Today the rain has final stopped and we have a nice soft breeze, with the Sun threatening to burn thru the clouds, so we are off to Durban about 45 KM away. Since Durban is a city of 3.5 million people we are a little apprehehensive but the young guy at the Tourist office assured us with his map and his directions , it would be a breeze and he was right. He sent us to the Ocean front, called the Malacon. The Malacon is several KM long and has a width of 100 M right along the ocean where everyone, runs,walks, roller baldes, cycles, etc. The Hawkers also have stalls at street level so they do not bother you on the Malacon. This whole area is beautiful and i assume it was done so for the World cup held here in ZA last year. I was advised by my niehbour that anything done for the World Cup was paid by " Tax payers ", which did not surprize me.
It also surprized us that there was ample free parking along the entire Malacon area . The hotels all have there own underground secured parking.
After walking the Malacon for an hour or so and checking out the hawkers wares, we decided to find the new " Soccer" stadium that was built for the World cup, as it is only a few blocks away and can be seen for miles. The most direct route had a detour, of course, so we had to make 2 or 3 runs at it to get on the correct street. Then as we approched the stadium to park, they had a Marathon so the police redirected us causing to our confusion. We did find a parking area but the attendant said I was not allowed in as it was only for the Patrons going to the soccer game so he kick me out. So I parked across the street and a policewoman said I could not park there but I should go into the stadium parking. When i said I was kicked out, she don't move, I'll talk to the attendant, which she did and we were allowed in. His logic was , that i was a Bus and Buses were not allowed in the parking area, but the policewoman changed our " Bus " to a "Van "so then we could park in the area.
The stadium has a "Skywalk " Gondola that takes people to the Top and then you walk around an area and get a view of the city. However, since the soccer games was about to start, so they had to close the Skywalk until tomorrow , ( Monday). Also, we are not allowed on Monday, as only Schools can ride on Mondays and we are not going to wait until Tuesday so hopefully we will get to see the Stadium in Cape town.
We had lunch at the Stadium and then we returned to the Malacom to catch a " Double Decker " tour Bus, for a 3 hour , conducted tour of the Durban. The Sun was now shinning and there was a slight breeze and the tour was great. The tour took us to the Port and I have never seen a Port this huge. I estimated , that there were 100 hundred ships, loading and unloading but I stopped counting at 50. There was 10,000 vehicles being loaded and off-loaded as Toyota has a huge assembly plant here. Incidentally, Toyota also mfg most of their parts in this area. One of the parking areas was full of used cars from other countries but they were being off loaded and held to be re-loaded for another country. These used vehicles can not be sold in ZA.
After the Tour , we went to the Casino so Carroll could donate some money and to have supper. To get into the Casino parking area it cost R1 ( about a 1.30 ) and then if you want to park close to the entrance to the casino you pay again. I took general parking. The casino is a carbon copy of any new casino in Vegas. However, you have to go thru an airport type security to get in and I was told I could not wear my ball cap in the casino. Women are allowed to wear a hat. does that make any sense? Then to play a machine you had to "purchase " a Players Card for R20 which was refunded when you leave. Carroll says she broke even but math was never you "strong subject ".
We left our 45 KM trip back to the camp site until dark and that was not the best move we have ever made but Carroll managed to navagate we thru the traffic; we did miss one turn but with about 3 left turns we did get on the proper " Motorway " and arrived home safely. Monday we will head south along the coast but we are not sure of the destination yet
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