Sightseeing in Durban

Trip Start Jan 04, 2008
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Trip End Jan 31, 2008


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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Yesterday I did the beach and my intent was to see the sights of Durban today.  There was only one problem. There isn't really much to see here.  I set out at 8 am for the city centre and found a crazy mess of people, cars and uninteresting buildings.  One of the main "highlights" of the city centre was the Indian quarter with the largest Mosque in the southern hemisphere.  Call me a snob, but the mosques in Richmond are far more impressive and surrey is more "Indian" than the Indian quarter here.  Oh well, at least I can say I have been there.

I spent the rest of the morning wandering around downtown, at times not feeling particularly safe.  I was grabbed a number of times by vendors trying to get me to buy their crap and I swear at one point I felt a hand trying to get into my pocket, but there was nothing in there to take. I made a good choice to stay outside of the downtown core in a suburb called Morning Side that is much like Kitsilano A walking tree
A walking tree
 . I think if I stayed downtown, I would never have left my room!  Enough of this... I headed back to the safety of Morningside for lunch.

For lunch today I had Bunny Chow, which is an Indian dish with an African twist. In the days of apartheid Black people were not allowed to sit in restaurants, so a large take away business developed. One of these take away specialties in Indian restaurants was a curried stew severed in a bread bowl.  Its easy tasty and portable. The tradition stuck and now Durban is known for its tasty Bunnies.   

After the chaos of the city centre, I needed something a bit sedate for the afternoon, so I decided to check out the Durban Botanical Gardens.  These gardens were established in 1849 and are the oldest on the continent.  Although I am not really interested in plants and the details of their existence per se, I did find this park to be a peaceful refuge to spend a relaxing afternoon.  The gardens were accented with "interesting" art that had a very modern flair.  

Overall, I think I stayed one day too long in Durban. This city is not a particularly interesting place and really doesn't have much to offer. Aside from the beaches there isn't really anything of interest to make this a destination.  Tomorrow I head to Port Elizabeth where I begin my driving adventure along the "Garden Route" back to Cape Town.
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