DURBAN, SA
We decided to go back to South Africa to visit Durban after our niece Charlotte told us not to miss it. We found a nice Airbnb flat that was a bit of a hike from the downtown area. We were able to walk to the grocery store for provisions but relied on our host to take us into town and show us around. We were able to walk to a part of the city, on the waterfront, to find the Yacht Club, after a recommendation to visit there. Nice spot. We learned, however, on the way, that the route we took near the highway was very “not safe”. We took an Uber back.
Our gracious host gave us a great tour of Durban. We saw the impressive stadium and then went along the promenade. He grew up in and around the Durban waterfront and described it all as so different and he and his mates could bike, skateboard and surf anywhere, anytime, with no supervision. It’s now all be “developed” and is very different. Also the safety factor changed with the end of apartheid. Once a predominantly white city, it is now predominantly black with a very large Indian population as well. Whites are very safety conscious now. Our host as a boy, waiting out a rainstorm in the downtown CBD, rested under a canopy next to a mailbox. The walked on and 5 minutes later, when 2 blocks away, that mailbox blew up, taking out the lower facade of the building they were next to. No one hurt, but one scary moment for those boys.
Durban has a terrific waterfront with beautiful beaches, a nearly Disney like amusement park, and many restaurants. We walked for a while and watched the surfers before having lunch. Though there are fears of shark attacks on the southeast coast of Africa, our host, an avid surfer for nearly 40 of his 50 years, told us there’s never been a shark attack at the Durban beaches since he’s been surfing, due to the shark nets.
As we started to plan our next destination, we learned there is a bus from Durban to Maputo, Mozambique. It’s a long ride, but very cheap. After working to confirm its actual existence in 2017, and further, after our host drove us to the bus station to buy tickets, we were set to go to Moz for about $30 each. Uber got us there early enough to get a seat, small that it was, before the bus filled to capacity.