We were delayed coming into Durban cuz of rough seas…. then were pushed into port by a tug. What a beautiful looking city! Spectacular beaches ….”the Golden Mile”, stadium near the waterfront, humongous port…. wow!

Because we didn’t have an excursion booked we just took the shuttle into Ushaka Marine Park (which seemed to be more of a shopping centre with great crafts & fashions). From there we bought an all day bus pass thinking we were getting a Hop on,Hop off. Not! By the way it costed about 1.50CAD each. First we got of at this Golden Mile Beach. Miami Beach, English Bay have nothing on this! This was the weekend at the start of summer holidays and Christmas shopping. Everybody was at the beach. We were definitely in the minority… probably less than 1/2% white. These beaches apparently have lifeguards and nets to protect swimmers from the sharks. ((Not so for most beaches in ZA. Something was happening at waters edge but because we were too far away, couldn’t determine if someone got hurt, drowned or what. We had a beer and wings (nice waiter named Ali) at “California Dreaming” that told us where to get the bus to the Victoria Market. But….. 2 busses didn’t stop cuz we didn’t flag them down. A lady explained that and said we didn’t have time to go there, that we should go back to the ship rather than miss it. So…. went back to Ushaka and shopped before getting back on board. Not enough time here. Not enough time in Maputo either.

I just remembered that when getting near to Richards Bay, they helicoptered the pilot on board. That was thrilling to watch him get dropped down ….. in gale force winds!!! Everybody was up top to watch.