12-21-11 - Botanical Gardens

We took a walk to the Botanical Gardens in Durban.

12-18-11 - uShaka Beach

This is the entrance to uShaka Marine World, a water park on the beach.

At Moyo, a local restaurant, they come around and paint your face if you like.

The cool thing about the Durban beachfront is that it is concave, so that you can see the skyline while standing on it. This is a photo from the southern end of the beachfront looking north to the stadium.

One of Gulshan's friends organized a Flash Mob on the beach, so we joined in. Unfortunately, they haven't loaded the video from the event, so we've got our own version that her niece shot.

12-17-11 - Durban

Moses Mabida Stadium, Durban. Built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Durban's Sister Cities.

12-16-11 - Shelly Beach

We took a trip down the South Coast to Shelly Beach. Pictures and video below.

12-15-11 - Braai

Sorry about the massive delay here. We've been bouncing around quite a bit, so we've got a lot of catching up to do. Below is a video of a braai we had at Gulshan's sister's.

Day 10 - Durban Sun Coast

13 Dec 2011
Today we ran into some of our old friends from New York, Gulshan's cousin, her husband and son. She was in Durban participating in the COP17 talks on climate change, which had just finished up, and they were enjoying some beach time before heading back to Pretoria.

Once on the beach, we weren't about to leave. Here's a peek at what December in South Africa is like:

Day 8 - Estcourt to Durban

Sun 11 Dec

Sunday the five of us left for Durban as soon as Gulshan's brother got back from work. We had lovely scenery along the way, including Gulshan's waterfall, below. It's hidden in a little nook along the highway, and as you're driving you have to turn back and crane your neck, which she has done every time she has gone past since she can remember. (I think she was sitting backwards in her seat as a little kid the first time she noticed it.)

We got to the apartment where Gulshan's sister and nieces live, where we had a lunch with her whole family together. Gulshan's niece presented us with a sweet gift called a khunchaa, and we had some delicious chicken biryani made by her sister.

Afterwards, we went to Gulshan's mother's sister to visit. She lives near the beach, so Gulshan, her brother and I took a walk down to the boardwalk. It's so pretty along the beach in Durban. We'll be spending a lot of time here.