Durban, South Africa

Durban, South Africa

Wednesday, 26th February 2020 Day 38

Our last South African Port before we head back to Australia, calling in to Re-Union Island and Mauritius on the way. Durban attracted the most warnings to tourists for pick pockets and muggings. Fortunately for us we did not experience any unpleasant occurrences.

The city is situated alongside a beautiful long white sandy coastline which has been given the name of Miami of South Africa. In 2010 South Africa hosted the world soccer championships which with overseas investment, encouraged hosting cities to build new, modern stadiums.  We saw new stadiums in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and now in Durban. Not only has Durban have a new stadium, it also boasts a lot of other sporting facilities in the same area. There are Track and Field, Olympic Swimming Pools, Rugby Stadium, PGA Golf course and more. (Which I can’t remember). A lot of the buildings in the city are Victorian, Art Deco and Indian and the streets appeared to be clean and tidy.

We travelled out of Durban on a well maintained 3 lane ‘tolled’ highway to visit the Zulu homeland in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Here we were entertained by costumed song and dance members of a Zulu group. They performed a rendition of traditional courtship and betrothal. Zulu men are still even today permitted to have many wives. Each wife’s family are paid at least 11 cows by the groom to gain permission to marry. Imagine if you had lots of daughters; you would have a healthy herd of cows! Though imagine if you had lots of boys only.

Alongside the display of Zulu huts we saw a collection of various crocodiles and reptiles, including snakes. I managed to not scream or run away when given a snake to wrap around my neck. My heart was thumping all the time whilst that snake was nearby.

Back in the city to enjoy lunch in what was previously a small reserve for an elephant and a few other native animals but now used as a lovely large walled garden with a pleasant café and courtyard nestled under huge fig trees. Our guide choose well. This garden is situated in the leafy green ridge area overlooking Durban and where the wealthier population resided. We met up with a couple on board who were visiting a cousin who had lived in Durban for several decades and whose children were now living in Canada and working in dental fields there. They were planning to sell up and move to Canada. Their house had been worth One and half million (I assume dollars, not Rand) 5 years ago but now they said it was worth about 375,000. They mentioned the crime rate had increased and they were living their life in constant danger.  When they went to lunch, the cousin got a man off the street to ‘watch’ their car whilst they had lunch, and then paid him when they arrived back!

We went to the Victoria Street Market on our last stop before heading back to the ship. Here we saw lots of various stalls selling spices, eye catching coloured clothing and jewellery and art works. I saw framed art made with different coloured butterfly wings. The shop owner was quick to tell me that the butterflies only live 2 days and after they die the wings are harvested and used in art designs. Our on board port lecturer warned us not to go here as it was Very Unsafe but our guide was amazed to hear this and explained she never has had a problem when taking groups here. When we arrived we saw clean and tidy alleyways, neat and colourful stalls with the ever present security guard in most alleys. Things were a lot cheaper here and I would have liked to have bought more but were reluctant to use our credit cards, instead using the last of our Rand. It is not surprising how some people get things wrong.

I compare this city to our own and see lots of similar history but I am surprised to see so much industry thriving here, it looks like there is a lot of work but still over 30% unemployment. Our guides have all explained a lot of people have come here from other parts of Africa to live and are not even registered, trying to find work and a better life. This country should be very wealthy but it is struggling to have the money to support its infrastructure. Schools and health are missing out. In Durban there is a big Toyota Factory manufacturing vehicle, just like in Port Elizabeth with its 4 vehicle manufacturers with all the supporting industries. The mines are still being mined for coal and gold but I believe the resources are soon to run out. Sugar plantations and production is very dominant in Durban. The place is vibrant and busy with large trucks supplying the port with raw materials and manufactured goods. Sadly all our guides have told us there is corruption in every level of government and business here and until it is checked South Africa will continue in the same direction. I worry for Australia.

Our last day in South Africa meant our travel visas had to be cancelled and passports stamped in a face to face interview. We were told to present ourselves in the ports terminal between 4.30 and 7.30 pm to conduct our interview. Yeh; right. DH and I had returned from our day and decided to wait for the line to start up. We were 20 minutes on the line with many passengers and crew lining up behind us, waiting whilst 3 immigration officers processed one person per 2-3 minutes. The Sun Princess has 2, 200 passengers and over 1,000 crew who went ashore in South Africa. Fortunately we got through within 45 mins but a lot of people were in the line for over 2 hours waiting to be processed. Even the Captain had to wait in line! Can you imagine the discontent and grumblings felt on board that night and the next day?  We both had a Panadol before going to bed that night. I know my back was aching just standing that time and am grateful we didn’t stand like others did for over 2 hours.