Blogs from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Africa - page 7

I made Ellie and I a big fruit salad with yogurt for our breakfast then we had a lazy morning reading our books and getting ready. While the girls were at school, little Lily was clomping round the house in her wellies, dragging her rabbit under her arm and getting under the maids feet. We left the house at 10.30 and bought tickets for the Durban football stadium tour (where lots of the World Cup 2010 games were held). The guide told us lots of facts about the stadium including how many seats it has (up to 80,000), how much it cost to build (1.8Billion Rand) and how many jobs building it created (13,000). He also explained that the reason the seats were a random mix of colours is so that they won’t look empty to ... read more

First up today was the Sky car to the top of the Durban Football stadium. I’ve found all the tourist attractions in SA have been really reasonably priced so I wasn’t surprised that it was only a fiver to go up in this (50rand). The Sky car itself is cool but then they drop you off on to a platform at the top which gives you 360degree views over all the city, casino, beach etc. - absolutely wonderful. We had a skinny latte in Moyo bar at the beach then went in the USharka aquarium/water park complex to ask about shark diving. We were disappointed it wasn’t open on Mondays or Tuesdays but decided we’d definitely have to fit it in at some point before I go. We went shopping to Mr Price then El took ... read more

Ellie and I had crawled in to bed only 45minutes earlier, but were dragged out again at 7am by her three little nieces for a morning swim in their pool. To be fair we were quite up for it as there was no doubt we were still under the influence. We had loads of fun splashing around with them and kept getting Lulu (the female dog) to jump in and swim with us. I think Lulu welcomed the break, as she is continually chased round and round the pool by Diego the male dog. He’s trots round after her, tongue hanging out to the side and his eyes glazed over in his lovesick state. She frequently bites or growls at him in frustration and no one can blame her. Christ, give her some space Diego! By ... read more

A few months ago, I applied to participate in the Global Exchange program. A six month program, volunteering in Durban South Africa, and Belfast Northern Ireland. The countries participating are Northern Ireland, South Africa, USA, France, and Sierra Leone. As part of the program, we will all work together on community development projects, spending 3 months in Durban, and 3 months in Belfast. There is 20 participants in total, in which between us we will all have counterparts,whom we will live with for 6 months in host families. We will also have work counterparts for the 6 months. The idea is that we work and live together, so we can share in our own cultures. I will be writing a blog to document my journey throughout the next Six months, so hope you enjoy After a ... read more

After a week in Pietermaritzburg we were excited to finally get moving and see more of South Africa, driving to Durban in Kam’s aunty’s car. The sound of the vuvuzelas was calling us. Staying in a nice hotel with ocean views, we enjoyed a few nice days in Durban soaking up the exciting world cup atmosphere with some friends from Australia, Huy and Cherie, getting down for some serious waterslide action at uShaka marine world and watching the Aussies get thrashed by ze Germans. Durban was the first place on our trip where we encountered some of the rougher elements present in South Africa. These rough elements, however, came in the form of some obnoxious Australian fans sitting next to us in the stadium. As it was, downtown Durban was very safe due to the heightened ... read more