Blogs from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Africa - page 61

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban March 15th 2006

Hello, Well being as I'm in the middle of my two intense weeks of school, I won't write for too long, but I wanted to go ahead and post some pictures from my weekend in the drakensberg. It was AWESOME the weather was beautiful, the people we hiked with were great. We slept in a cave behind a waterfall, which was just ridiculous. All around great time. HIking is taken a bit more loosely here, and after being on the trail for several hours, we decided to up and leave the trail, which meant crossing rivers on hands and knees and climbing up the sides of hills by grabbing onto grasses and holding on for dear life. It was an experience. I'll be back there for sure. In fact, there is a great music festival in ... read more

Lessons on How to be a Grown Up

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban March 9th 2006

LaurenG

I have officially purchased my first car. If this was a test of whether I am grown up or not, I would get like the status of an 8 year old. I think my preferred mode of transport may be bike with training wheels. Having not even had a car for 5 years, nevermind knowing a single thing about what is imperative to a good car, I sat down last week with the classifieds to discover the perfect car for me. Fat chance. Everyone manages to make their car sound wonderful in the classifieds, and seeing as my requirements were "works" and well, "works", I was not doing myself any favors in narrowing down my choices. With that in mind I recruited my wonderful roommate Greg to take me to the Durban Drive-In, where people sell ... read more

Cape Town!

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban March 2nd 2006

LaurenG

So its been 5 weeks now. Crazy. I would say its gone by soooo fast, and in reality it has, but this past week, it has started to slow down a bit, and I think I'm reaching that phase where I start to miss home for a bit. Its been pretty amusing actually, when I'm around people I want to do my own thing, but when I'm alone I crave interaction. I really can't seem to please my pysche these days, so I'll just keep moving along! Before I delve into Capetown, I'll say a few brief things about everything else. School is going well, starting to get quite busy these days. I have about one more week, and then I'll be into it hardcore. The best part has been that my professors are INCREDIBLE. Every ... read more

Beach Bum

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban February 16th 2006

Jumma Mosque, Durban

AndrasMtl

Feb 14-16 I left the Drakensbergs, and drove to Durban. I spent a couple of days at Umhlanga Rock, a very developped resort town on the Indian Ocean. It has white sand, sun, long beaches, warm ocean... It is a safe and pleasant place to kill a couple of days. I also visted Durban, which has a busy downtown, and an even busier Indian District, where there are market stalls in every sidewalk. It is an interesting place to loiter around. The Indian District is also the home of the Jumma Mosque, the southern hemisphere's biggest Mosque. It is completely surrounded by shops, I almost couldn't find the entrance. ... read more

Schools Out

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban February 16th 2006

LaurenG

So many of you may be wondering why I seem to have all this time to write emails and post pictures. That would be because my university has decided to go on strike. Our entire first week of class has been put off due to a campus wide strike. In the scheme of a 6 week module, one week is quite alot. So i'm just chillin, trying to keep up on my reading, spending time writing these blogs. Strike seems to be quite the thing here in SA and everyone remotely connected to the university has jumped on the bandwagon. Nothing is open on campus, half the students can't register, its definitely something that would never pass in the states. The premise is that salaries only increased by 4% this year, while inflation went up by ... read more

PICTURES

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban February 13th 2006

LaurenG

I've added pictures in the gallery. They are of my visit to distribute food to orphanages, myself in indian dress and my visit to the Kavati festival in Chatsworth. ( I'll explain more later) I'm trying to put up more, but having trouble, so I'll let you all know if I get more up. Also wanted to mention my official address is 2 Briarwood 18 Maze Rd Durban 4001 South Africa Go well! Lauren... read more

Of Sharks, Oakes, Bru, Bafana Bafana, Bunny Chow and Mini Bus Taxi Rides

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban February 11th 2006

Grizzly Bear

Why no photopgraphs (still)? In Cape Town I had all my pictures burned on to DVD. The rest of Africa doesn't have computers with DVD players. Doh! However for Durban I was advised against using my camera as it the chances of it being stolen were high. Sorry guys. Hopefully I can get the DVD's back to my brother soon, who will post them on his website. And on with my adventures.... After the 7 hour bus ride I found myself in Durban wondering where to stay. A quick flick through the Coast to Coast (a free book about backpacker hostels in southern africa, and a hell of a lot more up to date than my lonely planet) and plugged for a place called 'Home Backpackers'. The idea being that its a home away from home. ... read more

Settling In

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban February 8th 2006

LaurenG

Well, I've been here almost two weeks now, and I honestly can't believe how smooth the transition is. I absolutely love it here. Besides being a beautiful, vibrant, and diverse city, the atmosphere is uniquely welcoming and humbling. Everyone here is genuinely interested in getting to know everyone around them. There is an air here of mutual curiosity and compassion that I think the US is sometimes somewhat lacking. Never before have I entered the classroom on the first day and had 15 different people come up and introduce themselves and then ask for my contact information. There is no keeping to oneself or carefully surveying the competition, a welcome breathe of fresh air from some of my prior experiences! I am currently in my first full week of orientation at the university. There are 20 ... read more

In transition

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban January 31st 2006

LaurenG

Howzit? That is how Durbanites greet each other here, it took me ages to figure out what they were saying. People talk ridiculously fast, and most of the time I find myself nodding and never understanding! Transition not only describes my current condition in South Africa, but it seems to be the name of the game for the country and people of South Africa as a whole. I arrived on Friday at 2pm to a few Rotarians who quickly whisked me off to new homes and new adventures. Driving down the main highway from the airport to Durban North there were shacks and squatter camps lining the road. My driver and general caretaker, Alethea, is an architect and was quick to point out that South Africa's poverty solution, government housing in long rows on the hillside, ... read more

Here I go!

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban January 25th 2006

LaurenG

Hello all! This is just a small goodbye to all of you, as its T-12 hours till I hop on a place for South Africa. I know I told a few of you that I would be setting up a website type of thing to post emails and pictures and here it is. The actual website is www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/LaurenG Enjoy! Thanks again to everyone who helped me get to this point, and I will miss all of you dearly Sala Kahle! ( stay well in Zulu) Lauren ... read more

Brief history of South Africa

After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjug...more history

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