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| Durban Waterfront with Tugs |
After numerous lectures on South Africa we finally made it
to our first port of call, Durban. We had learned of Apartheid,
Mandela, gold and diamond mines, the "Big 5", Zulus and Bantus. In
some ways, it was a little intimidating, but we were ready and
excited.
ShakaWorld, named after a Zulu King Shaka was a water park at one
end of the wide brick promenade along a mile of beautiful sandy beaches. The
park itself was closed for the night, but several of its restaurants and shops
were still open and the walk through the shops, and then along the mile-long
walk called the Golden Mile was busy with families, groups of teens, and an
occasional tourist mainly from our ship. There was an exercise class and kids playing soccer on the wide brick path. After walking
a half mile we passed a closed restaurant/bathroom building, and someone yelled out that walking here was dangerous. With that, Mark decided it was time
to get back to the ship since we were still getting our bearings as to how to navigate this city.
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| Oribi Gorge |
We were up bright and early the next morning, excited to get out to the countryside to hike the Oribi Gorge. It didn't take long to see that our guide was in the wrong business. He had lived through the end of
apartheid, and expressed his sadness for losing what had been a wonderful life
for “everyone” back then, when “everyone was happy and there was no
crime”. Other than this, he gave almost no information during the two-hour drive but it was interesting seeing the countryside with many townships and then the beach and other wealthy communities so close
together.
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| Homes of the poor... |
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| ...and rich dotted the Landscape |
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| Eucalyptus Logs for Oil...Endless Sugar Cane Fields |
We drove west into a sea of sugar cane fields. Machines now do the work that first slaves, then the Bantus, and when they refused, indentured servants once did. The indentured servants were brought over from India. Many made enough money to start their own businesses and as a group now are doing very well living in their own neighborhoods of beautiful houses in the suburbs. The vast majority of whites also live out of town, the homes of both groups protected by 8-foot tall brick walls with electric fences on top, many with military type barbed wire encircling these twice. The
sugar cane fields are slowly being replaced by Eucalyptus trees,
harvested for their oils and wood, and also by fruit and Macadamia nut trees
which we passed along the way.
When we arrived at Oribi Gorge, they weren’t expecting our
group of 15. After 30 minutes of confusion, we drove back to another area
which was not the right place either. After 30 more minutes of confusion, our group decided to stay and take a hike offered here at what seemed like a fun
park, not the National Park we were expecting, but better than nothing.
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| Scary! |
In
groups of six, we crossed the 100-yard suspension bridge, which swung and tilted
with each step, 1300 feet above the river gorge. Mark
did his best not to look down. One of the workers demonstrated the free fall
pendulum type drop off the edge, but none of us took him up on trying it
ourselves.
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| Adventuresome Couple at Hanging Rock |
We then walked a rugged trail along the sandstone cliffs to the Hanging Rock and then back again. The hike was fun, and the scenery amazing. It was our first real mix up, on a Viking tour. Surprisingly, our whole group seemed to take it in stride although there must have been complaints since that evening we got a letter of apology from the manager along with a full refund...totally unnecessary. We had an incompetent guide, a shorter hike, and no lunch, but it was good for us to skip a meal, and we had had a perfectly wonderful day.
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| Loads of Large Anthills |
Stone Face
Reminiscent of
New Hamshire's
Old Man of the
Mountain
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| WaterFall Next to Where one Could Bungee Jump |
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| Oribi Lodge Hotel Patio...Closed for Lunch |
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| Pier with Restaurant by Shaka World |
Upon our return, we went right back to the beach promenade. It was a beautiful Sunday and the beach was busy. Carol happily swam although the power and
frequency of the wave action were a bit intimidating. The wind dried her off as
we walked the promenade again with the setting sun.
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| Ceremony at the Beach |
We love this promenade so alive with families swimming, fishing, biking, and just enjoying the night. Once again, it was 99.9% black or Indian, with only a few whites, probably tourists. We speculated that the whites, 15% of Durban, must live outside the city.
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| Water Park for Children |
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| Garden Along Promenade |
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| Skate Park |
We walked past the huge children's waterpark and skateboard park and garden and were lured over to a big fenced in area by party music. Over the fence were thousands of people dressed in white from head to toe at what we thought must be a wedding. Later when we asked two women in white on the promenade, they said it was "The Great White Dinner". People bring their own food and friends, and wine, dine and dance the night away in a different, but elegant setting once a year. Did I mention we LOVE this place?!
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| Great White Dinner |
The following day we headed to Zulu country...The Valley of a Thousand Hills. This time the bus took us straight north of Durban passing a HUGE mall, townships and mansions, beautiful farm fields, and highway vendors selling mostly avocadoes.
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Zulu Dance Depicting Courtship and Wedding...
Valley of Thousand Hills Behind |
Phelzulu Safari Park had several moats with Nile Crocodiles, the largest and most common in Africa as well as tortoises and snakes and many Zulu beehive huts.
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| One way to cool off |
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| Life of a tortoise |
Zulu dancers put on a show depicting the courtship and marriage of a Zulu couple, one scene demonstrating the man asking the prophet to cast the bones to see if this marriage was a wise move. (Some passengers complained it was similar to the ship’s Zulu dancers so demanded their money back.) We enjoyed the show impressed with the high kicks of the dance, loved our British tea and scones, and had a great conversation with one man about his culture. He explained the Zulus have a king and under the king nine chiefs. When a man marries, he goes to the king and asks for land. He is granted permission to build a house if the land he chooses has not already been claimed. He can't claim land before marriage. Polygamy is still practiced. Zulu is one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. He demonstrated the different clicks made with the tongue for letters K, and Q. It is an amazing language.
Again we enjoyed the sights on the way home...industrial areas including an enormous Toyota plant and Sugar Mill and the old city center. Most businesses and offices have moved to a northern part of Durban.
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| Sugar Warehouse Loading Ocean Vessels |
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| Toyota's Huge Factory |
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| Local Market under Freeway |
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The City Center...Most Businesses
have moved to the Northern
part of the city |
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Where Gandhi Lived and
Worked as a Lawyer |
We drove along the waterfront down the oldest avenue in Durban called the Victoria Embarkment, or the Esplanade, lined with Victorian and art deco buildings, now unsafe to walk with addicts looking for drug money. South Africa faces terrible poverty, drugs, aids, and immigration problems with people coming from Mozambique and other north African countries in search of employment...so many of the issues we face in the US... yet more difficult with serious government corruption.
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| Evening Performance on Board the Sun by Zulu Dancers |
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