As always, the images and any videos in this posting are best viewed on the web page. View the complete set of blog posts here.
The following image was taken from the sliding door of our stateroom.
Our approach to the port, images from the deck, and right after we disembarked.
Tour – Excursion Scenes of Durban: Drive through cosmopolitan Durban and immerse in its cultural mix of Indian, Zulu, and post-colonial influences. Travel by motor coach past the city sights, including the Victorian-style main post office building that was erected in 1885. Pause for photos at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, then drive along the Golden Mile beachfront and pass the tree-lined Victoria Embankment, also known as the Esplanade -one of the city’s oldest and most famous streets. Admire the vistas at the Currie Road panorama viewpoint and enjoy a visit to the Durban Botanic Gardens. Currently, the oldest surviving botanical garden on the African continent, it was developed in 1849 as a station for the trial of agricultural crops. Today, the gardens focus on core areas of biodiversity, education, heritage, research, horticultural excellence, and green innovation.
We love ports where we dock in berths in the city, not in the industrial areas of the port. We were able to get off the ship, walk through the terminal, and immediately walk around on our own for a while before our tour started, to get a sense of the character of the place. We were near the Durban Mile Esplanade and Golden beachfront area, so we stretched our feet a bit and checked out the hotels and restaurants in this very touristy area. (We returned later in the afternoon so Cheryl could go for a swim.) The cruise terminal is new and is called the Nelson Mandela cruise terminal.
Our tour guide said he would tell it like it really is, and he managed to go off script a bit, with a few way too personal stories about his life! Back on script, he told us that Durban’s population was 3.9 million and it recognized 11 official languages, again stressing that after the end of apartheid, the healing involved respecting each other’s cultures. We visited the sites mentioned in the section above. We drove by the Victorian Post Office, and then the Botanical Gardens (see photos in a later section). We saw a modern Hindu temple near the Botanical Gardens. We stopped at the Currie Road vista to take in sweeping views of the city. We saw the professional soccer stadium where the Springboks play (see photos in a later section) and across the street, the rugby stadium where the Sharks play (photo below). As we traveled back to the ship, we drove through the commercial areas of downtown and saw many old colonial-style buildings as well as modern skyscrapers. Streetlife is vibrant and busy.
Durban Botanic Gardens is the oldest botanical garden in Africa. It was lovely, and we enjoyed walking around for about an hour. The reflecting pool was one of my favorite spots in the garden. The trees and flowering plants looked healthy and vibrant, with the largest bird of paradise plants I have ever seen. There was a beautiful tropical orchid garden and a koi pond, too.
A couple of videos from the garden. The bees were busy harvesting pollen. There is a troop of monkeys living on the property (troop is another really cool name for a group of animals).
Our tour guide took us to the Victoria Market in downtown Durban, even though he was told not to stop there. We were glad he did. The market doesn’t have the grandeur that it had in former days, but we found a fantastic spice shop that made the stop completely worthwhile. Immediately after walking into the market building, the wafting smell of the Indian spices drew us into this shop. I bought several spices as well as some of the recommended spice blends.
In Durban, Nelson Mandela is honored in many places. Outside the Moses Mabhida Soccer Stadium, a new statue honoring Mandela has been erected, and it is 30 feet tall. As we were there, a little boy and his family stopped to look at the statue, and these photos give you some perspective on its height.
Lunch was pizza at the Durban Mile Esplanade and a friendly conversation with our very outgoing young waiter.
Next, I needed a swim in the Indian Ocean. There were lots of people on the beach, having picnics and swimming. The water is getting cooler as we head south, but still comfortable enough for swimming. I like to “jump the waves”. Wish I had a boogie board. The third image is a video.
Our last stop before getting back on the ship was Robsons Brew Pup, a cool spot that had a “Portland vibe”. It was directly across the street from the terminal, and we noticed fellow passengers had the same idea. We stopped in for a Coke Zero and a chance to try a local beer. A fun place with friendly staff. We had a pleasant conversation with a fellow cruiser from Toronto.
Images from our walk
One never knows what one will see walking the streets of Africa. No idea what they were doing or where they were going. I did get a high five from the last character.
We had dinner in The Restaurant on the ship. The starter was sauteed cabbage and pancetta over a squash puree and deep-fried shrimp balls. Very tasty.
Another beautiful evening.
Enrichment – “Extraordinary Voyage -Darwin and Fitzroy on the HMS Beagle.” Step aboard and retrace the expedition that forever reshaped our view of life on Earth – Neil Caithness
The Beagle sailed from Plymouth Sound on December 27, 1831, under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy. While the expedition was originally planned to last two years, it lasted almost five and made extraordinary discoveries of flora and fauna in South America. Beagle did not return until October 2, 1836. Charles Darwin spent most of this time exploring on land (three years and three months on land; 18 months at sea).
The Beagle was a Cherokee-class ship and very, very small.
The voyage was a partnership between the captain, Robert Fitzroy, and Charles Darwin. Fitzroy came from a wealthy family, and he funded a great deal of the project from his personal wealth. Darwin also had an upper-middle-class upbringing. Both men were very young when the trip started. Fitzroy was 26, and Darwin was 22! As noted, the trip was long, and Drawin sent multiple flora and fauna samples back on other ships for naturalists to analyze.
Darwin kept detailed notes during the voyage that were eventually used to publish multiple books. Fitzroy also published books documenting the voyage. The fourth image is a note from Darwin’s ????? diary from when he started mapping species evolution. Initially, the works of both authors were ridiculed before becoming widely accepted in the scientific community.
Neil pointed out a passage from ‘On the Origin of the Species‘: ‘There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.‘ A compelling passage. The fifth image shows both men in later life.
Note: the image of the Beagle diagram was taken from the internet. Neil showed similar images, but I was unable to take good photographs.
End of Post.