Back in Durban

Zulu dancers

Zulu dancaers

Posing with shaman and apprentice

Zulu valley

Old Post Office

Old Train Station

Exhibit in Durban Museum of Nature

Back in Durban

Sept 29, 2016

Back in town, we have dived into boat repairs. There was a possibility of a weather window tomorrow, Fri for the week's trip to Cape Town. The backstay and bimini repairs couldn't be done in that time frame so we decided to just do a quick repair to last us to Cape Town and repair them better there. The new batteries for the bow thruster arrived and are installed and working. Rob has been busy rebedding deck fittings and hope that makes an improvement on the leaks. He has checked all the wiring on the bilge pump and they seem ok. That means that the pump itself need replacing.

We are not in such a rush now that the weather router has said that we shouldn't leave until late Mon or Tues. Chris on Tom Tom decided to leave today anyway. It is amazing how quickly the weather changes here, and the forecasts as well. When the wind is from the south it is cold,windy, and wet. Yesterday we closed everything up to stay warm enough and mostly stayed aboard. Today, with a NE wind we are back to shorts and tee shirts.

On Tues we had a 13th birthday party for Mirko, one of the Tahawas boys. The marina had a braai (BBQ)  for us and we each made extra food. On Mon, Nora, Klaudia, and I took a taxi to a bakery to order 2 cakes.  We have been using Uber to travel around town. It has been very simple and costs no more that a few dollars per trip. We also stopped at the market, which is mostly Indian here, and at the African Art Centre. At the art centre there are classes for crafters and things for sale.

Today, Thursday, Greg came back to take us to the Zulu dancing that we missed on the Sat tour of Durban area. It was raining so hard that day we bailed out early. We drove back 60 km to the Valley of a Thousand Hills. There is a tourist site there where they have built a traditional Zulu village. They do some traditional dances and songs for you as well as a tour and explanation of the village life. The setting was spectacular, looking out over the hills so it was well worth waiting for a clear day. On the premises there is a reptile land with a good collection of snakes and crocodiles. A guide took us through that. There are many very dangerous snakes in the country. We drove back through the valley and west suburbs into Durban. These towns are all traditional Zulu. There is a dam in the bottom of the valley that regulates the water supply for Durban between the wet and dry seasons. It is getting dangerously low, less than 50%.  Back in the city we picked up Greg's wife and daughter and the three of them came to the marina to visit our boats. If we have time we would like to use him again to see some of the areas around Cape Town.

Yesterday, a reporter visited us. He is going to do an article on our trip and the BPO. He normally takes the photos for the local yacht clubs' events among other things. We'll know more details after he sends us a copy to proofread.

If we have time we could visit the tourist areas along the Golden Mile, the east coast beaches and hotels. There are amusement parks, casino, craft markets, galleries, museums and the like. Not usually our first choice. But we would like to see the old railway station that is now the tourist information centre. When the station was built, the architect's plans accidentally got switched for the railway station in Toronto. The Toronto plans had a roof that could withstand 16 ft of snow. With the first heavy snowfall in Toronto the roof there collapsed, but, of course, the one here has been doing fine.

Oct.3 Addition

On Sat, we went to see the train station, post office, and city hall. These are classic, old colonial buildings. Parts have been renovated for other uses. In the city hall, there is an art gallery and the Durban Natural History Museum. The gallery had a photo exhibition on Aids in 9 different cities with good info and inspiration.

The museum was fascinating. It covered animals, insects, birds, dinosaurs, land and oceans. There was a theme on climate change as well, in particular, what individuals can do.

The wind and rain were terrible Sunday with another low pressure system. Rob spent the whole day installing a different bilge pump, a frustrating experience. The forecasts seem to be getting worse, instead of better, as spring arrives.

Change of plans! We are going to leave after supper tonight, Mon. The weather isn't great but we hope that there is enough time to get the 260nm to East London by Wed night before the next front starts. At least from there we don't need such a long window to sail to Port Elizabeth.