Durban

We were warned many times ‘don’t go to Durban’? It’s dangerous, it’s dirty, there’s nothing there etc etc.

We actually heeded these warnings and thought we don’t need to stop there.  We were short of time as we want to get to Simon’s Town for Christmas.  So, we left Richard’s Bay in what is referred to here as a ‘weather window’ i.e. a switch in the SW wind to NE allowing a run along the coast with the current.

We actually made the 90 miles in 14 hours with help from the current but we ended up in Durban.   Yikes, what are we going to do here we thought.  Surely we can get out of Durban within 48 hours and keep heading south-west.

No.  After 10 days we are still here and now short of time to make it all the way to Simon’s Town to greet our friends coming in on December 29th.  There is a very short weather window which everyone is dwelling on arriving early Thursday. We want to go but know that will only get us to East London and who knows how long we will have to wait there to get another window to Port Elizabeth? Mossel Bay? Kynsna? or….

So, despite everyone’s warning here we are in Durban enjoying ourselves. Here are a few photos of Durban:

First is an area called the beaches. I know now why the New York Times listed Durban as one of the 10 best coastal cities in the world. There is an amazing board walk that stretches about 8 km and is growing.

The board-walk runs between the coast and a string of apartments, a hospital and a hotel/casino.  The hotel/casino is an old art deco styled building for which the owners deserve kudos for their enhancements and maintenance of the property.

 

 

 

 

And then there is the beach itself with the board-walk

There are lots of people who use the beaches and board-walk with restaurants every 1/2 kilometres, showers for people to use after swimming, wading pools for the kids and of course a number of buskers:

 

We strolled for hours along the beachfront but there are many other areas to explore in Durban.

Next was Esther Roberts Road:

What drew us to Esther Roberts Road was the Phansi Museum.

The museum has an awesome collection of traditional crafts and an excellent guide to take us through. The museum was  a taxi ride away from Durban Marina.

We spent a couple of hours walking through the museum marvelling at all the traditional and modern works that were on display.  It is necessary to make an appointment to see the exhibition and it’s worth the effort and planning.

Here are some pictures of things we saw in the museum:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a lot more but tempting our stomachs was a bakery we spotted on the way to the museum in the taxi. It looked like the real thing and believe me in South Africa bread is not a strength.  We had been looking for ages for good bread and walking into the Glenwood Bakery.

There on the shelf was a Tartine cookbook so I knew we had hit a goldmine.

 

We dragged a couple of yachties back to Parc for a wonderful breakfast. Both the restaurant and bakery are highly recommended.

 

 

 

 

 

Next area to explore was Windermere.  What attracted us to this area is that it’s one of the oldest residential neighbourhoods but it is also the location of the African Arts Centre:

And just outside the African Art Centre – the shopper!