City Lodge - Durban -

... trees that grow in water, if you haven't seen one you should google it they are neat. and there was a bunch of crabs and Phillip got to see a crab and he had never seen one that big before. Then we went to the beach! We literally got 20 minutes for playing/swimming but it was still fun :) the indian ocean is brutal! The waves are huge!

And that night a monkey tried to come into our ...

... did not look like a tramp just lying in garbage – bizarre!


We drove through a place called Mthatha in the Homelands I think. It looked a lot more like what you’d expect Africa to look like. The place was heaving with people and it was very run down.


We arrived in Durban at about 9.30 (a German girl from the bus was stopping there as well) and my first impression was not great ...

So this weeks Saturday excursion was Durban! yay! We actually flew into Durban from Joburg at the beginning of our journey but today we got to spend most of the day there. It's about and hour and a half drive so we played some games in the van on the way that were pretty fun. We started out with shopping at this indoor market and it was full of little shops and souvenirs. We saw some cool things, we saw some not so cool things, and we saw some very interesting things ...

... to travel with God - what a great companion! Friends and family waved and swam away in some tearfilled eyes as we left the church parking lot and headed for the N1. We had begun the Manic Trip!!! I guess this is as good as any an opportunity to thank our many friends and very supportive family for the love, advice, cards, hugs, balloons and prayers that you sent, and keep sending, with us. We appreciate this more than you can imagine and ...

... grandson that live nearby and I think the grandson stays with her every weekend. She speaks English pretty well, but there are definitely times when we aren't really sure what each other are saying. Last night she made us a nice dinner of curry chicken, rice, salad, and butternut squash. The tradition here is to serve guests a whole lot of food that they are expected to finish ...

... Thami, his aunt, and Nojabulo were all amazed how much the uncle talked to me. They said that it was a first. Staying with Thami's family was a learning experience for all of us as this was the first time that they've had a white person in their home overnight and the first time that I've stayed overnight in the home of an African family. After breakfast, Thami and I drove to Midmar Dam and Resort. Next we visited a ...

We arrived in Durban and immediately felt the heat as we moved closer to the coastline. Our accomodation was called Madeline Grove B&B which was in the Morningside area of Durban. Its a nice area with great bars and restaurants, and we had a couple of really good meals there. However our stay in Durban was not as exciting as it could of been for a couple of reasons. 1. Before ...

... The hostel is deserted so I spent a while chatting to the guy working in the evening who seems to be a bit of a hippy - he asked me to analyse some of his doodles which was interesting!! Then we had a huge thunderstorm which was really impressive - the lightning was incredible. A couple of other guests arrived during the evening, but I think there must've been less than 10 of us in total!! Tuesday ...

... s huts are on opposite sides of the compound. We also saw a demonstration of jewelry making and mat weaving and learned about the history of these. A man must pay eleven cows for a wife. She, in turn, must weave a mat for everyone in her husband's family. There was also a demonstration of musical instruments, and healer and typical attire. We even dressed up as Zulus and joined in some Zulu ...

... front, le célèbre "Golden Mile". On passe par des quartiers assez glauques, et je me rendrai compte plus tard que notre hôtel les avait classés "no-go areas". Le front de mer est plutôt décevant, il a l'air de regretter sa gloire passée. Durban n'est plus trop dans le coup, comme destination de vacances, depuis quelques années. On ne reste finalement pas là très longtemps, et on rejoint l'hostel.