Since my first visit in 2006, I have managed to explore much of South Africa and the neighbouring countries. But one part of South Africa, which I have not seen so far, is Kwa-Zulu Natal or short KZN. So when another public holiday came our way in June, Ewa and I decided to talk Ian and Daan into a road trip to Durban and Natal.
On Friday afternoon we left work early to avoid the terrible Joburg weekend traffic and the obvious thing happened: There was a mega accident on the highway involving at least seven cars and it took us about three hours to drive twenty kilometers! We eventually got to Natal at midnight and collapsed in our bed, which belonged to a famous South African rugby player. The next morning, after considering stealing some underwear or socks to sell them on e-Bay and sponsor our trip, Ewa and I got distracted by the beautiful tropical climate and all the palm trees outside our window! Durban is a very hilly city overlooking the ocean with wide streets, lots of palm trees and a very European vibe to it. Many restaurants and shops are by the side of the road and not hidden in air-conditioned dark malls like in Pretoria. After an awful breakfast (in a mall – out of all places!) we went to a lovely market with beautiful jewellery, lovely dresses and unique art works. Families had pick-nicks on the grass and vendors sold crepes and fruit smoothies – the whole market could have been in Europe and Ewa and I felt at home immediately. So much that I ended up buying far too much … but all so pretty …
In the afternoon we made our way to the beach to stroll along the promenade. Driving into town I was shocked just how ugly the beautiful European town turned out to be – Eastern Europeans in the 1960s would have been embarrassed about the buildings (Plattenbauten!). I was shocked and at the same time fascinated my so much ugliness, but then Durban made a sudden recovery when I discovered that there are some beautiful old colonial buildings scattered between the architectonical nightmares.
This contrast of historical beauty and universal pain to the eye was actually really charming and I forgave the city planers and fell back in love with Durban. After a drink and an ice cream by the beach, we made our way back to get ready for hitting the town! Our favourite Pretoria cocktail bar has it’s first ever branch in Durban and as true groupies, we crashed it after the best and cheapest sushi I have ever had! A few drinks later, Ewa and I were on the dance floor equipped with some emergency biscuits as desert and dancing away to student anthems … what a night!
The following day we went to the Indian market. Durban is famous for its large population of Indians and the culture, food and traditions they brought to South Africa. Massive plastic pots of curry powders such as “Höllenfeuer” or “Mother in Law” gave the place an amazing smell and all the little shops with hundreds of random things encouraged exploring!
One of the biggest shops, which sold everything one could possibly need for less than R5 – scarves, pencils, mugs, gardening appliances and emergency contraception - fascinated me immediately; but when I tried to leave the shop the security guys actually asked me to come into a little cabin, closed the curtains and while a camera was recording everything tried to search me from head to toe! The look on my face could have turned people into pillars of salt and the lady did not dare search me properly. On all my trips I have never been asked to step into a changing room for a full body search when trying to leave a shop before!
Once recovered from this “shock”, we went on to explore whether “everything’s better, down where it’s wetter – under the sea” and visited uShaka, the new and super fancy aquarium. Some fish were really fascinating, like the hideous eels, but after snorkeling in Mozambique and diving with the whale sharks, I found it a bit difficult to get excited about the colourful fish behind the glass. Still, it was really good fun!
From here on our trip changed from being active and full of life to being lazy and letting Daan’s parents spoil us rotten! We got to his house and were overwhelmed by a ridiculous amount of the tastiest biscuits, brownies and cakes, which would have been enough to feed all the starving children in the southern hemisphere! So from here on we got lazy and gave in to the sweet temptation of Daan’s mothers baking skills and his father’s hidden stacks of random alcohol and enjoyed a few days holiday, which fitted perfectly into our Christmas season! During the day we went to explore the Valley of the Thousand Hills, had lunch in village pubs and shopped in little art outlets in the countryside before returning home for another feast in the evening … perfect!
The journey back was also a lot less stressful with no major accidents, but a rather nice detour through the Drakensberg mountains (trip there is planned some time in August) and so many brownies on the way that I did not touch chocolate for a week! Once back, Ewa immediately decided that Durban was better than Cape Town, chocolate and Kaka together and is currently organising another trip down to the Durban July – the South African version of Royal Ascot! Bring it on!
PS: I was very torn about the title for this blog entry. One of my most recent and probably best acquisitions ever is the – and you may wanna sit down for this – Greatest Hits Collection of Walt Disney. Three beautiful CD’s with songs like “Hakuna Matata” and “Colonel Hathis’ March” cheer me up every morning on my way to work. Now, one of the songs on the CD is the soundtrack to Arielle by Shaggy. If you don’t know it, I strongly recommend going onto You Tube and listening to it at least once – the song is awesome! And it has the beautiful line “Everything’s better, down where it’s wetter… under the sea” in it … which would have made a very nice, but potentially misleading blog title as well!
On Friday afternoon we left work early to avoid the terrible Joburg weekend traffic and the obvious thing happened: There was a mega accident on the highway involving at least seven cars and it took us about three hours to drive twenty kilometers! We eventually got to Natal at midnight and collapsed in our bed, which belonged to a famous South African rugby player. The next morning, after considering stealing some underwear or socks to sell them on e-Bay and sponsor our trip, Ewa and I got distracted by the beautiful tropical climate and all the palm trees outside our window! Durban is a very hilly city overlooking the ocean with wide streets, lots of palm trees and a very European vibe to it. Many restaurants and shops are by the side of the road and not hidden in air-conditioned dark malls like in Pretoria. After an awful breakfast (in a mall – out of all places!) we went to a lovely market with beautiful jewellery, lovely dresses and unique art works. Families had pick-nicks on the grass and vendors sold crepes and fruit smoothies – the whole market could have been in Europe and Ewa and I felt at home immediately. So much that I ended up buying far too much … but all so pretty …
In the afternoon we made our way to the beach to stroll along the promenade. Driving into town I was shocked just how ugly the beautiful European town turned out to be – Eastern Europeans in the 1960s would have been embarrassed about the buildings (Plattenbauten!). I was shocked and at the same time fascinated my so much ugliness, but then Durban made a sudden recovery when I discovered that there are some beautiful old colonial buildings scattered between the architectonical nightmares.
This contrast of historical beauty and universal pain to the eye was actually really charming and I forgave the city planers and fell back in love with Durban. After a drink and an ice cream by the beach, we made our way back to get ready for hitting the town! Our favourite Pretoria cocktail bar has it’s first ever branch in Durban and as true groupies, we crashed it after the best and cheapest sushi I have ever had! A few drinks later, Ewa and I were on the dance floor equipped with some emergency biscuits as desert and dancing away to student anthems … what a night!The following day we went to the Indian market. Durban is famous for its large population of Indians and the culture, food and traditions they brought to South Africa. Massive plastic pots of curry powders such as “Höllenfeuer” or “Mother in Law” gave the place an amazing smell and all the little shops with hundreds of random things encouraged exploring!
One of the biggest shops, which sold everything one could possibly need for less than R5 – scarves, pencils, mugs, gardening appliances and emergency contraception - fascinated me immediately; but when I tried to leave the shop the security guys actually asked me to come into a little cabin, closed the curtains and while a camera was recording everything tried to search me from head to toe! The look on my face could have turned people into pillars of salt and the lady did not dare search me properly. On all my trips I have never been asked to step into a changing room for a full body search when trying to leave a shop before!Once recovered from this “shock”, we went on to explore whether “everything’s better, down where it’s wetter – under the sea” and visited uShaka, the new and super fancy aquarium. Some fish were really fascinating, like the hideous eels, but after snorkeling in Mozambique and diving with the whale sharks, I found it a bit difficult to get excited about the colourful fish behind the glass. Still, it was really good fun!
From here on our trip changed from being active and full of life to being lazy and letting Daan’s parents spoil us rotten! We got to his house and were overwhelmed by a ridiculous amount of the tastiest biscuits, brownies and cakes, which would have been enough to feed all the starving children in the southern hemisphere! So from here on we got lazy and gave in to the sweet temptation of Daan’s mothers baking skills and his father’s hidden stacks of random alcohol and enjoyed a few days holiday, which fitted perfectly into our Christmas season! During the day we went to explore the Valley of the Thousand Hills, had lunch in village pubs and shopped in little art outlets in the countryside before returning home for another feast in the evening … perfect!
The journey back was also a lot less stressful with no major accidents, but a rather nice detour through the Drakensberg mountains (trip there is planned some time in August) and so many brownies on the way that I did not touch chocolate for a week! Once back, Ewa immediately decided that Durban was better than Cape Town, chocolate and Kaka together and is currently organising another trip down to the Durban July – the South African version of Royal Ascot! Bring it on!
PS: I was very torn about the title for this blog entry. One of my most recent and probably best acquisitions ever is the – and you may wanna sit down for this – Greatest Hits Collection of Walt Disney. Three beautiful CD’s with songs like “Hakuna Matata” and “Colonel Hathis’ March” cheer me up every morning on my way to work. Now, one of the songs on the CD is the soundtrack to Arielle by Shaggy. If you don’t know it, I strongly recommend going onto You Tube and listening to it at least once – the song is awesome! And it has the beautiful line “Everything’s better, down where it’s wetter… under the sea” in it … which would have made a very nice, but potentially misleading blog title as well!
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