the nicest hotel we'll be staying in, so I should enjoy it for these two nights but not get used to it!
Today we visited a market where traditional African healers were selling their herbs and animal parts, and we talked to a Sangoma (healer). Apparently some rituals require the consumption of animal parts by eating, smoking or inhaling them, and some require the consumption of human parts! : / I learned some truly disturbing crap today. There were dead bats, monkeys, vultures, ostriches, and even horse parts hanging everywhere, and the heat made the market smell SO jank. But that's culture for you. And back to the cannibalism business-- we learned that some traditional beliefs hold that human parts are necessary for certain healing rituals. So a "healer" (witch doctor) will hire someone to go find a person whose parts they will take while the person is STILL ALIVE. Usually the liver is taken, and then the lungs and heart (so the person obviously dies), and it is said that the louder the victim screams, the more powerful the medicine will be. Truly gruesome, huh? Oh, tradition...
Durban is really interesting because it is about 50/50 Africans and Indians, and the cultures merge quite nicely. We've seen some Hindu temples and mosques, and there is a LOT of walking barefoot. I'm 99% sure I'm coming home with hobbit feet. Haha, but really.
Well anyway, I have a religion test tomorrow morning and a psych paper due, so I'd better go back to the hotel to study! Miss you all more than you know. Salaam.