Road trippin' South Africa: Ballito & Durban

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From St. Lucia it was a short 2 hr drive to get to Ballito. “Monkey Bay Backpackers” was a place I was recommended by some people and that’s to where I set the GPS.

It was a good choice. There were hardly any people staying there and both the owner Michael and the Zulu guy that worked with him (Lucky) were great hosts; very chilled and friendly. I was going to stay initially just 2 nights and ended up staying 3.



The day I arrived there I drove around the town to get my bearings and get familiar with my surroundings. Ballito started out as a small holiday town, but it has grown considerably during the last years. It’s still a very popular holiday destination and there's a pro-surf competition held annually (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballito).



In the evening I had dinner at a place called “Mozambik” that was about 50mts from the hostel. Both the food and the service were very good. After dinner I had a walk along the promenade which ran for a few km and then back to the hostel.



The following morning I drove to a shopping center (that’s right, a shopping center), because I needed to buy some stuff. Mainly a few clothing items I needed to replace and also, I wanted to start doing a bit of sport to get back in shape (I threw my old running shoes away in Thailand). I had spent the previous 2 months having a pretty sedentary life in that sense. The shopping center was about 30km from Ballito and that took up most of the day.

That evening I met Yuri, a Belgian guy that checked in to the guesthouse that day and was staying a month there to do paragliding training. We had a few beers with 2 South African sisters we also met in the hostel and then we had dinner in “Mozambik”. He convinced me to stay one more day and do a braai the following night.



The third day in the morning I went to have a drive to the part of Ballito I hadn’t yet visited (towards Ocean Drive to the East). The beaches are really nice and most of them have tidal pools there. I had a good time taking photos and walking around. Also, there’s a rock formation there called “Shaka’s Rock” (named after the Zulu king, Shaka Zulu). It’s said that Zulu warriors had to jump off the rock and into the ocean to prove their courage. It is also said that Shaka’s enemies were thrown off the cliff.

After walking around in that area I went to have lunch at a place called “Galley” in Salmon Bay (also part of Ballito and were most of the commerce and pubs are concentrated).



The last thing I wanted to do that day was to go to a beach called “La Mercy”. It’s situated between Ballito and Durban. This is an abandoned house covered in graffiti and a good place for photography. This house is also known as “The haunted house of La Mercy” (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43066879@N06/sets/72157632465551252/).

The history behind this house is not entirely known and there are several urban myths about it. The one I had heard was about an Indian family whose newly born baby died and they just left the house and never sold it.

Two other stories I stumbled upon were that a sheikh bought the house as a wedding gift for his son. But the son died shortly after the wedding in a motorcycle accident and the house was left abandoned. The other one was that someone started building the house, but after seeing all the storms in the area and possible flooding of the house, decided to discontinue the construction.

Whatever the real story is, the house is a cool spot to go and photograph. The day I went there were 7 more people walking around and taking photos.



I drove back to the hostel and went with Yuri to buy some stuff for the braai. For the braai we were joined by Michael, a friend of his Nick, Stefan, a Dutch guy that was staying in the hostel and Lucky. We had a good feast and Michael made an excellent salad as well.



The next morning I woke up, had breakfast and drove to Drakensberg. I wrote about the Drakensberg in another post (http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Free-State/Drakensberg/blog-800256.html). After the Drakensberg I drove south again to go to Durban and then continue my trip along the coast. I included Durban here, because the entry isn’t long enough to write separately.



I went to check out Durban for a few days. I didn’t stay in Durban itself; I stayed in an area called “Bluff”, specifically in Anstey’s Beach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff,_KwaZulu-Natal). And there I stayed in the “Anstey’s Beach Backpackers”. I quite liked the place, but it wasn’t cheap compared to other places I stayed in. There weren’t many people staying there, so I didn’t really meet anyone. Besides, the common areas were closed at 10pm.



I stayed a total of 3 nights and I went sightseeing in Durban for two days. The city itself was alright; pretty much what you can see in any big city. There’s a nice area in Florida Road with good places to eat, but nothing extraordinary. I guess that if I had a local to take me visiting it would’ve been different (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durban).

But the beachfront was spectacular. A long 6km stretch of great beaches with a wide pedestrian walkway, places to eat, several piers with people fishing, people surfing, etc. Because it’s winter (although a very mild winter), there still weren’t many people around. There are of course more things to do in Durban, such as visiting the football stadium that was built for the 2010 World Cup, harbor cruises, apparently a good nightlife, etc.



My focus was really on what was south of Durban and upcoming on my trip: the diving in Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks. In all, I spent 3 very relaxed days I had between Anstey’s beach and Durban.

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Photos

Monkey Bay Backpackers
Lucky