Durban – Travel Guide
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November 14th, 2009
Durban is one of the host cities of the World Cup 2010; Brazil will play at least one match in Durban, on June 25th 2010, against Portugal. Below, a short travel guide for those visitors who are coming to attend the World Cup.
An interesting coincidence: Durban is located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal; Natal is also a host city of the World Cup 2014, in Brazil.
It is strange how when you think of visiting cities around the world or even in South Africa, Durban doesn’t seem to automatically come to mind; that happily is what makes Durban really a rather exclusive place to visit.
Durban is actually really very, very attractive and like a genteel English Victorian seaside town Durban has a lot of perfect places to visit. The Botanical Gardens (the older ones in South Africa) are a miracle mixture of traditional Victorian plant houses (such as the City Hall, photo to the left) and modern architecture and this beautiful amalgam of building styles houses some of the most beautiful plants in the world and some of the rarest.
Below, some photos of Durban.
If you visit the Botanical gardens then you mustn’t miss The Orchid House as you walk around the well kept and neatly manicured gardens, and if you want to pretend that you are in a nice corner of England on an unusually sunny day then stop by the Tea Rooms and have Scones and a Cream Tea; they are delightful and so very English.
Do you like fish? Does you family like fish or Dolphins? Well if they do then they are in for a treat and you could be spending a couple of days visiting first the uShaka Marine World where there are water slides and rides for people of all ages and of course a marvelous Dolphin show.
Or taking a trip to the Durban Sea World Aquarium where you can see fish almost in their natural environment and then unlike most Sea World Aquariums you can get in the water with some of the fish and believe it or not Sharks as well. The Sharks obviously are harmless ones, but if you have a snorkel and some fins you can swim with them and the feeling is amazing.
You become one of the attractions too as people on the outside of the aquarium watch your antics. Be prepared to spend a lot of time here because the park is enormous. In the centre you wander through a complete and astonishing shipwreck on one side watching enormous manta Rays and the other very large sharks with teeth that any dentist would appreciate.
If you are spending some time in Durban whatever you do don’t miss The Valley of a 1000 Hills. It is an area of thick dense tropical forest that is dissected by deep gorges, villages of the happiest smileiest people in the world and small rivers.
The Valley of a 1000 Hills has been described as one of Africa’s best kept secrets and that is because it is so beautiful it will have a lasting impression on you.
This is a place of great history home of the Zulu nation and from wherever you look you will see small villages of neatly kept round huts. You can drive to The Valley of a 1000 Hills without difficulty or why not take The 1000 Hills Choo Choo steam train that runs through the area and if you do please don’t forget to wave back at some of the friendliest people on the planet.
One of the most interesting parts of Durban is the Indian Quarter, there are over 1 million Indians living in South Africa today who are relatives from the workers who were imported to work in the Natal sugarcane fields. Most of the Indians who live in the Indian Quarter have never integrated and so they have kept their traditions and customs alive and that means if you walk through the centre of the Indian Quarter, as you walk down grey Street you will see the Golden roofs of the Juma Mosque, shops selling Indian spices, leather good and of course gold and jewellery.
And if you like Indian cooking this is the place to be at any time of the day, especially at night when you will be invited into a family owned restaurant to taste some of the best Indian food in the world.
It is hard to believe when you walk through any part of Durban that it is the second largest city in South Africa with around four million people living there, it is a homely friendly place and so visitor friendly and a great place to visit whether you are alone or with your family.
One of the best and most exciting places in Durban is the oddly named Durban Golden Mile. The Golden part of the name is easily understood it comes from the beautiful golden sand on the beach, the odd part if that the Mile is about six kilometers or 3.72 miles long, but you can forget that because there is so much to do along Durban’s Golden Mile.
First the Golden Mile is a very long pleasure beach and enormous beach resort which is home to too many to count fountains, splash pools, waterslides and swimming pools and of course the sea if you are a little adventurous, well the waves can be big enough to surf on as they crash onto the beach.
Second are the places to shop from stylish boutiques to interesting little markets where ‘handmade’ is the fashion.
Then at night the whole area changes and the wonderful nightlife begins, from modern nightclubs to daring menus in exotic restaurants you can experience everything you would ever want to as the sun goes down and the lights begin to twinkle along the seafront.
If you have time then there is somewhere just a short distance out of Durban that you must see. The Umhlanga Rocks are just 12 miles north of Durban and worth a visit. The rocks that give the place its name are actually on the other side of long wide white sandy beaches. The Umhlanga Rocks area is home to some of the most exclusive hotels in South Africa and form a resort that was established by the English over 150 years ago.
Everything here is exclusive from the shops to the beaches both of which can boast being the biggest in South Africa this is a Mecca for the well heeled tourist and for all beach goers in the country.
Below, a movie about Durban produced by South Africa TV Channel.