A Fresh Look at Durban

It's been very rainy in Durban the past couple of days. It rained all night before Brennan and Hannah arrived and it rained the day they arrived. In fact, it rained the day after they arrived. It made little difference, we were all off to a very slow start. Having just jet-lagged about a month ago, I empathized with their combined 23 hours of flight and layover time and the seven hour time difference. Slow starts were expected and just fine with us. After several cups of tea/coffee, lots of morning chat and some breakfast aboard Cups, the rain finally stopped and the sun even found its way into a blue sky by mid-afternoon.

We walked around Durban's streets, seeing it once again through fresh eyes as Brennan and Hannah asked questions and noted things we'd started taking for granted … street signs in three languages and ladies balancing large parcels on their heads and the hubbub and chatter on the city streets in so many languages and, of course, the number of black faces compared to our white faces … the smells, the sounds, the sights. TIA - This is Africa. How can you not love it?

We wandered through parks, up and down streets, into supermarkets and little shops, then made our way to Africa's oldest yacht club, the Royal Natal (founded 1858 … same wait persons on staff today) for lunch. With full bellies, we were back to roaming the streets. We'd planned to do more … stroll along the beaches or do a museum maybe? But after a visit to a local pub, we returned to Nine of Cups, tired, and still sated from our late lunch. We chatted about our plans for the next few days, packed for our upcoming trip and, after a few nightcaps, hit the sack early. We're off to Lesotho tomorrow!

Yes, of course, you're invited. Pack light, but bring some warm clothes. It's reportedly cold in the mountains.