Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Umkomaas /Mkomaasi River

According to the history King Shaka Zulu came home from a long travel with his Impis. They must have fought a juicy battle somewhere… why else would you travel with a whole platoon (Impi) of feared warriors. As they were passing the outlet of the river they saw lots of juvenile humpback whales breaching in the surface. They were so fascinated and watched it for quite some time. Shaka then gave the river the name Umkomaas, which means something like: “The river where the cow whales breach”.

More suiting the last few days than ever I'm sure with the giant waves (5-9m high!) that have "stricken" the Durban coast lately. I bet the whales have been washed far up the river... or on the beach...

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