Durban - A Tale of Survival

Although most of our time in South Africa has been spent off the beaten path, Durban was a city too interesting to miss. The cultural scene here is nationally recognized and includes a reputation for excellent jazz music. Durban is also the busiest port in Africa. I couldn't help but think of the three South Africans (including my roommate) that I got to know pretty well while working on a kibbutz in Israel in 1980. They were all Durbanites and I have strong memories of their thick accents and use of the informal South African vernacular. Unfortunately, there was no chance of looking them up as I couldn't remember any of their surnames!
The third largest urban centre in the country, Durban said to be a place of perpetual sunshine. We were, therefore, in for a bit of shock when we witnessed first-hand just how vulnerable any location can be to the destructive forces of nature. Approaching from the south late one evening, everyone on the Baz Bus (backpackers' bus) sat in amazement as we ambled our way through five hours of heavy thunderstorms. North Americans and Europeans agreed that they had never seen a storm on such a scale in our native lands. I've been reading a book of very whimsical anecdotal stories based on the letters and diaries of four centuries worth of travelers in South Africa. It's called "The Wind Makes Dust". In it the early explorers in South Africa often comment upon the extreme violence of the storms here, and this has been a season to remember!

Particularly eerie was the manner in which the lightning strikes hit. As we were at some altitude, they seemed to emanate from every direction. Bolts flashed vertically across the sky, ear-piercing crackles exploded all around us, and we observed the reflection of flashes of light occurring well below our position. It was truly a sub-tropical mega-storm in stereo! The video that was playing was turned off and we all sat glued to the windows. I have no idea how the bus driver could even see where he was going. We all jumped when there was a bone-jarring bump as we ran over a dead cow that was laying on the highway. Here's a photo of the night sky during the storm, courtesy of Durban Radio.
When we arrived in the city centre a little before midnight the water was knee deep in all low-lying spots. Water streamed along the sidewalks as the Baz Bus made its hostel stops. One poor Australian girl had the misfortune of losing her footing a few steps after retrieving her backpack from the trailer, did a belly flop, and straggled to the hostel door looking like a drown rat. There had been cyclones off the coast of Mozambique and Madagascar in recent weeks so the seas have been high. The night of the storm there also occurred an unusually powerful alignment of the moon and stars, creating abnormally high tides. As a result, a small tsunami hit the KwaZulu-Natal coastline two days later. Touring the beachfront business establishments after we returned from the Drakensberg a week later, the damage was terrible. Entire restaurants were gutted!
One of the features that makes Durban an interesting place to visit is its Asian influence. East Indians account for a significant portion of the population. In fact, Durban is the world's largest Indian community outside of India itself! Many of people were originally brought to the country by the government to work in the sugar cane fields. This cash crop is still an important component of the local economy. The climate and soil must be very favourable -the plants have viewed have often been growing ten feet high!

One indicator of East Indian culture is the use of rickshaws. In Durban they tend to be very elaborate affairs that are used to ferry people mostly around the waterfront area.

Nancy and I both enjoy Indian food a lot so we couldn't miss the opportunity to try Durban's favourite fast food - something called Bunny Chow ("bread-hot"). This consists of a chunk of bread that is hollowed out in the centre and filled with the curry of your choice...but no rabbit if that's what you're thinking. It's very tasty and filling!
Along with the Indian culture comes its architecture. There are many impressive Hindu temples and Islamic mosques, particularly around the old quarter near the city centre. This is the Juma Musjid. We weren't allow in without an adult male Muslim to accompany us.
A highlight of our trip to Durban was a visit to the Victoria Street Market. It's an intriguing blend of Indian shops as well as all things African. There are many women selling dresses on the sidewalks. It's a tradition in the Indian culture for the groom to buy his mother-in-law twenty dresses as part of the wedding package...so they do a pretty brisk business!
That's not to say that all Indian men are infatuated with their new in-laws. They may, at times, seek revenge in the good old-fashioned Indian way in evidence at the spice market! The most disquieting part of the market was our stroll down what I will call, at the risk of sounding judgmental, "Voodoo Alley". It's an entire street devoted to the sale of ingredients used by African witch-doctors. Most rural black South Africans have no real access to medical care and rely upon the potions cooked up by these traditional "healers". The shops in the Victorian market actually provide wholesale supplies of raw materials for the witch-doctors in many African countries. Most of the businesses had a variety of mangled carcasses and bones from a myriad of animals on display. Unfortunately, the proceeds of the poaching of endangered species in South Africa's national parks can also their way into the market.

The remedies of a witch-doctor also require a wide selection of roots, barks, leaves, herbs and other plant materials.Most of the people in the lane ways are busy pounding or grinding up the key ingredients. We had an interesting conversation with the king of this niche. Like most of the other vendors, he works by day and sleeps at night in the market, which is as much his home as his place of commerce. He was very friendly and spoke some English. Mostly he wanted to know what sort of remedies we used for treating the ill in Canada. Nancy and I were at a loss when he asked us what goes into our enemas! As you can see, his torso was heavily scarred, which we instinctively attributed to some sort of pagan ritual, but was apparently the result of a car accident.
Durban has many fine buildings from the English colonial era. In the city centre Francis Farewell Square square has a magnificent neo-Baroque City Hall (pictured below) which now also houses a fine natural history museum. The nearby Post Office is also an impressive edifice. There are also some Tudor-style buildings on the same block.

Directly opposite City Hall one fines a colourful (Art Deco) but sombre cenotaph. We thought that the figure of the dead soldier at the base of the monument was rather striking. The dark and dreary weather plaguing Durban also added to the overall effect.

We were only in Durban for a few days but felt as though we saw a lot in a short period of time. This was mostly due to the efforts of our very cool guide (and manager of our hostel), named Victor. He was insightful, kind, had a big heart, and took us to places we would never have dared to go on our own - such as Voodoo Lane! Born in Kenya, Victor was very proud of the murals that he painted on the walls of the hostel. We didn't want to probe too deeply into his life but he did mention that he had been shot with a gun. Durban has an extremely high crime rate - second only to Johannesburg. Danger seemed to lurk around every corner and he seemed to be able to smell it a mile away. South Africans must lead the world in dogs per (white) household - many families have two or three canines on guard.

We've yet to talk to anyone (of any race) in South Africa that has any respect or faith in the police forces (or judicial system for that matter). Stories of corruption, incompetence, indifference, under staffing, and underfunding seem endless - the police often don't even respond to emergency calls. Both travel guides (books) that we possess advise that contacting the police is likely a waste of time if you've been victimized. Although we read one newspaper article story about vigilantes, the law is tough on people who try to take justice into their own hands. In the Drakensberg we met an elderly couple who were mourning the death of a dear friend. He shot in the leg an armed intruder in his house, and was in turn shot in the stomach before bleeding to death. People are desperate...there's no such thing as welfare or unemployment insurance.

One woman told us about an episode of someone breaking into her house. When she phoned the police they told her that they couldn't come because they had no gas for the only available car. She replied (fictitiously) that her husband had shot the intruder. A short time later the police arrived only to find that the thief had already absconded. Annoyed that they had been summoned for a mere burglary, they said "I thought you said someone had been shot" to which she replied, "I thought you said you had no gas"!

The garbage-can poster below is an ad against the trafficking of human lives, and we're not just talking here about child labour or prostitution. Every month in South Africa there are recorded cases of the ancient practice of muti - the sale of human body parts for use in the wares of African witch-doctors. Voodoo Alley is a place best viewed in the rear view mirror!

On a more positive note, one of the exciting venues in Durban is the Marine World. It opened about five years ago and is partially enclosed in an old barge that was rescued from the sea. It may not look like much from the outside but it's full of fascinating exhibits and creatures within. The sharks of Durban are legendary. There's a shark net set about 50 metres from shore or swimming and surfing would be impossible. The net gets checked every day but got completely washed away by the recent storms. Many of the creatures at Marine World (especially the sharks) are animals that are in captivity because got stuck in and injured by the net.
Marine World is the fifth largest aquarium in the world. We simply ran out of time exploring all of the tanks and revelling in the fabulous range of sea life that exists on good old planet earth.

Finally, travelling around Durban revealed an interesting collection of urban street art and advertising. The AIDS situation sure gets a lot of play, deservedly so!

We finished our visit to Durban by accompanying Victor (at his request) to a Christian Alliance Church service. It was packed with a few thousand people of mixed race many of whom were singing, waving, and providing testimonials - very evangelical. An interesting experience to say the least! We were introduced to many people who seemed genuinely interested in us. We left the city feeling appreciative of these many fine people who live and work there, trying to get on with their lives and make a difference to their society.

A Glimpse of Lesotho

Anyone who has even summarily scanned a map of South Africa has probably paused momentarily and pondered the anomaly appearing as a place called Lesotho (Le-soo-too). It sits like an island locked in the middle of South Africa. I hazard to guess that not too many people in North America probably know much about it. I know that we certainly didn't until we began to plan our trip. From the Amphitheatre we decided to pay a visit to to see what we could learn on a full day guided trip.

The Basoto inhabitants like to call their land the highest country in the world. I don't know about that but it is one of only a few nations that lie entirely above 1000m and is often referred to as "The Kingdom in the Sky". The mountains are to some extent an extension of the Drakensberg. Through the help of the South African government, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (the most advanced and expensive engineering project to date in Africa) has helped to harness the rains into a watershed that provides most of the water that drains into South Africa. The South Africans pay a considerable sum of money for this water each year. This is not to say that Lesotho is affluent. On the contrary, the money that Lesotho receives in payment from South Africa accounts for no less than one-quarter of the country's Gross National Product! As one would expect, most of the economy is comprised of subsistence farming. Still, it is known as a rather peaceful place and the Basotho population is proud of its independence. Arriving in mid-morning through a minor border post in the north, our first stop was at a small school. It began not so many years ago through the efforts of an Catholic priest. Shortly after arriving he went to the parents in the community and suggested that a school be started. Most of them thought it was a dumb idea that would only divert their children's attention from what they really needed to know in order to survive. A few were interested, however, and agreed to send their kids when he offered to do the teaching for free. One farmer provided his sheep shed which was unused during the day. The kids who attended liked the experience so much that they soon began collecting stones for their own building. In time, a group of Irish volunteers arrived to build a proper facility. The community is now attempting to build a second structure based upon the model provide by the first.

Our tour group was greeted very warmly by the students and staff. For the most part the students are still pretty shy. Oddly enough, before we were inside more than five minutes Nancy and were selected as the two people to do some instructing! We were each given a different primary grade. I got to teach (and mark) a little bit of math. It was fun! How sad it is to know that so many of these kids will likely die at such a young age. Fifty percent of the women in Lesotho between the ages of 18-24 are HIV positive.Nancy got to teach some of the older (adolescent) students- I've got some of her fine work on video. Those who teach will no doubt be interested to know that there was a copy of Bloom's Taxonomy on the wall! Barry Bennett doesn't seemed to have arrived yet. Following a snack, some socializing and a game of outdoor volleyball, our group set off to explore some of the nearby terrain, especially a beautiful cave complex above the village.

In some caves there are ancient San rock paintings. These are also found in the Drakensberg and are they main reason why that area was given World Heritage Status. The San (who used to be known as bushmen) are generally thought of as belonging in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana. The truth is that they were the original inhabitants of most of southern Africa. Primitive hunters and gathers, they were driven out first by the black Nguni tribes, next the Boers, then finally the English. There weren't many places to hide except in the desert (where small pockets of San survive today) or high in the mountains.

The painting I have chosen to show is not in the best of shape but I believe to be interesting. The long-legged people it represents were the taller and black Nguni people from further north who eventually drove them out of their mountain stronghold. Most of the forms depicted the animals which were so vital to their survival. The father-figure for the people of Lesotho is a man named Moshoeshoe I. A man who believed in non-violence, his motto was "peace is like rain that makes the grass grow". Bit by bit his tribe was pushed further up the mountain until he finally appealed to Queen Victoria for help. She not only saw to it that Lesotho was spared annihilation but provided the people with hats, rubber boots and blankets. Most of these ended up in the hands of the men who herded on the hillsides each day and, as shown below, continue to be the style worn by nearly every adult man!

Exploring the village for a bit, we noted that the people of Leotho also live in rondavels. The climate can be harsh here so the buildings are painted in a light and dark patch to reflect and absorb light at different times of the day. We also learned that one reason that the homes are round is that the Africans used to believe that evil spirits lived in corners. As was true elsewhere, men and women occupy separate sides of the home and are not allowed to cross over. You'd have a hard time convincing me that this rule is closely followed!Our tour include a stop at the local shabeen (informal brewery) for a tasting (not bad!) as well as a visit to see the sagoma. This lady was much more friendly towards us than the one we met at the village near Bulungula. She was kind and tried to provide thoughtful answers to our questions. A sagoma's role is somewhere between that of a witchdoctor and naturalist. Most of her ideas seemed pretty logical...however her diagnosis does still begin with the interpretation of small bones that are rolled out of a bag!
We had a very good day that ended with a laugh. Along the way through the village we encountered a very precocious little boy who looked to be no more than two. He raced to stay ahead of us and generally had a lot to say. Destined to be a great chief, no doubt. At the end of it all he announced that he was coming with us and climbed into the van. Talk about a man with a plan! He was adorable.