So, now we can say we've been to Durban....

Upon our arrival to South Africa, Ben and I have received mixed reviews on Durban. Ranging from "the water is great!" "it's beautiful!" to "it's awful there." "no tourist should ever go there." We decided that it was worth a shot for our first three day weekend here in South Africa and booked a couple rooms at a Durban hotel with our friends, the Gaspers. After all, we all had a desire to at least see it for ourselves.

Another early Saturday morning for us as we again awoke early to make the 6 hour drive to Durban. Fortunately, neither of us drove as Chris (Gasper) took up that role. The drive was actually pretty nice. The first couple hours actually felt as though we were driving across the plains of Kansas! So that was a nice feeling. But it quickly turned into the hilly, mountainous land that perked up my senses. I love driving through the mountains...yes even amongst some crazy drivers, it is always an interesting drive! If you look at the picture below, you will see some intense fog that we drove through. It was crazy because the temperature dropped like 15* as we headed into the fog!


We actually did very well on our drive, only stopping once for fuel and bathrooms- they actually had a large playground for kids there to release their energy! Good idea! Props to SA! Of course, part of the reason we didn't require many stops was because we had loaded up on yummy snacks for the drive. :)

(Pic below reminded me of Tuccumcari Mountain from my old childhood family vacations through New Mexico!)


As we drove through the city streets of Durban, things started to look like the negative reviews of Durban were more accurate. Beggars lined the streets amongst trash and dilapidated buildings. It crushed my heart. But we kept driving and soon came upon our hotel located just basically on the beach. You could tell that our hotel had once been a beauty! Unfortunately, she has not been updated in some time. You can see the picture below of our "queen-sized" bed. HA!

Our things deposited into our rooms, we made the quick trek out to the beach to find some food. The "snacks" had worn off by then and we were in need of further substance. We settled on Steers, a chain burger restaurant. The difference between Steers in Joburg and Steers in Durban is the chips (french fries!). We ordered the large chips based upon the fact that Joburg gives out a very small amount. Durban is much more generous. We didn't eat half of them! Such a waste... As we ate our food, we were entertained by various street performers, including a man and some children who would balance on top of each other and do all sorts of amazing acts. I have never seen anyone so bendy and strong before! There were also sand-castle artists. I took a pic of my favorite.



Following lunch, we were unsure as to what to do next. We visited a pier...checked out the pool (err, more like a BATH tub, unfortunately!), and then ended back up in our rooms.

Instead of surfing the ocean and visiting the crowded beach, we surfed the Internet in search of activities for the next day and dinner for that night. We settled upon a restaurant located at the aquarium/water park...it was said to have view of sharks while we ate! Cleaned up and ready to go, we made our way to the ship restaurant. It appeared we were the first ones there for dinner...but they seated us as far away from the sharks as could be! In an empty restaurant...they said they were "completely booked." Bah! Oh well...the food was delicious! If only my migraine would not have kicked in....

Day two in Durban brought another early wake up call. We were going on an ocean safari! We made sure to get there on time- 15 minutes before departure of the boat. 15 minutes went by...then 30....it appeared someone was running late. The ship "safari guides" apologized for the other tourists who were running late, but we eventually made our way to the boat. I think we were all surprised to lay our eyes upon the "boat." It looked more like a motorized raft! And we were going to look for whales, sharks and dolphins in that! Whew! I set aside my fear, after all, they do this every day, right? And we boarded the boat...after the guys pushed it out to sea! There was just one other couple and a single man besides the four of us aboard the "boat." The guide plunged the boat into motion, and sent us flying over the HUGE waves. It was super fun! (similar to the makweti safari driver, Andrew, only on water). It was only when the boat would stop that the waves would become a bother to my tummy. But I survived. Unfortunately, one of the others appeared to be quite seasick. She didn't get sick, but it was apparent she was not feeling up to par. The guides didn't stop from the hunt, they just kept at it, searching. And then we saw a humpback whale...from a good distance. We couldn't get our cameras out because of the water and the fact that he was so far away. They told us that he would swim closer. He didn't. And he was the only one we saw on our two hour ocean safari. Oh well, I will almost say that the boat ride was worth the money in and of itself! So fun!

(Pic below is the boat we rode on our safari adventure. The two people were our Ocean Safari guides!)

The guides did allow us to whip out our cameras at the very end...so here are a couple we snapped right quick before PLUNGING onto the beach. Chris's face ended up in the male guide's rear end, seriously. Quite the memory!
After our boat ride, lunch time had arrived. I was just eager to get down to that beach! But, we put lunch aside for a walk through one of the "largest aquariums in the southern hemisphere." My. goodness. I have never been in such a confined area with so many bodies. Dirty diapers. Lack of deodorant. People were way intrusive on my bubble. My American sized bubble! I could hardly enjoy the fishes and sharks due to the bodies pressing against me from every angle. I was so happy to finally emerge from the underworld of stink! But, I did manage to at least get a couple of pics...
Anyway, by the time we were done with the aquarium, it truly was time for lunch. We wandered into the restaurant that appeared to have a view of the ocean: Moyo. But the food was not that great and we were surrounded by smokers. I have inhaled more cigarette smoke here in SA then I have in my entire lifetime.

Finally, lunch was behind us and we were able to get down to that beach! Of course, by the time we arrived, the beach was cluttered with bodies and the wind had picked up...the sun was already making it's departure for the day as well. But I was determined. We were at the ocean and that requires time on the beach, according to my book at least! And so we lounged in the windy cold for awhile, observing the many fellow beachies around us. People were playing with their dogs (allowing them to run off of the leash), running into the ocean (some kids naked), smoking.... I read, Ben slept. Until we finally just couldn't take it anymore...and then we returned to our hotel.

It seemed that we spent a lot of time eating on this trip. Because once we were back to the hotel, we showered up and prepared for dinner. As we got into our car to leave the hotel, a man approached our vehicle. We couldn't move without running him over, so Chris lowered his window about 1/2 an inch. The man gave some bogus story about being mugged and said that nobody would help him. Chris was able to back the car up within view of the hotel. Three security guards stepped out and the guy stayed a little while longer, until he realized Chris wasn't going to give him money. Then he ran off into the dark. Just a little scary... But we made it to dinner. We ate at a very yummy pizza restaurant, desert and all. It was a great way to conclude our day!

Then, as to be expected, our final day arrived. We allowed ourselves to sleep in just a bit and then made our way back down to the beach front for some last minute shopping. There are so many different trinkets and pieces of artwork to look at! And buy! We settled on a trio of wooden dishes with a floral design. I am sorry they aren't pictured, but I did toss in a couple of other pics for your perusal. The people in the pic are the Gaspers just ahead of us.

And so, that was that. While I love the beach, I am more partial to smaller crowds. Or no crowds. It's just not quite as enjoyable to be surrounded by so many people when all you want to do is slip away from the hustle and bustle for awhile... But, we can now say we have seen Durban.


(view from our hotel room!)