Villages, Markets, and the Indian Ocean: Welcome to Durban!

After a grueling week of rehearsals, lessons, sectionals, lectures and temperatures over 95 degrees, five of my friends and I flew to Durban for the weekend last Friday. Durban is on the other side of the country, on the Indian Ocean and near the country of Lesotho,. The climate is extremely humid, and the land is very green. I felt like I was in what I imaged as a tropical Ireland, miles of green hills and valleys – only in Africa.  

The first thing we did was go to the aquarium, which is near the beach, surrounded by surf and snorkel shops, restaurants and other boutiques. Think Shedd aquarium x1000. Afterward we had dinner reservations to eat on this ship that had a MASSIVE tank with sharks and other fish in it. As we approached the walkway, an employee stopped me and demanded to know where my parents were. After explaining they were in America and showing her our IDs, she agreed to allow us in. “I don’t believe you, but since you are from another country I’ll let you in. Next time, bring your parents,” she said. Exiting after dinner, I noticed a sigh that read: No one under the age of 16…ok, seriously?! 

The next day we took a private tour of a village in Zululand, far from the city and not westernized. The Zulu people were so friendly and enthusiastic to share their culture with us. We visited a traditional Zulu healer, ate a traditional meal (with our hands) and spent the afternoon dancing with the children. It is excursions like these that allow me to experience the real Africa. I was in a different world: cows and goats roaming all over the place, no one stealing from one another. Self-induced scars to pay tribute to their ancestors and ancient songs, houses made of mud and water pumped from the ground: this is simple living. When it was time to leave, we threw the children on our shoulders and waved goodbye to their parents. We didn’t get too far…

The following morning we went to Victoria Street Market, which I thought was going to be like Green Market Square in Cape Town (lots of tourists). We were the only white people I saw all morning in the entire market and surrounding neighborhoods, which was pretty cool. I’m a big fan of the markets, but am a horrible bargainer. I spotted tons of beautiful Zulu instruments, including the mbira, marimba, drums and this really awesome string instrument. At each stand I immediately searched for the instruments. I just couldn’t help myself: I bought 9 instruments, a painting, and some jewelry – all for $40 US. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach surfing the Indian Ocean. We grabbed lunch and made friends with the Rastafarian men who were playing live music. Durban’s nightlife is nice, but not as exciting as Cape Town’s. We arrived in CPT Monday just in time for my drag of a history class. I can’t wait to travel to the surrounding countries to experience more of what makes up this continent.