#Vanlife fantastic

"Coming out of your comfort zone is tough in the beginning, chaotic in the middle, and awesome in the endbecause in the end, it shows you a whole new world."

From whale watching to slow boozy sunset cruises. Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge welcomed us with buckets filled with generosity and kindness and they let us play with their toys.

We were travelling north, we had not booked any campsites and we were not entirely sure where we were headed, but we continue ahead, escaping the everyday, escaping the mundane and looking for adventure - that illusive feeling of finding beautiful treasures hidden behind every turn and dirt road.

We did not have to travel far to find peace.

Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge is the perfect place to get away to find silence. The soft whispers of the Zinkwazi River and a distant cry of the Fish Eagle welcomed us. Long drawn out sunsets and magnificent skies made us stop in our tracks and begin to listen.

Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge is just 45 minutes from Ballito but its millions of miles away from the 'white noise' of suburban life. Situated just a short distance from the sea, it offers visitors a selection of affordable accommodation from campsites to self-catering chalets.

We were lucky to have had this place almost to ourselves, sharing it only with a few Dutch tourists and the wildlife of course. Sunset cruises, gourmet meals from their Raffia Restaurant and lazy sundowners, we come to Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge to chill.

We took advantage of the windless evening and made a big fire in front of our Maui campervan and sat around listening to the sound of nature. No one spoke and there was nothing to say, there truly is nothing like silence and within minutes we were melting into our seats our eyelids as heavy as lead, all that was left to do was to crawl into the camper and snooze those heavies away.

Morning found us awake at dawnfresh as spring chickens ready for adventure. Cackling around, tidying up and preparing for the day. We took a short trip across the lagoon to the beach, splashed around in the freezing water while ducking the speedboats and Frisbees from the Sugar Bay Campers.

We really did not want to leave. So we took the last slow cruise down the river, tried to embrace everything around us. Tried to remember what we felt and how important it is to sometimes run away from everything we know and experience some disconnect. It was good!

Next week we were to arrive in Mtunzini where we would find chaos.

Contact Maui Camper Hire for your own adventures on 011 - 230 5005 or visit their website a t https://www.maui.co.za