After our scheduled tour of Cape Town, all of us were given the opportunity to do whatever we would like for the next six days until school started up again on the following Tuesday. While some people chose to stay in Cape Town, ten of us girls wanted to hop on a plane on go to Durban, a city in the KwaZulu Natal province located on the Eastern coast of South Africa. Durban is known for their really warm beaches, big city and has the second largest Indian population, after the country of India itself. The culture in Durban would be a lot different than in PE or Cape Town.
Woke up at 3 am on Wednesday. I must have been really anxious to leave for Durban. So I showered and got ready. Good thing I did, because not everyone was awake yet. We were leaving at 5 am, so I went around at 4:30 to make sure everyone was up. It was a bit of a struggle, but we did leave by 5:15. Luckily, our flight that was supposed to be at 6:30 was delayed until 7. Immediately, all 10 of us tired and sleepy girls sat down at the local chain coffee shop called Mugg and Bean. I ordered a delicious Rocky Road Mocha and Hannah and I split lemon poppy seed and blueberry muffins. It was definitely what we all needed to wake ourselves up.
Our flight ended up going really fast. All 10 of us slept the entire 90 minutes. Great opportunity for a nap. Our taxi ride was very long, but we got to drive past some of the main city in Durban. I was excited to see where we would be staying for the next three nights. Unfortunately, Banana Backpackers did not quite meet any of our expectations. Our hostel was located in downtown central Durban, definitely not the cleanest or safest place for a bunch of American girls. The place looked and felt like a very old run down hotel. I believe they used paint as their way to ‘fix it up.’ Everywhere was painted with really fun colors. For example, each room had a window with a colorful design around it. We were Room 6. I tried to give them credit for it, but the quality of everything else was just not up to par. But, oh well, we decided to tough it out for a night and see if it got any better.
The first thing we did in Durban was go to the Durban Botanic Gardens. At first, it looked really small from the outside, but once inside I realized how big it was. I even got lost a couple of times. The trees were all so tall and beautiful. Also, it was finally warm again! Cape Town weather was just awful, but we were all wearing tank tops and shorts in Durban – it felt like South Africa again. The plants and flowers were all so unique. We saw some pretty crazy trees, too. The flowers were all really colorful, vibrant and so pretty. Visiting the botanic gardens was a nice way to relax and just enjoy the nature.  |
| One of the craziest trees I saw in the Durban Botanic Gardens. |
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| Some of the art at the BAT Centre |
Towards the afternoon, we went to this place called the BAT Centre. It was an arts center, filled with local artists and their work, a place for musicians to practice and perform and there was a dance studio as well. Unfortunately, when we went most of the centre was closed. There were a couple of art studios open though. They did a lot of lino-cut work. We heard some jazz music going on somewhere, but they were just practicing. Lastly, I found an old dance studio. It was kind of cool to see something like that in the middle of downtown Durban.
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| One room dance studio I discovered in the BAT Centre. |
It was about dinner time, so we headed back to Banana’s and got ready. In the meantime, we went grocery shopping for some breakfast food like apples, bananas, peanut butter and bread to last us the rest of the week to save some money. After asking around, we found out the best place to go eat is on Florida Road. So we took a couple taxis and they dropped us off at a Mexican place called Tacozulu. I was incredibly hungry by that point and was super excited for some Mexican food. We got chips and guacamole for appetizers. Then I ordered Dos Enchiladas. It came with homemade pico de gallo, guacamole and amazing sour cream. It was huge! I couldn’t quite finish all of it, but it definitely made top ten meals in South Africa.
We came home to a not so nice surprise. Our groceries that we bought attracted cockroaches into our room! They were everywhere. It was absolutely disgusting. I was glad to be on the top bunk. This was our cue – we were moving somewhere else tomorrow. So we checked out on Thursday morning. Five of the girls in our group left early in the morning for Drakensburg. With all of our heavy backpacking bags, we took a taxi to Florida Road to decide what we wanted to do next. We couldn’t check in at our new place until later, but it was close to Florida Road.
This is when we found the African Art Centre. I knew right away we would like it. The tree right out front was covered with red cloth and had fun colored shapes. It was very classy inside. Thankfully the woman let us leave our bags in the front of the store. The jewelry was very unique and beautiful. There were beads everywhere. I purchased two very colorful baskets made out of wire. By the time we were done in there, we were able to check in. We got directions and decided to walk. Little did we know, the walk would be entirely uphill. It was definitely a struggle for me. Our backpacks were huge and heavy. But when we finally got there, I couldn’t have been more happy.
Surf N Dreams was the name of the place. It was in a nice residential area, close to Florida Street and free of cockroaches. A young couple owned the house and turned it into a backpackers. It was beautiful inside. The décor was modern, but young and fun at the same time. We would be in the ‘sunset’ room, which had an American flag surfboard on the door. Not only was the place invaded by Americans, but our roommate, Eric, was from Minnesota! And get this - we found out he graduated from the University of St. Thomas – archrivals to St. Ben’s and St. John’s. How in the world did that happen? What a crazy coincidence!
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| Living room at Surf N Dreams. Modern artwork was done by the owner herself. |
After settling in, we decided to walk down to the beach. It was a straight walk all the way down the hill, only about 45 minutes. I didn’t mind the walk though, because the weather was amazing. The view was also really cool too. Starting from the suburbs, we could see the city and ended up at the beach. We also got to walk past the Durban’s World Cup Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium. This world cup stadium is pretty awesome. It looks like a giant bowl, with an arch over the top. You can even swing from the arch if you want to.
Walking down the beach felt like I was in California or something. People rollerblading and biking down the sidewalk, there was a skate park for kids, restaurants everywhere. The beach was packed too. Umbrellas up, kids playing in the sand, parents tanning and tons of surfers riding the waves.
We grabbed some ice cream and went strolling along the markets. Hannah and I wandered over to the beach and wiggled our toes in the sand. It was incredibly soft, probably some of the softest sand I’ve ever seen. Then we tested out this supposedly ‘warm water’. They were not kidding, the water was amazingly warm. So much better than PE. If only I had been wearing my ‘costume’ (term for swimsuit). We just stood there and soaked it all in.
It was about time to go home. We had three different options of getting back. A) walk B) taxi C)combi. We didn’t want to walk 45 minutes up hill, so choice A was out. Combi would be cheaper than taxi, but we didn’t know exactly how their combi system worked. It would, however, be an experience. So we decided to give it a go. The first ride ended up being only R3! (compared to R7 in PE). R3 is the equivalent to 43 cents in the US. Then we had to get off in the middle of the city, surrounded by people and skyscrapers. Cross the street and get in another combi. This one was R4 this time. By the time we got off at the right stop, it was dark out. It was fun though, to see how their combi system compared to the one in PE.
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| Combis lined up waiting for people to pick up. |
Since we were in Durban, it was only necessary that we try some curry, a staple food in India. Florida Road had a place called the House of Curries, so we got ready and walked down. Eric, our Tommie roommate accompanied us. I ordered this curry dish called bunny chow, which is a loaf of bread, carved out with curry inside. It was sooo delicious, I absolutely loved it! However, curry is one of those foods that you can’t have too often, because the spice is so strong.
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| Me eating bunny chow! |
On Friday we woke up early to get a lot done. One of the main attractions in Durban is the Victoria Street Market, a huge two level building with markets up and down and all around. The taxi dropped us off there, but first, we wanted to stop by the Juma Musjid mosque, the largest mosque is the southern hemisphere. We walked along the streets of Durban to try and find it. We didn’t think it would be too hard, seeing a mosque among industrial buildings. It ended up being a wild goose chase though. We went back and forth down one street a number of times, thought we saw it, false alarm, went under this sketchy bridge, and had to keep asking for directions. Once we finally we found it, we had to cross he street again to sign up for a tour. The tour was not bad. We had to take off our shoes before you enter, as with any mosque. We found out that this mosque can hold up to 7,000 people in its three levels. The place was huge!
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| Walking up and down the streets in Durban. |
After that, we went back to the Victoria Street Market. It was really busy in there. People, arts and crafts, food, spices – there was stuff everywhere. The arts and crafts are all handmade. Earrings, bracelets and necklaces are very popular. They can be made from a wide range of things including beads made out of shells and paper, banana tree twigs and even cow bones. I definitely got a couple of good souvenirs there – some earrings, a painting and my best find of the day – a potato print bag. It was the only one of its kind too! I definitely had to search for it though. Also, every corner we turned I smelled a new spice, most of them begin curry.
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| Selling spices in the street, including curry and more. |
It was about lunch time, so we took a cab back to Florida Road. Since one of the girls with us was a vegetarian, we decided to go to Injoy Vegetarian Café for lunch. It was definitely the most vegetarian place I have ever been to eat. There was not much to choose from, and each dish was very unique. Some of the foods they put in it I had never even heard of. I’m not the most adventurous when it comes to food, but I thought I would give it a go. Plus, everything was extremely healthy and good for you. We all ordered these yogurt granola smoothies – they were amazing. Then I had salad with cucumbers, sun dried tomatoes, avocado, onions and a green pesto sauce. The presentation was amazing – the cucumbers were tied in bows to wrap the salad up. It ended up being really tasty – I was proud of myself for branching out. Then some of us split their homemade banana and cashew ice cream. The flavor was phenomenal, but the texture was really different – it was almost drinkable, but fun to eat.
We walked back to Surf N Dreams and chilled with all of the housemates until dinner. By then, we had 2 more arrivals that would be staying for the night – a girl from Canada and one from Ohio. We all got ready and went out to dinner together. Eric was recommended to eat at Butcher Boys, a new restaurant on Florida Road that was said to have the best steak ever. We tried it out, but it was pretty pricey. I opted for fish, which ended up being the best fish I’d had in South Africa so far. Yay Durban!
Everyone but Hannah and I left early in the morning to begin their long drive back to Port Elizabeth which was about 926 km or 575 miles. We said no thank you to that, an opted out for flying instead. We had a few hours in the morning before our 1:00 flight, so we wanted to enjoy them outside in the very nice weather. Originally, we were going to walk to Florida Road and find a coffee shop or something like that. But as we were about to turn, we saw an art shop across the street and opted for that instead. The art gallery was very classy (and pricy) and dedicated to local artists. Everything was very beautiful – jewelry, pottery and photography. Hannah, being an art minor, was really loving it. We kept going and passed three little coffee shops. We were going to stop, but again were drawn to something across the street. It looked like a park! So we skipped on over and found our way in. Walked around and smelled the flowers. Found a bench and sat down to journal. It was very peaceful and relaxing. A great way to end our spring break.
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| The park Hannah and I went to. |
Our plane ride was very interesting. It was filled with a group of 34 American tourists, all retired to the looks of it. But I ended up sitting next to a grandmother from New York. She was in the process of going for her BA, had traveled the entire world it sounded like. The flight went extremely fast. We got curry for lunch and I talked to the New Yorker the whole time. We landed in an hour or so. Hannah and I were the first ones home in Langerry, around 3 pm on Saturday afternoon. Everyone else would arrive on Sunday. It was very strange being the only ones there – so incredibly quiet. However, it was really nice to chill the whole evening. I got the chance to upload pictures and work on homework with no one to distract us. Home sweet home.
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