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Overview

Introduction

Most first-time visitors to South Africa fly in and out of Johannesburg, the City of Gold, and then travel on to Cape Town before leaving the country. The Cape is undeniably beautiful and cosmopolitan, but if you want a true African experience in South Africa, head for Durban, Africa's busiest port and a balmy coastal metropolis in the heart of the legendary Zulu Kingdom.

eThekwini, Durban's Zulu name, means "the place of the bay." This city of more than 3.5 million people is less polished and earthier—some say grittier—than Cape Town. Yet Durban is renowned for its steamy tropical climate and magnificent bathing and surfing beaches. It has been a beach vacation destination since the first sugarcane farmers built their holiday cottages on the coast in the 19th century.

Plan to walk along the Golden Mile promenade to see—among other attractions—uShaka Marine World, the famous Zulu rickshaws and the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium. Or, take a trip out to sea with the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board to watch crews service shark nets and, hopefully, get to spot some dolphins and whales. If these options don't suit you, there's hiking, sailing and scuba diving, or spend your time leisurely soaking up the sun on the golden sands.

The city also has a rich and interesting cultural diversity, which gives it a vibrancy enjoyed by few other South African cities. Durban is home to South Africa's largest Indian population, reflected in the tasty curries and colorful shopping bazaars and festivals. Evidence of Zulu culture is on the streets, where vendors sell crafts and curios, and in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, which is dotted with rural villages. Colonial influences are exhibited by the facades of grand buildings in the central business district and Victoria Embankment, and in the attractive Victorian and Edwardian houses and lovely parks in the Berea suburbs, which were developed by the city's early European settlers.

Must See or Do

Sights—The promenade along the Golden Mile from uShaka Marine World to the Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World; rickshaw-pullers on the beachfront in their colorful attire; watching surfers carve up waves at the Bay of Plenty; Indian Ocean views from the top of the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Museums—KwaMuhle Museum; the Campbell Collections; the Natural Science Museum.

Memorable Meals—Durban curry at the Ulundi restaurant in the Royal Hotel; Mozambique prawns or langoustines at uShaka Marine World's Cargo Hold; bunny chow from any number of city takeaways; afternoon tea in the colonial Palm Court of the Oyster Box Hotel.

Late Night—Afro-jazz at the BAT Centre.

Walks—Strolling at sunrise along the Golden Mile; walking through the Durban Botanic Gardens; meandering among the dozens of vendors at the evening Stables Lifestyle Market.

Especially for Kids—uShaka Marine World; the Wave House, Skate Park and "world's highest indoor climbing rock" at Gateway Theatre of Shopping.

Geography

Durban is situated on the southeastern seaboard of South Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean on the east and by the Drakensberg mountains to its west. The city center lies within the wider metropolitan eThekwini municipality, which covers 890 sq mi/2,300 sq km from Umkomaas in the south to Tongaat in the north, moving inland to Cato Ridge in the west.

There are two main streets in the central business district that lead to and from the Durban beachfront, which is the place that holds the most interest for visitors. Dr Pixley KaSeme Street runs to the beachfront and Anton Lambede Street leads away. Residential neighborhoods ring the city center, and the Berea, in particular, is one that appeals to many tourists. Berea is actually the name of a ridge above and to the northwest of the central business district, but is also the collective name for Durban's oldest and most attractive suburbs. These include Essenwood, Musgrave, Morningside and Windermere. Many hotels and guesthouses are located in this area, as well as restaurants, nightlife and shopping, particularly on or around fashionable Florida Road, which straddles Morningside and Windermere.

History

Considerable archaeological evidence suggests that the Durban area was extensively occupied during the first millennium AD. White settlement on Durban's harbor began in the early 1820s when a band of traders, led by Lt. Francis Farewell and James King, made their way by ship from the Cape. Durban was part of the empire of the Zulu King Shaka, who had used his exceptional military talents and diplomacy to weld disparate clans and tribes into a nation in the early 19th century.

In 1824, the white settlers secured a land grant from Shaka and named the harbor settlement Port Natal. The tiny trading settlement grew as more people arrived from the Cape, and in 1835, it was renamed after Sir Benjamin D'Urban, then governor of the Cape Colony. The settlers believed they owned the land granted to them by Shaka. However, Shaka considered them governors of his territory.

Around this same time period, a large group of Boers (South Africans of Dutch and French Huguenot extraction) was breaking away from British rule in the Cape. In 1837, they crossed the Drakensberg Mountains in their wagons in search of fertile land. Shaka's successor, Dingane, first attempted to accommodate the trekkers, but then tried to annihilate them.

In 1843, the British annexed Natal, and 1849 marked the start of large-scale immigration from Britain to Natal. The next group to arrive in Durban was composed of indentured Indians from India. They were shipped there to cut cane on sugar plantations, because the British hadn't yet found ways to coerce the Zulus, traditionally cattle herders, into working for them. The Indians arrived in 1860 on the Truro and Belvedere, and a headline in the local white press announced that "the coolies" had arrived.

As time passed, the plight of blacks—African, Indian and Coloured (mixed-race people)—grew worse. A 1922 clause in a municipal ordinance restricted the sale of land owned by the city council to whites only. (Nevertheless, the 1940s' wartime economic boom years brought thousands of Africans into the city, despite the myriad hardships they endeavored to call Durban home.) The National Party came to power in 1948 and began to implement a program of apartheid, a system of separating the races. It was a policy intended to maintain and extend political and economic control of South Africa by the white minority. By 1958, the screws of injustice tightened even more when the city council put its Group Areas plan into operation. According to this plan, whites would gain nearly 3,000 acres/1,214 hectares of prime city land from Indians—uprooting more than 75,000 Indians and some 8,000 Coloureds. Also by the late 1950s, labor legislation became stricter and more severely applied. From then onward many thousands of Africans became subject to daily harassment, arrest, eviction from the city, and imprisonment.

In the 1970s and '80s, Durban experienced strikes, violent protests and massive damage to property, as the black majority sought to break the back of the strict system of apartheid. The conflicts marked a new period in politicization within Durban's townships and also between the aligned forces of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party, the party of the Zulu people, who sought a federalist system of government.

In 1990, the first mass rally officially organized by the ANC since it had been banned in 1960 took place in Durban, foreshadowing an end to apartheid. Nelson Mandela addressed the crowd. Then in 1994, South Africa held its first all-race democratic elections and elected Mandela as president. He cast his vote in a settlement just outside Durban, near the grave of the first president of the ANC.

As apartheid and its segregation polices broke down in the late 1980s, Durban's urban population swelled considerably with a huge influx of people from the rural Zulu areas looking for work. The fabric of the city center changed from a whites-only enclave with its pockets of Indian business districts, to a racially and culturally mixed community. At first, and particularly in the 1990s, crime and poverty were issues, especially in the built-up areas behind the beachfront and in informal settlements that had sprung up on open land in the rest of the city. But a number of initiatives in recent years, such as an increased police presence, the installation of CCTV cameras and upgrading of local infrastructure and housing, have improved the situation a great deal.

Two decades after its first democratic election, Durban continues to forge ahead in its efforts to reconcile the past with the present.

Potpourri

The annual 56-mi/89-km Comrades Marathon between Durban and Pietermaritzburg began in 1921, and is the world's oldest and longest ultramarathon. The hardest part is "The Big Five"—the five steepest hills along the route.

In Durban, vermicelli does not feature on any Italian pasta menu; instead, it's cooked as an Indian dessert, served milky and infused with cardamom.

At the western end of the Durban harbor, the Maydon Wharf Sugar Terminal has three enormous silos that hold as much as 520,000 tons of refined sugar—you can't miss them. KwaZulu-Natal produces all South Africa's sugar and cargo ships transport it globally.

Shaka, the founder and king of the Zulu nation, was named after an intestinal beetle. Shaka's father, the Zulu chief Senzangakhona, was reluctant to acknowledge that Nandi, Shaka's mother, was pregnant. Instead, he blamed her swelling on the beetle, iShaka.

There is a remarkable lack of Afrikaans spoken in Durban compared to almost any other South African city. English is spoken by everyone, but the principal indigenous language is isiZulu, which about 80% of the population speaks. Afrikaans speakers only number about 2%.

Location

Durban's port is the largest and busiest in southern Africa and is usually simply referred to as the Durban Harbor. Cruise ships currently dock at N Shed, T-Jetty, within the cargo operation area, just south of Durban’s central business district. The city center is only a 10-minute walk from the dock, but it is recommended to take a taxi or shuttle. Taxis are available at the pier and most cruise lines offer shuttle services to uShaka Marine World, which is located on the beachfront.

Long-term plans foresee a new cruise terminal being built outside the congested cargo area at A berth, at The Point at the end of Mahatma Gandhi Road, near the port entrance channel and close to uShaka Marine World and North Beach. Planned terminal facilities include foreign exchange bureaus, shops and restaurants.

Shore Excursions

A guided city tour follows the palm tree-lined esplanade known as Victoria Embankment along the northern perimeter of Durban Harbor before perhaps visiting the sub-tropical Durban Botanical Gardens. Other noteworthy attractions include the Moses Mabhida Stadium (built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup) for a photo stop of panoramic Durban from the viewing point at the top of the arch that spans the stadium, before exploring the Golden Mile (beachfront), where Zulus, resplendent in their traditional regalia, transport visitors in their colorful rickshaws. There may be also the opportunity to shop for souvenirs at Victoria Street Market.

Another popular day trip is to the Valley of a Thousand Hills, a scenic valley dotted with Zulu villages that was so named by writer Mark Twain after the dozens of hills that fold down towards the Umgeni River. Phezulu Safari Park is the usual stop on an excursion in this region, and visitors can enjoy the Zulu dancing display, the restaurant with its commanding views over the valley, the reptile park, and the well-stocked curio shop that sells Zulu woodcarving and beadwork.