Goodbye to Africa

April 23 - 30, 2019

Our last week and a half in South Africa was spent in Durban. For most of our trip we avoided large cities and I am glad we did. In Durban the safe area is along the north coast. It is scenic, generally free of garbage (except the beach had new garbage washed up everyday), and relatively safe during daylight hours as long as your valuables are hidden (no purse, no camera, no phone, not even a watch). All locals warn you of robberies and muggings. It would have been more enjoyable without the personal security issues. For dinner each day we would walk about 1km to the Sun Coast Casino and choose from one of the many restaurants. It was dark by 6:00pm so we tried to be there by 4:30. Our second evening we chose a mexican restaurant. They lost power 3 times while preparing our food. When we finally received our dinner it was dark outside and in the restaurant. We had to eat in the dark as the power was again out and they had no candles. We had to walk back after dark. It was uncomfortable, but we made it back without any problems. Power outages are a common occurrence in South Africa. We never went grocery shopping without a flashlight after our first shopping blackout.

For the first few days in Durban we stayed at Queensburgh Caravan Park on the Umbio River. When we arrived this river was very small. The second day the rain started, 6.5 inches in 24 hours. The river came up very fast and we had to move to higher ground in the middle of the night. Durban suffered a lot of damage and the flooding casued many deaths.

View of the beach from our hotel.

Looking down the street from our hotel.

Durban Point Waterfront Canal

The only safe way to see the city is on a bus tour. We took the 3 hour Ricksha Bus. It is like a hop on hop off bus in most cities, but in Durban you hop on at their terminal and ride for 3 hours, you do not hop off except at the 2 breaks they give you. This is a view of the Fresh Produce Market.

Largest Car Boot Market in Durban.

Street in downtown Durban.

Moses Mabhida Stadium

The Passero - This is the roro ship (roll on roll off vehicle carrier) that the van was loaded on to for England. The bad weather delayed the ship arrival by 3 days, therefore it was 3 days late leaving the port. The van left for Southampton the evening of April 29th.

We received this notice from the hotel management on our last night in Durban. About an hour later the management was delivering bottled water to all the rooms. This is so typical of what happens in South Africa.

Traveling in Africa was challenging at times, but for the most part we enjoyed it. We are very glad we chose to make the trip!