South Africa 2004 Part 2: Durban

We flew to Durban from Cape Town with Kulula, which took two hours and cost about £35 . There are regular flights to Durban with Kulula and Mango which is a new airline. They are the low cost airlines which fly within South Africa. We had booked into the Holiday Inn North Beach (Now Southern Sun) for four nights. The Hotel is overlooking the gorgeous North Beach, and we were lucky enough to allocated a sea view room.

Durban has one of Africa's best beaches and well known for surfing as it is in the Indian Ocean which has better conditions and is warmer. Durban is also the largest city in KwaZulu Natal. The beach and promenade at Durban known as the Golden Mile has golden sandy beaches, that lovely blue sea (that you don't see in the UK!!) and lots of shops, bars, restaurants and hawkers selling paintings, carved wooden ornaments and beads among other items.

We were advised that we must visit the Victoria Market in the Indian Quarter (or Indian Market as it is known!!!). Durban has the largest population of Indian people outside India. We travelled by taxi to the Market and it certainly was as experience!!!!! As soon as we got out of the taxi, we were pounced on by sellers all trying to get us to look at their stalls. The market has lots of stalls selling mainly herbs and spices as well as fruit, veg and fish. They also sell furniture, brassware, wooden ornaments, and materials. Much of it is too big to take home in your luggage!

As good as it was to see the hustle and bustle of the market, it got a bit on our nerves as you cannot browse the items as you are being pestered all the time. As soon as you hit the market, you smell the exotic aroma of the spices as you wander around. There are a few malls in Durban, but we were told that the Pavilion had the largest range shops and is similar to the Trafford Centre in Manchester. It has shops from designer to High Street Stores and sells everything from clothes and accessories to furniture and African Curios. We travelled about by taxi as the buses are not very reliable. Although one driver went to fill up before he could take us any where and you got the impression that he only put enough fuel in for our journey!

It was my husbands birthday while were in Durban, so we decided to have a day at the races and got a cab to Greyville Race Course. It only cost about £5 to get in and was really quiet. It was a beautiful sunny day and everytime we have been to the horseracing at home it has been cold, windy and raining so this made a refreshing change. The main racing season in Durban is July, which is always busy and is compared to Royal Ascot. They also have the Durban Gold cup which is held in August.

There were quite a few races and obviously not as much prize money as the big races of July and August, but it was good fun. My husband was really surprised at the price of beer which was about R7 (50p) - this compared to the £3 t the Aintree Grand National (see previous post). Soft drinks were also very cheap.

You could also buy snacks and souvenirs. I was quite surprised at how close you could stand to the course and the winners enclosure. It is a lot smaller than Aintree in Liverpool so you can see the stables and get close to the horses and jockeys. We had a few winners and it was a brilliant day out and we are really glad we went although we could not find a cab outside to take us back to the hotel so we risked the walk which was a bit nervy at times!

I am a big fan of Cow Parade and if you have never heard of it the it is basically a Public Art Display on live size painted cows. They are dispayed all over attractions and towns for a period of time and then auctioned off with the money going to Charity. Cow Parade was in Durban when we were there. The cows were scattered all over. They were on the promendade, in the shopping centres, Metro and Botanical Gardens to name a few. We did not get round to see them all, but we got round as many as possible.

There are plenty of things to do and see in Durban as well as soaking up the rays and shopping!!!!. There is the Botanical Gardens, Temples such as the Umgeni Road Hindu Temple and the Shri Mariamman Temple at Mount Edgecombe. There is Fitz Simons Snake Park which is home to 157 different snake species, lizards and crocodiles, Fun World, Sea World (not to be confused with Sea World in Florida), Water World and MiniTown.

As far as eating out goes, there are lots of cafes and restaurants to eat in Durban. The first night we got ready to go out and find a
restaurant at night, the doorman of our hotel asked us where we were going. When we told him, he told us that you should not walk about after dark in Durban as it is not safe. He said that everybody goes to the Suncoast Casino which is like a resort rather than a casino and has over seventeen restaurants inside as well as shops, takeway, casino and cinema. There is also a play area for kids.

Our hotel and most of the hotels along the North Beach run a shuttle bus to and from the Casino which is about 15 minutes away. As we did not want to take any chances, this is what we did. The restaurants include Jaipur Palace, News Cafe, John Dory's Fish and Grill and Spur among others - Spur is everywhere in South Africa! I am sure that people do eat out in restaurants rather than going to the casino, but we like to wander around on foot as I believe this is a better way to get your bearings.

The South Africans love their sport and rugby and cricket are both very popular. Unfortunatley (for my hubby!!! and fortunatley for me!!!!!) there were no games on when we were there or he would have dragged me to a game. We did go past the Absa stadium, and it looked pretty impressive, it is huge and holds 52.000 people. Durban among the other main cities in South Africa are preparing for the World Cup which will be held there in 2010.

The games will be held in cities including Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria in June and July 2010. You can combine Durban with a safari as there are games reserves in the Kwazulu Natal area such as Abu Madi Game Ranch Mkuze and Leopard Mountain Game Lodge among others. We really liked Durban, but we did a lot of lazing around (after Cape Town, we wanted a rest!!!!) and did not do all the things that we could have done. If money is no object or you want to book that once in lifetime experience, you should book Rovos Rail which is South Africa's answer to the Orient Express and is pure luxury, the itinerary of which includes in game reserves.

Durban has a subtropical climate, and it can get hot and humid in the summer months which are November to February, but it is still warm even in the winter. The currency is South African Rand and it is cheap in Durban. The people are friendly and all the time we were there, we felt safe although we were advised against walking about at night. I would recommend a stay in Durban as it is cheap and easy to get to.