Like Gabarone, Durban was a destination that I was curious to visit. I had already been to Cape Town and Johannesburg, so South Africa’s third-largest city seemed like the logical next destination. I made it a two-week reconnaissance trip, always curious and excited to scout a new destination. My apartment was in a convenient location on Florida Street – a hip restaurant lined with bars and restaurants. In the same building on the ground floor was a biltong store where I got in the habit of eating 400 grams of freshly-cut biltong each day after my gym session. And what a gym I found there in Durban — Cambell’s Gym. Replete with bodybuilding posters from the 1980s, and equipment from the 1950s, as well as large, very strong men, Campbell’s Gym, became my favorite place to spend my time in Durban. I never really made it to Durban’s beaches. I visited once in order to eat lunch, but I preferred taking my camera and wandering around different neighborhoods I found myself in, stopping to have a coffee, seeing a monkey in a tree — that sort of tourism. A highlight from my time in Durban was the annual Bonsai show […]
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The first time I was in South Africa was five years ago when I spent six weeks in Cape Town. I really enjoyed my time there — South African culture is different and exciting compared to the American culture I grew up in. The history of apartheid, the continued economic segregation between rich and poor post-apartheid, and the geography, languages, food, and culture of intermingled people from different parts of Africa make it an excellent place for someone like me to learn new things and understand different perspectives. While I had been staying in Capetown I was surprised to hear locals tell me that they preferred Johannesburg to Capetown. If you have been following my travels you might know that this is how new destinations are enqueued – recommendations, referrals, and references from organic sources. So I stayed in Johannesburg for two weeks, picking two different neighborhoods to get different perspectives of the city. It would be a reconnaissance trip to see if Joburg had the potential to become a regular destination or at least a regular pass-through en route to others. The first neighborhood I stayed in was Maboneng. It is an artsy, edgy, industrial warehouse district with coffee […]
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South Africa has captured my imagination for almost 15 years. After spending a month in New Zealand South Africa seemed a natural follow up as an English-speaking, far away destination with natural intrigue and not too many people. Much like New Zealand, South Africa seemed mysterious for its reclusive nature which keeps it out of the limelight most of the time; naturally I had some questions. How did there come to be white people in Africa? How is it that black people speak this weird version of Dutch? People surf alongside sharks? Is everyone racist and/or angry about that apartheid thing? I arrived with a huge blank slate upon which to color recolor my conceptualization. And I’m happy to say I have. I’ve answered these questions for myself along with more; I learned my three Bs: what biltong is, who my bruhs (pronounced “broos”) are and what a braai is. Additionally I’m happy to report that I can distinguishing which accent belongs to a Johannesburger (51% success rate!) and why I never want to be in Cape Town during the summer. I’m pretty much an expert in everything. There is an exhausting amount to do around Cape Town, and I did a lot of things during […]
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