The case of the missing twentysomethings

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Quick note: the map below has the wrong coordinates for Durban. It's actually on the southeast coast of South Africa, and Cape Town is on the southwest coast. Our computer guys are worked to the bone, so cut 'em some slack.

Anyway Durban was an interesting stop for a couple of days. Unfortunately it rained on my last day in Mauritius and my first day in Durban. The other downer was that Amy's dad got a wind of our romance, and he wasn't too hip to it. So I didn't get to see her again and I don't have any photos, but it was fun for a few days.

I checked out Durban because Air Mauritius only flies once a week to Cape Town and it didn't work with my schedule, so I had to go via either Jo'burg or Durban. Since everyone says that Jo'burg is a nightmare I decided to check out Durban instead. It's a fun little beach city, and also has more of a British and virtually no Afrikaner history. It's also home to the largest Indian population outside of India, so I had even more great food. On Friday night I went out and had another $3 feast that also included a beer and a 20% tip (unheard of outside the US, but it was easier to round up). On a related Air Mauritius note, their business class lounge in Mauritius was fantastic.

Durban certainly does have its grimy characters, but it wasn't nearly as dangerous as everyone makes South Africa out to be. Some people at my hotel told me that I had to take a cab less than 1 km to a bar up the beach. I did on the way up, and even though it only cost 10 rand (about $1.30) I still felt stupid because there were safety monitors all up and down the street. I walked home and then walked back and forth the next time without feeling the least bit threatened, but there were plenty of other places in town that I wouldn't have even considered going. There were a couple of clubs that sounded interesting, but I was advised to not go alone as I would probably be drugged and killed, or wake up missing either my wallet and/or a kidney.

Speaking of crime, my Zulu cab driver was quick to point out that while almost all of the crime in the townships was committed by locals, much of the crime found in the cities is the result of immigrants who have come in from other parts of Africa. So now it seems that blaming the country's problems on the blacks has shifted to blaming them on the immigrants. Sound familiar to California people?

Being a beach town, there wasn't much to do on my first day because of the rain. It still felt great to be back in South Africa after 6 years. After Semester at Sea I promised myself that I would get back to Vietnam, India and South Africa within 5-10 years. It took me 4 years to get back to India, and I hope that I can make it back to Vietnam within the next 2-3 years, so I'm still on target for that.

One thing that I noticed immediately about the city was the nearly complete absence of anyone between the ages of 25-35, and even people in their early 20's and late 30's seemed hard to come by. It seems as though most people in that age group are either working abroad or either in trendy Cape Town or going where the money and work are, which is Jo'burg.

My hotel was right on the beach (nice room with beatiful sea view and all-you-can-eat breakfast: less than $25). It was beautiful on Saturday, which gave me lots of quality sun time that I didn't get to maximize in Mauritius due to my photo work and the rain on the last day. Durban prides itself on being 'Surf City' I decided to give either that or boogieboarding a whirl.

I had never surfed before and the guy at the surf shop, Gigs, advised me to wait until I got to Cape Town to learn. There are some 'rolling waves' on the Cape Peninsula that constantly break, making it the perfect place for beginners who are bound to be wiping out their first few times on the board. Gigs was excited that I was from San Francisco, as he had been up there a few times and was a big fan of Santa Cruz (naturally) and Mission burritos.

I took his advice and opted for a half-day (4 hour) boogiboard rental. For those of you unfamiliar with boogieboards, you basically go out on an oversized flutterboard with fins and watch all the cool surfers go by as you pathetically ride a few feet on a wave looking like a dork. It was fun for all of 2 minutes and I had returned everything in about an hour and a half.

Going to South Africa on Sememester at Sea was one of the few places on that trip where I felt like I actually learned more from being in that type of environment as opposed to going there as an independent traveller. We had access to go to Parliament and to the townships that I seriously doubt that I'll be able to do this time. On the flipside, I took a South African history class senior year at NU after returning from SAS and it was the best class that I took in college. I felt like SAS had given me a very thorough understanding of South Africa's history and society, but it's exciting to come back after studying it even further.

I'm in Ryan's apartment in Cape Town right now and will be around here for a week. It's even more beatiful than I remembered it and I'll fill everyone in with the details at the end of the week.