We enjoyed our time in Clansthall but we were happy enough to move on last Thursday to explore Durban. It has been twenty years since I last visited the city but it hasn’t changed much; more high-rise perhaps but otherwise, still a wonderful eclectic mixture of old and new. As we didn’t have much time there (neither of us are particularly fond of cities) we took Durban’s Ricksha Bus for a three hour tour of the city. Many of the lovely old buildings have been beautifully restored and they blend well with the impressive modern structures. North Beach is as pretty as I remembered; a palm-tree lined promenade with lovely beaches and the usual and impressive east coast surf. The Moses Mabhida stadium built for the World Cup is amazing and brought to mind Sydney bridge - you can climb or take a lift to the very top of the structure and walk along its span. Durban is a very big port which huge cargo ships lining up on the seas, their movements controlled by a vast control mast overlooking Wilson’s Wharf which dominates the skyline.


We stayed overnight at a delightful guest house which has been named Roseland House after the original home town of its owner, Delia Lloyd, who comes from St Just in Roseland . This beautiful little village is very close to where my brother Mike lives in Cornwall and we have visited it on several occasions. It was lovely to chat with this charming lady who is married to a South African, Warren. Strangely, he has a cousin who lives near Ampleforth in Yorkshire, where we lived for many years. The world, as always, is a very small place. Like many houses in South African cities, Roseland is plagued with monkeys which can be a real pest. Our host, Warren, took great pleasure in shooting at them with his paint ball machine but they really weren’t at all impressed and were soon back in the trees round our room!


Our host at the exchange house we have here in Ballito, Jan Scheepers, very kindly came to collect us from Durban and drove us the 60k or so to this beautiful house on the Simbithi eco estate. It is a vast, gated estate built along the coast amidst the bush so although it is totally safe, it really does feel as though we are in the African bush . The bird life is wonderful; lots of Red Bishops and Yellow Weavers in the garden, as well as Egyptian Geese, White Faced Ducks, storks, eagles, falcons and many other unidentified forest, water and grassland birds on and around the lakes. At night the frogs keep us awake; along with the normal froggy noises, the tree frogs make a high-pitched cheeping noise that is almost deafening. Buck of various varieties can be spotted in the bush and on the hilly slopes around the houses. The security is impressive; we had to go to the headquarters to have our photographs and fingerprints taken so that now we can come and go through the heavily guarded gates. TIA - this is Africa.


On Sunday we went into Ballito which is a popular seaside resort and sat on the beach there, watching the breakers and the people. It is very popular with the locals and was swarming with hundreds of small black totos running over the rocks with their bare feet, having the time of their lives . We had lunch at a seafront seafood restaurant which was also very busy - all quite different from the very quiet and uncommercial south coast in Kwazulu-Natal. 


There is a severe drought in this area and we have had a couple of night-time thunderstorms which have been fun to watch but haven’t produced much rain. The air is heavy and rain is forecasted, much to the locals delight. We went to the golf club in the adjoining estate on Monday which was very smart. We lunched under an enormous and very ancient fig tree overlooking the course - for next to nothing, as always. Afterwards we went to the community clubhouse for a swim. It has an enormous, very warm pool and I swam and swam - and swam! Cloudy skies, but still very, very warm.


The rains finally came on Tuesday and it rained solidly for three days. Despite the rain it has been very warm and humid and we have been on some wonderful walks in the Simbithi estate . On Wednesday we headed for Umhlanga’s Gateway Shopping Centre which is Durban’s North Coast jewel. Even bigger than the one south of the city, it is really very impressive. After a bit of shopping we found our favourite restaurant, Ocean Basket, and pigged out there on seafood before spending the afternoon at the cinema. We saw Revenant which was extremely frightening with amazing sound effects. Quite a treat for us country bumpkins!


Last night we had dinner with our hosts, Jan and Linda and spent the evening sorting out South Africa’s many problems, both racial and financial. Yet again, we have made some lovely Afrikaner friends.


Today the sun has returned with a vengeance; it has been extremely hot and so we spent the day at the clubhouse, enjoying the pool. They cook a very good pizza in a proper clay oven and we took a bottle of SA Sauvignon with us to wash it down . The club has a very large goose that struts around the pool and despite being continually chased away by small boys and the pool staff, it stubbornly refuses to go back to the lake!


Tomorrow we move on - a 4-5 hour drive into the interior to Ladysmith where we have been invited to a surprise birthday party for our host by his wife! We really do not know what to expect but I’m quite sure we will all end up best buddies; South Africans are so friendly and always make us so welcome.


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Note to all YMCA (Yorkshire Mad Campers Association) members: we were interested to watch people arriving at a campsite which was overlooked by the golf club where we had lunch. Tents and awnings are erected by the maid, gardener and cook who accompany families on camping trips. We thought this very practical and have made a note to look into this for future camping excursions.