Blogs from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Africa - page 14

Dori is off at Indaba and I have the full day to myself. It is already very hot. Our room is absolutely fantastic - overlooking the Indian Ocean with a nice table for 2 on the balcony. I am not allowed out and about without a guard so not quite sure what I will do today. The beach is so inviting, just have to stick my toe in the Indian Ocean. There is a theme park on the beach front with lots of little kiosks of ladies selling their goods. Our last day at Phinda was so marvelous - have kept a journal in case I forget some things but being able to watch a family of cheetahs hunt was more than I could ever ask for. They are so beautiful and so obedient! One swish ... read more

O.K. so I have one confession to make - even though I was in Durban for almost a week I didn't have a Bunny Chow, in fact I didn't have a curry at all! Awful, I know. For those that don't know Durban has the largest Indian population outside of India and the Bunny Chow is an African/Indian delicacy - 1/4, 1/2 or a whole loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with delicious curry (I actually had one in Joburg so I know they're good!) After all that beach and village life style Amy and I were in need of a little civilisation. traveling through the Eastern Cape was definitely an experience and I loved the feel of 'Africa'. It is the poorest area in SA and you can really see it as you drive ... read more

...or in our case, a 20-hour flight. With a little bit of planning, and much anticipation, the trek is finally underway. After a month-long string of farewell drinks and meals, we've moved right into the week-long string of welcome drinks and meals. But as they say, "that which does not kill you, only makes you stronger" (and certainly a little heavier). Durban, our first port of call, has been amazing. We're staying with my cousin David and his wife Liesel, and Viv, who works for them. Phil, another one of my cousins, who also lives in "Durbs," has made his share of appearances for a few Castle lagers as well. In June, when we leave Southern Africa, David and Liesel will be joining us on our travels through South and Central America. There's much to plan ... read more

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night.... I'm writing this blog entry by candle light as we are experiencing one the planned power outages which have become so common across South Africa. In January, the government-run Electrical Utility announced that the electrical demand across the country had exceeded the supply of available energy. To deal with the shortage they rolled out a plan for scheduled power outages throughout the country. Areas are divided into "blocks" of electrical distribution areas, which are then scheduled for 4 hour power outages every second day. We were fortunate that the cooler weather in March meant that the use of Air Conditioners went down and there was enough power to avert any outages. April 1 was the start of "Stage 2" of the electrical power consumption plan, which I don't really ... read more

Hey everyone- Happy Easter! Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who sent me Birthday Wishes- meant a lot to me to get them all the way down here! I know I haven't written in a while- I'm slowly but surely trying to catch up- and I promise I'm not going to be as annoyingly detailed from now on. My parents are due here in Durban in about a half-hour so I'm going to keep this one short. I will try to do a good job on writing about the time my parents are here (I'm so excited to see Cape Town!!) but at the same time I don't want to take away any time that I will get to spend with my parents so I might have to do it after they leave. Hope ... read more