Long day in Durban

July 14, 2009 - Long day in Durban

Whew….what a long day today was!!! Before I go into our long, but exciting day, I just have to mention that I had some of the best Indian food last night! Durban has the largest group of Indians outside of India. There was a casino just down the street from our hotel (Jackie - tell Bill I got him something!), so we headed over to this megaplex mall meet cinema meet restaurants meet tourist trap. The samosas were amazing…the roti was perfect…and Mary, Chris and I split some Chicken Breyane, Chicken Curry, and Veggie Curry. Yum! One of us couldn’t really handle the heat of the food too well, so there was a lot of sweating going on. But mmmm it was DELISH. After dinner we hit the Casino just to say we went in one and then picked up a few postcards and headed back home. In my last blog I talked about the danger of walking the streets in Durban. We had a two block walk and were approached by two shady people just on the way home…awesome. But we all stayed together and made it home in one piece.

This morning we were up early to head to another museum about the Apartheid…I have to say, I am getting a little museum fatigued, but we’ll be museum free for the next 6 days, so that will be a nice change of pace. The museum wasn’t anything compared to what I saw in Cape Town and will see in Jo’burg. After the museum we went on a Colored Township Tour. Now, remember, colored is a word that means a mixed race. Part African, part white, or Indian etc. Coloreds had more rights and privileges that Africans or Indians during the Apartheid, but they were not on the same scale as Whites. Coloreds faced some of the worst discrimination because they weren’t white enough to get white jobs, nor African to be a part of the ANC (African National Congress - political party). The townships were by no means as destitute as what I saw in Cape Town. The most terrible thing about the townships outside of Durban is that they are surrounded by Petrol Refineries. The smell when we were there was very strong, and I can’t even imagine living with that day after day.

Our first stop on our township tour was to Anstley Beach, which was a Whites Only Beach during the Apartheid. We had an excellent view of the Indian Ocean, but it was so darn cold and windy in Durban today we were literally blowing away. It’s kind of a bummer because Durban is one of the warmest areas of South Africa, and it was colder here than it has been in Cape Town before we left. After the beach we visited a Mosque and a Muslim Cemetery. The area was designated for immigrants from Zanzabarians. 43 Zanzibar slaves were brought into Durban in 1834 (after the abolition of slavery). The land was left to them in a trust, yet the were moved off of their land with the passage of the Group Areas Act (separate areas for blacks, whites, colored etc) during the 1930s. Their homes were bulldozed and the only thing that remained was the Mosque and the Cemetery. During the period of the Apartheid they were not able to visit the Mosque, but they were allowed to be buried in the cemetery.

After the Mosque, we drove through the Colored Township and stopped at the Blue Roof Clinic which is an HIV/AIDS clinic financed by the non-profit organization: Keep a Child Alive. The building that houses the clinic was actually purchased by R&B singer Alicia Keys who is a supporter of the charity. In the KwalaZulu Natal province, 40% of people are infected with HIV or AIDs. The clinic, which is totally free for all patients, offers voluntary HIV testing, medical services, community outreach, meals, and support groups. It truly is a shining gem in the fight against AIDs in South Africa. Despite the great conditions and the help the clinic is providing, there is still so much more that needs to be done. The clinic only has one doctor on staff and he sees up to sixty patients a day. Last year the South African government instituted legislation so that HIV/AIDs medication (ARV) is free of cost to all South Africans. The saddest thing about the status of HIV/AIDs is that many people infected do not get tested until they have full-blown AID due to the stigma surrounding the virus. As I mentioned in my earlier post from the townships, there is such a negative stigma surrounding anyone who has the virus because their morality is questioned by the community in which they live in. Many choose to keep it a secret instead of seeking treatment. That brings up the statistic of 40%…that is only the reported statistic. Who knows how many more people out there actually have the virus and it goes unreported and untreated. Just so sad.

We finally had our lunch stop off where we visited a woman’s home and she cooked a traditional KwalaZulu-Natal dish known as “bunny chow”. Bunny chow is essentially a half loaf of bread with part of it hollowed out and a mild vegetable curry is poured on the inside. It was so so so good. The name “bunny chow” has been Anglicized, as it originally started out as “Bhania Chow” because of a Bhania man who did not bring his lunch pail and used a loaf of bread to hold his curry. Bhania turned into Bunny, and hence the name it is called today. It was a very neat experience to eat at this woman’s township home. Definitely something that not many people get do .

After our tour of the township, we headed to Victoria Street Market which is an Indian spice market, as a bazaar type place full of curios knick-knacks and African products. It was really inexpensive, and well, I did a whole lot of damage…BUT the good news is that all my souvenir shopping is done…for the most part. I just repacked my suitcase, and it’s a lot heavier than it was when I left Cape Town a week ago…doh! Our last stop was a Hindu Temple. I had never been in a Hindu temple before so it was a pretty remarkable experience. The priest told us all about the temple, which has been in Durban for 111 years! Definitely fascinating and I need to learn more!

So that was my day…not too busy or anything! Tonight we are laying low and off to grab some Mediterranean food and then packing up to hit the road again. Tomorrow we head off to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park to see the animals! We’ll be there for two nights, and I plan on going on two game drives: an AM and a PM to get the best chance to see the Big 5. I am beyond excited! After that we’re headed to the Babalango Lodge for two nights which is another bush camp near the Zulu battle lands, and finally on to Didima Camp in the Drakensberg mountains where we get to hike and see some rock paintings! I am excited for these “into the bush and out of communication” days. So…I’ll blog about all of that and post it when I get to Jo’Burg on Tuesday, July 21. Peace!