April 12, 2008
Well, the beach party apparently ends at 5 AM. Sleeping hours at the Beach Hotel are GREAT between 5 AM to 8 AM. Tonight, ear plugs will come into play.
Durban Beach Hotel offers a generous buffet breakfast. No Holiday Inn here. We're talking cheese/meat trays, eggs, bacon, bangers, taters, breads, fruit, yogurt, cereal. And my favorite---chicken heart curry. It made it to my plate, but not an inch closer to my mouth once I figured what was going on there.
Today we took a city tour of Durban with a private guide. Basically, we hired a taxi driver to take us around. As this is primarily a "startup point" of our tour, Durban was by no means a highlight. Imagine it as a dangerous version of Detroit or Tacoma. Situated on the water, it's the busiest port in all of Africa. That's about all I can say about Durban. The botanical gardens were cool and we saw some noteworthy birds and plants. Terri is quite fond of "spoonbills," which are modified ducks with super-cool, curved bills.
Lunch today was fantastic. Crab curry and chicken curry. Durban has the highest population of Indians outside of India. This makes for some good eats...
We've been warned many times about how dangerous South Africa can be. Although we've come across no conflict yet, we have been extremely aware of our surroundings. Durban is one of those spots. We've been told by more than one local not to be out of our hotel after 5 PM. Sounds like dinner in tonight.
We met our GAP Tour Group tonight. Our leader is Mart, a South African, mother of 3 grown children, and quite a nice lady. We will be traveling with 15 others. We've yet to get to know them yet, but they come from Austria, Germany, Canada, Scotland, England, and a few from the U.S.
Dinner tonight was at the Hotel (Pier 107 Restaurant). We both dined on some local fish called Kingklip. It was delish!
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