Blogs :: Durban

Durban

I can’t begin to describe the impact staying in Durban, South Africa has had on me and my trip. My month there is undoubtedly a major highlight of the trip overall. The countless people I met and friends I made, the seemingly non-stop insanity and the quiet days, the deep discussions and the silly inebriated conversations, all reminded me on a daily basis “This why I travel”.

The days in Durban, (just over a month; not many in some regards, quite a while in others) have had a profound effect on me. They changed the way I think about many things, and leave me thinking now about a great deal more. I can’t convey the experiences because they are simply that: Experiences. To be fully understood, they can only be experienced.

I could recount the many forever memorable stories I have now:

  • The madness that was the World Cup, fan parks, and football passion.
  • The historical clash of cultures and ethnicities that still remained prevalent in largely Indian Durban as well as the rest of South Africa.
  • The disappointment and somewhat culture shock of encountering racism.
  • The instant friendships made with locals as well as foreigners from across the globe.
  • The hilarity and randomness of riding in the back of a pickup with eight other people (half strangers) at god knows what hour of the morning chanting “Deutschland!”
  • The local gas station where cars gathered to blast their stereos and show off their rides like something out of a movie.
  • Suji (our CouchSurfing host) shared the local life in nearly all aspects, be it eating delicious Indian food at 2 am, hitting local bars and clubs where I was the only white guy, or going to work with his DJ friend (and now mine as well) Koogan at a high-school prom in the Indian township Phoenix and then a wedding in a predominantly white upper-class neighborhood.
I could spend several blogs telling these and many others. But sometimes it feels that in the retelling of a story it loses something, perhaps because they can rarely be done justice, a la the previously mentioned “experiences”.

So I won’t even try. I’ll just leave the cliffs notes above as they are. Fill in the gaps as desired

experiences, Durban, couchsurfing, South Africa

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Posted By: David 8/20/2010